Papillon Restaurant - Fremont, California

Lana MM

We had the Lobster Ravioli to start, for salads we ordered the Caesar & their House salad, all delicious and the thinly sliced apples & walnuts in the house salad were so good! sorry no photos of the salads! For our entree we had their Classic beef wellington med.rare & their special a Thai inspired Bouillabaise w/ scallops, mussels and shrimp. The wellington was very tasty but the pastry was a little soggy.
The Thai Bouillabaise was very flavorful but the Scallops seemed a little overcooked and only 2 medallion sized ones.
Also meal comes with bread & butter but no baguette it was american style bread.
Overall food was pretty good, we brought our own wine and they have a $20 corking fee.
Servers were nice and attentive.

Triya Bhattacharya

I'd been excited to go to Papillon reading the reviews but it was honestly a huge letdown in terms of the food. The ambience and service is great, so this review isn't about them. The decor is old school and looks very classy, but the food is heavy with dairy without complex flavours.

Lobster ravioli - felt like it was made with frozen imitation lobster, and sprinkled with supermarket shredded cheese on top (?!). Disappointing start. Sauce was fine, nothing exceptional, tomatoes + creme.

Shrimp and Scallop pasta - scallops were a tad undercooked, and pasta was quite overcooked. I like al dente pasta and this wasn't it. Sauce was basically the same as the ravioli.

Chicken - overcooked, dry chicken, filled with a lot of cheese which was concentrated in some corners. The crab meat it was filled with was good, but overall the dish felt like way too much dairy. We also found some crab shells in it the next day which could have been dangerous.

The house salad they were served with was actually better than everything else. The bread they served tasted a bit stale, not the best start to our meal.

It all felt worse because of the price we paid, roughly $60pp, the food didn't match up to it at all and there are so many better places you can go to in the Bay Area for much cheaper. Wouldn't recommend going there.

Matt

TL;DR Food is nothing but average: too much garlic and overcooked. Service is average and nothing better.

I got to get this out of the way first, out server was SO ANNOYING. Every single time he came up to our table, he would ask us if we were celebrating something. Every time we'd say no. Every time he kept asking. It clearly shows inattentiveness.

We ordered a bunch of dishes. We ordered oysters Rockefeller, escargot and frog legs for starters. The oysters were very good, but the escargot and frog legs had WAY too much garlic. I'm typing this hours later and still have the taste of garlic in my mouth from these two freaking dishes. You literally couldn't taste anything but garlic.

Many of us subbed the house salad for our entree for the onion soup. The onion soup is very good here as many have pointed out. I can confirm that it is very good.

I got the salmon, and the rest of the people in my party got the rack of lamb, halibut and chicken cordon Bleu.

The salmon was okay. The cranberry topping you could barely taste. As a result the salmon was quite bland and it was also slightly overcooked. The mashed potatoes were decent: they were silky smooth.

The rack of lab was clearly way over cooked from the photos. It was definitely medium well instead of medium rare. The portion size was good, but it definitely wasn't salted enough and tasted a little gamey, when I tried it.

I was told the halibut was good, but the chicken cordon Bleu wasn't worth finishing. We threw all our leftovers away as we didn't think anything was worthwhile saving.

André T.

Hands down the best fine dining experience I've had in Fremont! The staff are incredibly friendly and efficient, with every detail of customer service executed perfectly. They’re impeccably dressed, adding to the elegant atmosphere. Charley is a fantastic host, and his wife is an exceptional chef. A special thanks to Glen for his outstanding service as our waiter. My mom and I truly enjoyed our Thanksgiving dinner here and can't wait to return soon!

Allison Wright

Delicious food! Salmon was great. Wish I know when the Corn Chowder would be on the menu. It's my favorite soup they make and I haven't had it in years because they don't have a published schedule.
The tomato soup was good and a little too much cream.

Kelly Drake

Staff were outstanding!! Loved the escargot and Oyster Rockefeller. The Chocolate Mousse with cake desert was fantastic and was the highlight of the meal. Great beer selection and cocktails.

I hope a Happy Hour menu is added.

Joanna Cretella

I don't want to be too harsh - the food here is fine. But for the prices they're charging, I'd expect something more elevated. Every dish was the most very basic version you'd imagine from a restaurant that seems to be sadly stuck in the past. The cocktails were nothing to write home about either. As nice as the staff was, I don't think I'd return.

Hailey Green

Never have had a bad meal or bad experience while going here for decades. The staff is always polite and professional towards everyone. Everything offered on their on the menu is nothing short of outstanding. Hands down must try is the lobster ravioli. I have never had another version that has surpassed their quality. The atmosphere is intimate and cozy with their fine dining experience. This is a great place to go for a nice dinner with a small or large party. I cannot wait for my next dinner here!