Papelon Melbourne — Restaurant in Melbourne

Absolutely disappointed experience at this business.

Drove one hour from Bayside area to Footscray, exclusively to visit this restaurant being of Venezuelan origin.

Sat down to an unwiped table to be completely ignored by waiting staff, even after making visual contact with them after close to 15 mins was not acknowledge not offered a menu.

There was a customer who arrived approx 10 mins after us who was then greeted warmly and instantly given a menu..(clearly a friend)

Judging by the review that had been posted roughly two hours prior to our visit- also commenting on their extremely negative experience, I feel we may have dogged a bullet by walking out of this establishment.

Honestly not what I expected from apparently a highly regarded food establishment.

** Further to the above as per the reply received by the management at Papelon;

We arrived, waited and were directed to a "table for two" which we had indeed waited to request, as per the suggested "Australian Style" of dining (I have been in Australia for 20 years). You have incorrectly assumed we have sat at a table of our own accord whilst we had already been greeted. Regardless, we were placed at this unclean table. A raised hand should not be necessary to receive menus, particularly after multiple attempts to gain attention and eye contact. No evidence of a "restructuring" to ensure a clean table and menus (bare minimum requirements of any establishment) was present, if this had been the case, we would have persisted. This is not our first outing. Nor our first experience in working in foodservice and hospitality. "Empathy" is a particularly odd term when referring to food service expectations, whilst sure, we understand this industry is demanding; a quiet "Be right with you" would have sufficed. It is clear that the comments to the negative reviews left for this particular establishment are not met...

I don't like leaving bad reviews, because it means I've wasted a good eating opportunity, but this was really disappointing. We were so happy to see a south american place open locally and went Saturday afternoon. The first problem was that, it took some time to get someone's attention to get a table. Once seated it took a long time to get service. Once we ordered, it took a long time to get our food. We were surprised by how expensive the dishes were but thought, perhaps the quality would make them worth it. Unfortunately that wasn't the case. $18 for tequenos. 5 small deep fried cheese chips. They frankly could have deep fried anything, as they had no flavour. There was a dipping sauce but it too was relatively tasteless. Then I had the Cazuella de frijoles. I had seen this dish on their socials and there it looked amazing. In reality it was very different. $32 for a flavourless bean stew with a couple of bits of pork belly and 3 thin slices of avocado drowning in it. It had clearly just been microwaved, which begged the question of why we waited 30 minutes to get it. The staff were friendly but seemed overwhelmed by a 1/4 full cafe. While we were there, two people came in to get a table, waited and then left without getting any attention. I will say that the quality of ingredients wasn't bad, so if they got their act together it could improve. Really it's food truck fare, not worth the money they are asking, especially when there are so many great options in the area. Also, they should reconsider having so many large tables. Most patrons were in ones and twos, taking up large tables. I'd like to see this place succeed but it needs to be cheaper (the mains don't need to be so huge), more consistent (needs to look like images on socials), more flavour (so disappointing for a latin american place) and service needs to...

I recently visited Papelon Restaurant, and unfortunately, my experience was far from what I had hoped for. Here are a few key issues I encountered:

Food Quality: The beans were overcooked to the point of being mushy, with no distinct texture left. They lacked seasoning and flavour, making them taste bland and unappetizing. To make matters worse, there was an unpleasant sour aftertaste, which made me question their freshness. The dish felt like it had been sitting inside the microwave for too long, and the presentation was equally unappealing—just a lifeless, grayish-brown pile with no garnish or care

Service: The staff seemed disinterested and inattentive. We had to wait 45min for two empanadas + the empanadas were overly greasy and had almost no filling.

Ambiance: The atmosphere in the restaurant was incredibly off-putting. The air was filled with a stale, musty odor that made it hard to enjoy the experience. On top of that, there was a persistent smell of grease and something sour, like old food that hadn’t been cleaned up properly. The dining area felt poorly ventilated, amplifying the unpleasant smells. The dim lighting and outdated decor didn’t help either—it gave the whole place a neglected and unwelcoming vibe. Overall, it was an uncomfortable setting that made it difficult to focus on the meal While I understand that every restaurant can have an off day, this experience left me feeling disappointed. I hope the management takes this feedback seriously and...