Le Papillon Ivre — Restaurant in Saint Barthélemy

Le Papillon Ivre is a rare find and a most delectable place to dine. We found it by accident when one of our group wanted to get a drink while the rest of us wanted to hike to Colombier Beach. When we returned to pick her up, we found another one of your group wanted to stay. Went back to the villa to shower and change and returned to LPI to pick them up. Instead, found them wine tasting here. Now, we are not talking about any type of wines when i realized the selection and the exquisiteness of the 5 wines on the table. All of them were definitely in classes of their own. Julie, the owner is not only gorgeous, she also looks to be a proud owner and knows her wines.

Thus place is located in St Jean on the Island of St Barthelemy which in itself is a welcome. The place is nestled in a small group of 3 places. You sit outdoors and it is quite cozy. Julie is a fabulous host and if I lived in St Barts, u would certainly visit her establishment quite often. She would make a huge splash if she had another place here in New York. This French Bistro serves a multitude of tapas that you will not see in most tapas places. Thats the uniqueness of this place. I posted a picture of the current selections available that day. The wait staff is also top in service. I don't how anyone could rate this place any lower than a 4 if things did not go right. The ingredients are super fresh and the arrangements are superb as well. We ordered the white asparagus with poached egg, the smoked salmon back with a French thick creme, the roti cauliflower with a golden presentation (yes it gold, look at the picture), eggplant roti with pesto and burrata, slices of ham of black hooved pig leg, which is a delicacy of Spain usually (like butter), the escargot de Bourgogne, which was so delicious, and finally my favorite, the Artichoke de Papillon which had an exquisite creme with truffles. The Artichoke was out of this world! Remember the wines? I stuck to the Givry Premier Cru which was so amazing in texture and flavor and silliness. I almost wanted to kidnap Julie so she can open a place here in NY. She would definitely be a challenge to some of the best places here as well. I totally forgot to mention the delicious crispy bread...almost embarrassed that we asked for more, yes everything here...

JUST AWFUL AND OBSCENELY PRICED TO BOOT. From an Extremely Seasoned St Barts Visitor, Do NOT believe the reviews here

We've been coming to St. Barts for over a decade, going to every restaurant at all price points on the island and Papillon Ivre was BY FAR the worst experience we've had, not just this year, 2024, but any year. Two couples cost roughly 600 euros, far more than we paid at truly outstanding restaurants such as Toiny, Sand Bar at Eden Rock, Bonito, etc, and the quality was FAR, FAR below those fine establishments as well as other great restaurants that have much lower price points such as Langouste (near Cheval Blanc), Grain de Sel (in the Saline area) and even Cre-Age, a take-out Carribean place near the Monoprix supermarket. ALL of those restaurants have FAR higher quality food at FAR better prices to the point of absurdity. In addition, NONE of them have a view over a parking lot where diners to get breath in diesel fumes during their entire meal. Quite the opposite, they are in some of the prettiest spots on the island with gorgeous beaches such as Sand Bar, on St. Jean bay, and Toiny, on Toiny Beach, and Langouste on Flamands beach.

To be clear, the ingredients in Papillon's Ivre's food are not necessarily low quality in and of themselves. The problem is that the small plates just don't come together. They do not work. The best chefs in the world know how to find exotic ingredients that aren't on every menu and combine them in a way that creates a delicious result. Papillon Ivre fails miserably here. Out of literally 10 different dishes that we tried, only one, a ravioli dish, was actually tasty. The resounding failure of the food combined with the meager portions and exorbitant prices and a hostess who just has way too much bluster was an awful combination. This didn't apply to just everyone at our table but also everyone at a far larger table nextdoor. To wit, no one at our table ordered desserts or coffee, no one at that far larger table ordered desserts or coffee either. Everyone just wanted to get the h-ll out of there. We did and we will never,...

We asked the concierge at Eden Rock for a recommendation that was laid back and within walking distance from our resort. She could not have pointed us to a better spot! If you are looking for genuine French cuisine and an out-of-this-world wine selection, this is your place! It was such a nice touch to walk inside (tables are all outside) to select our bottle of wine under the guidance of the lovely owner and chef. Though we didn’t end up going with the top dollar Montrachet, we ended up drinking an incredible 2008 white Burgundy in our price range that could not have been better. (Point being, this place has an incredible wine choice for any budget, including those looking for a high-end wine experience) The egg in cream was absolute decadence. (My husband raved about it with the truffles while I was thrilled with my choice of a bacon accompaniment) I savored every bite of the foie gras which the owner told me was a recipe from her grandmother. It was obvious how much each person who worked at Le Papillon cared about the food and experience they were serving. Should we be fortunate to come back to St. Barth’s again we will most definitely also go back to Le Papillon Ivre! (Also, I am gluten-free and there were many options...