Papillon has quickly become a bit of a second home for me. I’ve been here five times in the past two weeks, and that already says a lot!
I first discovered this place by chance while looking for somewhere to work with a colleague. Instead of going to a coworking space, we ended up here. I asked if it would be okay to sit and work for the day, and they immediately made us feel welcome and told us it was absolutely fine. We set up our laptops, plugged them in, and spent the whole day working here. Since then, I’ve repeated the experience four more times.
What really makes this place stand out is the people. The team is international, always smiling, incredibly kind, and genuinely helpful. It adds such a nice touch compared to many other places I’ve been to.
The food is also very good. I’ve already tried several dishes and honestly enjoyed all of them. The chef clearly knows what he’s doing. If I had to mention one small thing, maybe the portions could be a little more generous, but honestly, I always leave happy and satisfied.
Prices are fair, the coffee is great, and there is also a beautiful terrace that must be fantastic on sunny days.
This is definitely a place I will keep coming back to, spending my workdays here while enjoying good coffee and a really nice lunch.
We booked a table for 8:30 PM and arrived on time. We were able to place our order quite quickly, and the starter arrived very fast as well. However, around 9 PM, while we were still eating our starter, we were informed that the kitchen was closing and that they would already serve the main courses. We agreed because there was not much else we could do, but honestly, I did not find this very professional. If I had wanted both courses at the same time, I would have ordered them together.
The waiter and the service staff were friendly and polite throughout the evening, so no complaints there. However, the overall atmosphere made us feel a bit rushed. The restaurant officially closes at 11 PM, and although it was not very busy, they did the last call quite early and by around 10:45 PM everything was already closed and we were left outside.
Overall, it was an okay experience, but I had visited previously for lunch and enjoyed that much more. This time, the experience felt less welcoming because it seemed like they mainly wanted to close as quickly as possible.
Unfortunately, the pasta dishes were also a bit disappointing. My friends ordered the nduja pasta, but it was essentially pasta with tomato sauce and the nduja served separately on the side. I had the carbonara, but the sauce contained too much egg and was a bit too liquid for my taste.
Great place for late breakfast or brunch! Ate there almost every day and all was tasty. The service is fast and friendly.
This place gave to me real Amsterdam vibe, will miss this feeling.
You, guys, are cool!
Came here for brunch on a weekday, so obviously the place was fairly empty. I must say out of all the brunch places I’ve been to in Amsterdam, Papillon has the cleanest taste - nothing is over salted or seasoned, the ingredients seem really fresh and simple, so their true flavours take the spotlight. It was a very pleasant experience. The hash brown cubes were my favourite. Will be back to try the dinner menu.
To be honest, I’m disappointed. What they show on Instagram doesn’t match what we saw and ate at the restaurant.
We came at 11 a.m., and there were almost no pastries left. When we asked if they would bake more, we were rudely told no, even though the place was full. The pastries that were on display looked quite sad.
The menu was a bit confusing, with items like regular bread, focaccia, and pita all mixed together. I asked whether my dish would be served on pita, but in the end I got focaccia. It was nothing special, and the pesto was completely tasteless. The pita with mushrooms and poached eggs was overly salty.
The coffee was not good either. On Instagram, it’s served in beautiful cups, but ours were the most unattractive ones.
I don’t think I’ll be coming back here again.
