We wandered down Front St looking for a bite to eat and found this amazing French gem. I had the smoked duck, my husband had the cassoulet, both were delicious. Great service, yummy food- our new favourite Toronto restaurant. Next time we visit, we’ll be...back!More

Gorgeous restaurant, super clean, the staff are so friendly and amazing!! We came here for Summerlicious, menu is great, the quality of food is excellent! Francesco is the best!! He offered top notch service and he was so patient with my girlfriends picture taking tasks,...haha! Thank you so much for providing us a wonderful dining experience!More

Well I would be honest I was very disappointed with the food at this restaurant. We ordered tuna tartare, Bouillabaisse, Tourtiere Maison and steak and fries. Bouillabaisse Was complete disappointment: fish was so dry, scallops over cooked that you can. It chew it at all,...no mussels!!!! Steak was absolutely not eatable, chewy not tender. Tourtiere Maison was fine but they served it with cold mashed potato and tuna tartare was pretty much that you can expect from fresh Tuna but nothing special. That was our first time there and definitely last one. We also ordered the tea that they just forget to serve. So definitely north worse the money. For $150 I can find something so much better. I did like the interior but maybe only for glass of wine, not place to eat. I read so many good reviews and I was completely disappointed.More

this is true French Bistro dining. Went there with another couple and the food was amazing. Great service as well. The decor could use some updating but overall a nice place to eat.

We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner and the service was very good. We started with an order of escargots and our entrees were the grilled salmon and poult a la peche and for dessert we shared pouding chomeur. All the dishes were delicious although the chicken...and peaches was our favorite - amazing! We highly would recommend a visit to Le Papillon.More

The atmosphere is both cozy and spacious. Service was very attentive. The timing of each course was just the right pace. The rich and flavourful French onion soup is a must try if you haven’t. It does come in two sizes. Caesar Salad with it’s...creamy, garlicky dressing was delicious. It must be the addition of anchovies, you can’t see them as they are incorporated into the sauce. Yum! A very tasty Coq au vin was served piping hot. A grilled salmon perfectly cooked had a lovely lemon butter and caper sauce. Roasted cauliflower and garlic mash (my choice instead of rice) were equally enjoyed as sides. On this evening their espresso machine was broken and they await a replacement. Oh well worse things could happen. We enjoyed dining at Le Papillon and we will be back.More

Fantastic food! This is the kind of restaurant where it doesn’t matter what you order, its going to be fantastic. Service was prompt friendly. Our go to foodery when in Toronto. Thanks to Neil for excellent service.

We arrived at the restaurant and were greeted by a friendly member of staff, who sat us at a quiet table. Our waitress was very friendly and polite. I ordered the salade papillon, which was delicious (the tarragon dressing is amazing) as a starter, and...the New York strip steak-frites, which I ordered medium-rare, and was so tender, it almost melted in my mouth. We were greedy and ordered dessert; I had the crème brûlée, which I could hardly finish as it was so big. Thoroughly enjoyed our visit here to this friendly restaurant with fantastic food. Merci !More

My friend and I went to Le Papillon on Front last night (Saturday, March 12) to celebrate her birthday and we both were extremely disappointed in the food quality, taste and ambiance. I rated them a two only due to our amazing server (Neil). Upon...being seated we immediately noticed they were playing non French rock and role which was strange and out of place for a quality French restaurant, however, they soon switched to more appropriate French music. The brick walls were warm, rustic and lovely as were the French overhead lighting fixtures but there were absolutely no pictures on the walls excepting a few butterfly ones over by the bathroom but nothing in the dining room making for a dull, boring and pedestrian ambiance which again is unexpected in this type of establishment. Service was fast and our wine was brought to us immediately cold and crisp as it should be along with a basket of bread with little packets of butter which we found strange as generally a good quality establishment would never use plastic packets but rather a nice bowl of butter but we put it down due to Covid. For appetizers my friend ordered the escargot and advised it was bland and flavorless while I had the deep friend brie which had a funny fishy taste to it. I enquired of Neil whether perhaps they had just fried some fish in the same oil and he advised they don't have fried fish on the menu and then it dawned on me that they had not changed the oil in probably close to, if not a whole week and it was rancid. Realizing the issue I quickly pushed away the rest of my brie now knowing it was not up to par. I totally recognize that restaurants have been hit so hard by the pandemic and are trying to cut corners but serving rancid food is totally not an area you should be cutting back on as its a health and safety risk. For our entres, my friend ordered the Duck Breast and noted that while it was well prepared and tender, it had no flavor and the same with the dry mashed potatoes it was served with. I ordered the Tourtiere Maison which was also served with mashed potatoes and both were flavorless as well and my tourtiere was not firm but falling apart which I recognize from my own cooking was due to their not using enough or if any pork in the dish (although advertised to have both ground pork and beef). As there was no salt and pepper on the table we resorted to using the butter for our bread to try and make them more palatable. My friend skipped desert although Neil did bring her over a complimentary dish of ice cream with sauce for her birthday and I ordered the Pouding Chomeur. Generally I am not a fan of pudding cakes but it was well prepared and tasty - the best out of everything we had ordered. The bill came to $201 (plus 20% tip for Neil who was absolutely amazing and well deserved it) which I felt was so overpriced for what we had, the quality as well as the entire ambiance not to mention serving rancid food but I paid without complaint. Neither of us will be back again as there are so many great restaurants in Toronto who don't cut corners by serving rancid food, have great flavorful food with larger portions and wonderful atmospheres at a much lower cost.More

