The Saucy Dressings’ Roving Reporter has been frequenting Paris (see Lipstick) sometimes accompanied and sometimes solo.

Here she gives a review of a happy discovery of a restaurant – Le Boudoir, near the Champs Elysées- a welcoming and comfortable home from home.

It’s not often that I dine alone, but business trips do tend to have that effect. Recently my work has been sending me regularly to Paris. I was exploring different restaurants until I found Le Boudoir. Now it has become my go-to place. When you’re travelling on business it is much more appealing to go to somewhere convenient and familiar you can rely upon and don’t have to think about, than experiment with something new.

Le Boudoir was my saviour on one rather depressing trip, where I stayed in a hotel that was considerably less comfortable than expected: the wifi didn’t work, the breakfast was disgusting, the heating wasn’t on, and worst of all the shower was so small that you couldn’t stand under the shower head without turning the shower off with your bottom! I needed to get out and find somewhere to cheer me up. A few doors up I found Le Boudoir.

I was attracted to it because it had lots of awards and recommendations (TripAdvisor, Michelin Guide and Lonely Planet) stuck to the window. It looked warm, lively and unpretentious, so I went in. It was clear that, had I been more than one person, I would have been out of luck without a reservation. They found me a spot at the bar and immediately served me a free glug of white wine while I perused the menu.

It was typical French cuisine. At home I love to try exotic cuisines, but when I travel I always go local. The first time I went I had a truffle pasta followed by a dark chocolate pudding and exquisite coconut wafer. The second time I went the menu had completely changed – the perfect restaurant for a regular! I chose seared red tuna with ginger and curry coconut foam followed by lobster white pudding with lobster foam. The food was very rich, but delicious.

The lobster white pudding was a combination of egg, cream and lobster set in a sausage shape and served as columns.

The waiters were all very friendly and the owner made a point of congratulating me on finishing my meal both times. He seemed like quite a character.

Exhausted by the day’s work, I whiled away several happy hours in Le Boudoir, admiring their iconic whisky collection (all unfamiliar to me), and reading my book wine in hand before returning to the hotel (a much more pleasant one the second time round).

If you’re interested in the book, it’s extremely well argued and presents a completely different perspective on our own species. Called Sapiens, a Brief History of Humanity by Yuval Noah Harari, I would definitely recommend it for your next business trip.