le papillon

seared beef with mustard dressing

Some weeks back, I decided to go try Le Papillon with a fellow foodie friend, M. Instead of splurging on a dinner, we decided to have lunch there first before we commit to dinner. Afterall, S$29+++ seemed quite reasonable to try some of chef-owner Anderson's dishes. So off we went for lunch on a Friday afternoon.

warm caesar salad with softshell crab

It started off alright. Service was prompt and no snooty hostess in sight ( I have read quite a few horror stories on some blogs about a very upperty and snooty hostess). We ordered the softshell crab with warm caesar salad and seared beef with mustard dressing for appertisers. The portions were quite big, considering it was a set lunch, so we were quite happy with that. Though I thought the idea of warm caesar salad was just wrong. I like my cos lettuce crisp and fresh, rather than limp and warm. The seared beef was more sliced roast beef than seared. It wasn't pink at all and looked too much like Sunday roast. The wholegrained mustard dressing was unimaginative and boring. It was just that - wholegrained mustard dressing. The pairing of mustard with beef was as commonplace as ketchup and hotdog.

fish with tomato sauce and seasonal veg

Next: main course - we went with the fish dishes. We ordered the fish (can't remember what) with tomato sauce and seasonal veggies and the deepfried whiting with potato salad. Sigh. We couldn't believe that these unimaginative dishes were coming out from a renowned-for-creativity chef's kitchen. The tomato sauce fish dish looked and tasted so much like airplane food. Right down to the 'seasonal vegs' of carrots and sugarsnap peas. My lunch partner, M, who is a frequent globetrotter couldn't stomach it. Could this be a unforgotten past with SATS catering that the chef couldn't let go? The whiting was fried quite lightly, almost tempura-like, which was nice, but it was totally tasteless. The side of potato salad was just plain boring.

Banana tart

Finally, dessert. We weren't given a choice so both of us had the tart. It sure was much better than the mains or the appertisers, but it wasn't exactly mind-blowing. I had eaten way better sweets at Canele or Bakerz Inn. On a good note, we were both stuffed. The portions for appertisers are commendable. But I have little much else to say about the mains. I had a peek at the ala carte dinner menu and it did look a little more exciting. It's a real pity so little thought had gone into the lunch menu, as I was really looking forward to bringing D there was a nice weekend dinner.