Lunch at Le Papillon

Just got back from a nice lunch at Le Papillon. The plan started a few weeks back when my mother was telling me my aunt wanted to go somewhere nice for her birthday dinner with her family. I suggested Wild Rocket for its nice ambience and fairly reasonable prices. And somehow from there, the suggestion turned into having lunch with my aunt as well. At first I thought about trying the new place at Duxton Hill or going back to Oso, but after talking to a friend, i decided to give Le Papillon another try.

I had visited Le Papillon shortly after it had first opened last year on a recommendation from a friend. While I enjoyed the food, I was really turned off by the snooty attitude of the maitre d', who was rude from the time I made a reservation to the time we actually had dinner there. So disgusted was I with her bad attitude that I never returned to the place, and it wasn't until my friend told me she was no longer there and had new staff that I decided to give it another go.

I'm so glad I went back because lunch was delicious and the service was excellent. The waitresses were very attentive and polite and served us with a smile. What a difference good service makes!

We all opted for the set lunch, priced at a reasonable $29++. My aunt and I started off with the thinly seared beef and extra fine beans roulade with rocket salad while my mother had the warm caesar salad with fried soft shell crab. The beef came wrapped delicately around the beans, and was just the right texture, neither too tough or chewy. The soft shell crab came in generous portions in what looked like a tempura batter, and according to my mother, was really good too.

As for mains, my mother and aunt had the pan roasted snapper with spicy tomato sauce and olive mashed potato while I had the deep fried whiting with potato salad. I like to call my dish a high-class fish & chips,with the whiting fried to crispy perfection. The only thing I didn't quite like was the potato; it tasted like they hadn't been boiled for too long and were quite crunchy. I tried some of the snapper as well, but felt it was a little dry. Nevertheless the olive potato mash was quite yummy.

But for me and my sweet tooth, the star of the meal was dessert, a banana chocolate tart with vanilla bean ice-cream and came with some homemade peanut brittle. Everything was perfect - the size of the portion, the caramel sauce drizzled over the tart, the chocolate pastry and the banana - all cooked to perfection. I'd go back anytime for another portion!

All in all, it was a meal both my mother and aunt enjoyed immensely. For two rather finicky eaters to give their "compliments to the chef" and to declare they should come back again, I'd say Le Papillon did very well indeed!

See the rest of the set menu.

Le Papillon
28 Maxwell Road
#01-02 Red Dot Traffic Building
Tel: 6327 4177