Restaurant Papillon

Waited over 1 hr for the main course. Waiter kept on telling me 5 minutes. Had to send the steak back because it was very well done when asked for medium and waited another 20 min. Not worth the wait. 2 thumbs down.

On our venture into Old Montréal we walked upon Restaurant Papillon. We were looking for a patio with a view to people watch! The pizza we ordered was good, we had the seafood pizza, but i thought actually had too much seafood on it. The pitcher of beer was just as tasty. The wait staff was very friendly and helpful.

We came here on a Saturday afternoon for some sangria and appetizers. The sangria was great, the mussels and fries were amaaaaaazing (well the mussels were anyway, we did the Dijonnaise sauce). The fries were kind of your typical bland, cookie-​cutter frozen fries and came with a packet of ketchup and a packet of mayo– not what I’d call fancy. Would be better if they came with some kind of garlic aioli sauce or something, or at least an actual bottle of ketchup. It would also have been nice if they had real dishes, pretty much everything except the silverware was plastic. We still had a great time though, and the service was very good.

We had the chef specials on a beautiful Montréal Sunday night. I had the rabbit shoulder confit glazed in maple sauce with pine nuts, wife had elk stew in paprika and other herbs with yogurt to go with.
Overall we did like the entrees. Meat is tender and tasty. The yogurt does blend well with elk giving it a bit of that Mansaf feel. Only knock is it’s a bit on salty side. Coffee is a bit off.

The food was french and italian. Everything was excellent. My husband ordered coq au vin. The chicken was very moist and tasteful. My son ordered lamb and was very good as well. I ordered chicken roulade stuffed with salmon. It was very moist. All the sauces were very good. Fast and friendly service. Definitely will be back.

After walking around for a while looking at menus, my husband and I settled on this restaurant. We were able to sit outside in he shade and people watch.
We shared a turkey club sandwich which was a little dry. By the time I realized there was no mayo or sauce on it, I was more than halfway finished with it. It was tasty anyways.
The service was great! Our waiter, Aladdin, was very nice and polite. We enjoyed talking with him. I would definitely recommend this as a good lunch place with good people watching.

I was very much less than impressed with their food in relation to the price that I paid for it. The staff was decent.
I hope they make some changes on the food quality because they have a nice looking restaurant and have a fine location in Vieux-​Montréal.

This place in Vieux Montréal can’t make up its mind. Is it Italian? French? What is it? Apparently they can’t decide either, because they give you two menus; one for the Italian (pizzas, etc) and another for the French. (coc au vin and other staples). Molto strano. Très étrange. We ended up here because we had fancy dining plans for the following night and wanted something more casual, affordable, but still a sit-​down meal. We were strolling the street looking at menus and couldn’t decide. My wife felt lucky, claiming that the best meal she ever had was an Italian place she chose on impulse years ago so maybe that was a sign? Or maybe it was the greeter who saw us looking through the window and came out to talk up the place. (That should be a negative sign; if it’s so good do they really need somebody to drag customers in from the street?)
In any case, we were tired, hungry, ready to end our research and settle into a meal. But soon we began to second-​guess our decision. The place was almost empty, while almost all the other nearby places were busy. And the wine selection by the glass was disappointingly limited. But the waiter was so nice, and it was apparent they were trying really hard. The place was cozy enough (except for — horrors — a big-​screen tv tuned to the hockey game — thankfully with the sound off). Who knows — maybe against all odds my wife’s luck years ago will strike again and this will be the meal of a lifetime? Alas, that was not to be.
I already mentioned the empty dining room and the poor wine selection. Next disappointment was the bread: completely forgettable mini baguettes served with butter.
First we ordered appetizers and salad: french onion soup for me and caesar salad for her. My soup was ok; the broth was not too salty but somehow lacked body. It was filling though, with all that melted cheese on top. My wife’s salad was absolutely smothered in heavy caesar dressing even though she had specifically asked them to please go very light on the dressing. She sent it back and they brought a new one with dressing on the side, with no «attitude». It was an adequate salad.
For entrees I had quail poached in wine and stuffed with prosciutto/​sage stuffing. It was pretty good though not memorable. A generous two small quails served with the wine braising liquid and lots of perfectly cooked vegetables: potatoes (carved into cute little mushroom shapes), carrots, cauliflower (though I felt the cauliflower out of place in this dish). As I said, pretty good, but as I continued to eat I began to find the sage flavor distracting. I like sage, but it just seemed too strong. And the next day, thinking back on the meal, my memories of the sage flavor became perhaps even a bit unpleasant. That just shouldn’t happen with a good meal, right?
Wife had some sort of pasta alfredo-​like thing with sausage and mushrooms. Pretty good; and even better when her leftovers were reheated for breakfast 2 days later.
But all in all it was a pleasant dining experience, the prices were more than reasonable, and they were so friendly and trying really hard, and, coupled with the nearly empty dining room (even as the time progressed to a more normal dining hour) made me want to root for them and hope that they succeed. So I’ll give them a solid 3 stars in spite of their flaws.

Les serveurs étaient très amicaux, l’endroit très bien situé. C’est pour ces raisons que je donne une étoile.
J’ai commandé une pizza «Sicilienne» que je n’ai vraiment pas aimé. Environ 45 min après, en direction de mon magasin de crème glacé préféré (Ripples) je suis tombé malade. Je suis très sensible en ce qui concerne la nourriture et la pizza b´est vraiment pas bien passé. Je suppose que les aliments n’étaient tous simplement pas frais. D’où le goût très mauvais de mon plat…