All around service was good. Saturday 5 March. We arrived at around 4:30. I wanted the steak and fries. Was told they had run out of steak.... already at 4:30. Really. After the dinner was finished. I wanted a cappuccino. Oh my the machine was...broken. lolMore

My girl & I decided to go out to dinner the other night to this restaurant. I work night shifts & she works during the day so we only get to see eachother once a week. We were both excited to go out to dinner....When we got to the door this lady Mary or Mariam, whatever her name was, comes up to us. We weren't wearing masks, & when she told us to put on masks, we politely said we had mask exemptions. Immediately she became hostile, giving us a huge attitude, & making rude remarks. We were never hostile or aggressive back to her. You do not fight fire with fire. We were composed & kind the entire time. & any of the waitresses that saw what was going on from where they were standing at the bar can attest to this. We wanted to sit at the table beside the hostess stand, so by the time we even put on masks anyways, we'd have to take them off it again. It made literally no sense whatsoever. I asked for the manager, but turns out she IS the manager. (If you work at this restaurant & you're reading this, you don't have to work for someone like that. Don't let this truly sick, evil woman walk all over you. You deserve better). I tip well & I was excited to go out for a nice meal with my girl. I could see the waitresses standing at the bar doing nothing, since the restaurant was very dead. I feel sorry for those poor girls. I honestly don't know why they would even work for such a disgusting human being like her. They could've served us and gotten tips & actually have done something instead of just standing at the bar. I have never, in the last 2 years, been treated as horribly as this woman treated us. What a sick & disgusting human being. How this restaurant is still even in business shocks me. & I almost never, ever write reviews about places. & if I do, they're always good ones. But after the way that woman disrespected us, gave us so much attitude, talked down to us, and treated us like absolute dirt, I feel this is something I must write. We just left & the entire energy for the rest of our night was thrown off. Our entire night was ruined by this 3 minute interaction with woman, & I won't get to see my girl again for another week. Do NOT support this restaurant. I've never in the last 2 years, in my entire life even, been treated as horribly as I was on Tuesday night.More

I have taken some time to compose what I believe is a fair review of my recent trip to this establishment. To begin, I have always enjoyed my visits to this restaurant. The food is good and although not necessarily authentic in my opinion, I...found it to be satisfying. The waitpersons are always helpful and polite. I live in the St. Lawrence Market neighbourhood where this restaurant is located and have returned a number of times in the past. I've also brought several guests with me over the years. It has always been a good experience. This last visit however was a very different story. In these difficult times, navigating our way through all things pandemic related seems to keep us all on a bit of a learning curve. To be clear, I believe in the validity of vaccinations, masks, and basically all things preventative and I take the threat of this pandemic very seriously. I manage an infectious diseases clinic. On this journey, we have gone from no vaccine documentation, to vaccine documentation, to not having passports, to having temporary passports generated with QR codes in anticipation of a government issued passport. Very recently a government vaccine passport has been issued. There can be no doubt that confusion has crept in for many of us from time to time and so just as we should exhibit patience with the changes in document protocols as they roll out and respect each venue's rules, so I believe must they be patient in dealing with us. On Friday, October 22nd this was hardly the case at Le Papillion On Front. I made a reservation for 6 of us at 7PM. All of us had been to the restaurant in past years. We were eager to return and catch up with one another as it had been sometime since we'd been together. I was advised upon making the reservation that all of the guests would be required to present proof of vaccination and a photo ID. That was certainly not going to be a problem for any of us. In my iPhone I had been keeping PDF copies of my vaccination documents as well as a vaccine passport with a legit QR code that I downloaded with the help of an article on BlogTO and one that was authorized by my local district health unit. Up until that evening that very same passport was accepted by every establishment that required one. I arrived at the restaurant first. There was no line nor anyone waiting to be seated. Basically I was alone at the seating station. I first looked for the QR code often requested be scanned for contact tracing. There was none. The seating hostess requested that I show her my proof of vaccination instead. Apparently scanning the contact tracing QR code isn't required at that restaurant. I showed her my passport in my iPhone wallet. She told me it was invalid as it didn't have my birthdate on it. She also told me the that I needed to have my ID ready as well. It was in my hand. I mentioned having used that passport as recently as that same day. She would either not believe me or did not want to. She went into a bit of a sermon about what is required and what I should come prepared for however she agreed to let me be seated at the table even though she was displeased with my documents. I very quickly found the PDF copies and presented them to her as additional proof. I have no problem being asked to comply with protocols. I do however have a problem with the way I am asked to. I felt instantly like a child being admonished for misbehaving. Her manner was terse and abrupt and hardly welcoming to a customer. I mentioned that I did understand the seriousness of the situation because I work in a medical practice. Her reply was "that doesn't matter... you must provide proof with a birthdate." That wasn't the point I was making, but okay. I let it slide as I've encountered similarly over officious people in the past. I was intent on having a pleasant evening in spite of the incident. I never used harsh words towards her or behaved in the terse manner she was demonstrating towards me and others. I was resolved to having a pleasant evening with my friends in spite of the chilly and abrupt treatment I received from her. I kept my eyes on the door waiting for my friends. One couldn't help but notice her abrupt and somewhat combative demeanour continued with other customers including two of the guests that arrived to sit our table. I wondered who in their right mind would put such a person with such a tremendous lack of people skills at the front door of their restaurant. We had an amazing waiter who treated us very well. That said I'd like to say I enjoyed the evening, but I did not. I was annoyed at myself for not having turned around and walked out of the restaurant, but I also realized that would only be ruining the evening for my friends and no one else. Going forward I will never return to Le Papillion On Front. It's a good restaurant, but not so good anyone should allow themselves to be treated like that. Seriously, I must ask, where did they find that person.More