Papillon Restaurant

We have been coming here at least once every year for the past 15 years. Easy to have a table, and a good selection of meals. This year (2024 July), the service was disappointingly slow despite the restaurant almost empty. Some of the dishes are also not as good as they used to be. Not sure what happened, but hope they fix it.

This is another one of those gems of Aruba. Location is tucked away in a little shopping mall across from the Hilton (old Radisson). There is a nightly flea market in front and it's next to Senor Frogs, but boy is the food good! Great menu, good wine list and excellent staff. A must try during your visit.

Before we start, you have to ignore the glowing 9 and 10 ratings from friends (pumpers) of Papillion to draw you in.
Second, if you love small portions, salt, and sitting behind a flea market, then have got the place for you. The good news is that no matter how bad the food is, you get so little (I got 2 medium sized Scallops in my Entry) that you will leave hungry and have to get a snack an hour later.
If French Food means, presentation of no food a premium price - your are again in luck.
Please try not to get drawn in to this place.

I returned to LA papi all restaurant this year. I have been going each year since they opened and my expectations have not changed. the service starts with a very friendly greeting in front of the restaurant. seating was quick and without incident at a table of my choice. the service staff were courteous, friendly and helpfull. I was there early so I decided to eat on the early bird special menu. I had a filet mignon that melted in my mouth. The asparagus soup was so good that I could have had another! Topped off the meal with dessert that included ice cream and berries and was a perfect ending to a great meal and great service!

Making a reservation at this restaurant was very tedious. First, the standard reservation form, second they send you a credit card request to confirm the reservation and after you do all that, they ask you to come to confirm a third time when you arrive on the island. Seems like a bit of overkill...I understand, they don't want people reserving, then not showing up, but they could hold the reservation for 15-20 minutes and if people don't show, charge them a flat fee. The numerous steps in the reservation process was annoying, but once there, we enjoyed it. The waiter was very friendly and the food was very good. The early-bird special can't be beat. Good spot in the heart of Palm Beach.

Really delicious grouper!!!

Due to the Game menu, we dined at Papillon. What a disappointment for the taste of the game food was not in harmony as French should be. The presentation of the game menu was ok for the eyes but overall not a harmonious taste.
The other normal menu was ok. The choice of the wine was also ok. We were received by a very friendly lady however in totally the service was chilly.

We dinned twice at Papillon during our 7 day stay in Aruba, March of 2014. Reservations were easy to make and outdoor seating was excellent. Seabass and triple tail were well presented and delicious. Service was great and everyone was very friendly. Seating was not crowded. Only issue I could find was that patrons in a nearby table were smoking, but the Aruba winds took care of most of it.

We ate twice at papillon during our 9 day stay in Aruba. The atmosphere at the outdoor terrace was very pleasant. Service was very attentive and friendly. Soup portions are rather sizable and the quality was variable; at one occasion the curry soup was a bit too thick with some flour lumps in it but the beef broth was absolutely excellent and very tasteful.
Portions of other dishes are customary to a bit small, especially the amount of vegetables served with the dishes was small but that seems to be common at Aruba. We thought that especially the filet mignon was excellent; extremely tender, tasteful and very well prepared (medium was really medium). The wine with the dishes was matching very well.
The dessert was also very tasteful but if you prefer coffee after diner, you'd better go somewhere else e.g. next door at gelatissimo We love a decent coffee and unfortunately we found that good coffee is a scarce product at Aruba.

We dined at Papillon on our second night. The outdoor dining room was crowded, we were the only diners indoors. It took a while before we were approached by a server. We ordered; another longer than expected wait. The food was ordinary: Grouper Papillon and Filet Mignon were nothing to rave about. For these prices, I know there are better restaurants.