There was a time when the French language was so identified with fine food that steakhouses in mid-America printed their menu offerings first in French, and only grudgingly in English below. While this has rightfully come to seem pompous, French still appears in unlikely places. Visitors to the South Bay sometimes visit Versailles restaurant in Manhattan Beach expecting Parisian food, and are surprised to find that the fare on offer is Cuban.
Another place with a misleading name is Papillon, a very good Filipino restaurant in El Segundo. Calling the restaurant “Butterfly” in some language is a good idea since El Segundo is best known for its indigenous blue insect, but what’s wrong with the name “Paruparo.” That’s the word for butterfly in Tagalog, the major indigenous language of the Philippines. I think it’s a pretty word, though admittedly not one with which many South Bay locals are familiar.
We generally aren’t familiar with Filipino food either, which is a shame because it’s excellent stuff. The flavors are a mix of Chinese, South Asian, and just a touch of Spanish from the centuries of Colonial rule, and they’re combined in a way subtly different from other South Asian cuisines. One thing that may have reduced the popularity of Filipino cooking in America is the preference for cooking with a lot of fat, especially fatty pork. Papillon may therefore be the best possible place for an introduction to this cuisine, because they offer both standard and vegetarian versions of most dishes. Let me hasten to say that the vegetarian versions aren’t just the dish with the meat removed – they use Chinese Buddhist traditions for substituting carefully prepared combinations of soy with grains and nuts so that you hardly notice the difference.
I went to Papillon recently with a party of seven, including one person who dislikes fish and one who rarely eats meat. I ordered a variety of dishes, some vegetarian and some not, and decided to see how they went over.
We started with an order of lumpia Shanghai, the cigar-shaped Filipino eggrolls, and fried tofu with a sweet chili dipping sauce. The long, thin shape of the eggrolls means they cook quickly to an elegant crispness, and these arrived hot and fresh within minutes of ordering. In flavor they were similar to Vietnamese eggrolls, a crisp skin over julienned vegetables, noodles, and pork. With a dash of the sweet and spicy dipping sauce it was a great way to wake up the palate. The fried tofu was a hit too, even among some people who aren’t usually enthusiastic about tofu – the fat triangles of bean curd were crisp over an almost omelette-like soft interior.
We continued with two bowls of soup, a vegetarian Chinese hot and sour soup and a Filipino specialty called sinigang. The only consistent thing about sinigang is stock made with tamarind fruit to give a pleasantly sour, slightly musky broth, Otherwise, Filipino cooks add any vegetables they happen to like, which in this case included leek, onion, carrot, okra, and bamboo shoots. I was the only one at the table who had tried sinigang before, and the reactions to the warmly spicy and tart soup ranged from cautious interest to enthusiasm. A few preferred the hot and sour soup, which was exceptionally well done for a vegetarian version. I’ve had some other vegetarian hot and sour soups that just didn’t have the strength of flavor in the stock to balance the spices, but this one came through with flying colors. It included the traditional lily buds, an expensive item that many restaurants leave out, and was as good as any I’ve had in the South Bay, vegetarian or not.
We continued with the house special fish, sweet and sour chicken, a noodle dish called pancit bihon, and vegetarian escabeche. Escabeche is a recipe usually made with fish, which is fried and then topped with a sauce made with vinegar, ginger, garlic, and soy sauce. Everyone liked the sauce, but there were various opinions about the vegetarian fish. A fish lover compared the texture to gefilte fish, which he doesn’t particularly like, and another person at the table asked if it was possible that they had made a mistake and given us real fish. They hadn’t, but the texture of the vegetarian mix of prepared soy, nuts, and water chestnut had a texture close enough to fool her. The one person at our table who usually doesn’t like fish at all enjoyed this very much, and it was certainly a conversation-starter.
The house special fish was more to my taste, tender filets in a peppery, garlicky sauce and served over lettuce. The major deficiency in Papillon’s menu is that the dishes aren’t described well, or in some cases at all. This was the latter – while some of us really liked the spicy fish, it would have been nice to know which items were spicy before they arrived at the table.
I had ordered the noodles known as pancit bihon without knowing what they were, just that I’ve liked every Filipino noodle dish I’ve tried and so expected to like these. I did; the thin rice noodles had a slight hint of smokiness in the sauce and were fried with an appealing mix of pork, shrimp, and vegetables. I was less enamored of the sweet and sour chicken – it was good but not outstanding, and very similar to the traditional Chinese version.
We finished with Halo-halo, a dessert made with crushed ice, cocoanut milk, fruit, and red beans topped with ice cream. This arrives at the table beautifully arranged, and the temptation is to sample each separate item. The restaurant owner told us to mix it all together and eat it the way Filipinos do, which was sound advice – it was delicately sweet and had an excellent variety of textures and flavors swirled together.
Our dinner for seven was a feast on a budget – with fresh fruit drinks and Thai iced teas, the total came to almost exactly a hundred dollars. It was well worth it for fine and exotic food in a pleasant little restaurant, and explains why this place is so popular with vegetarians and omnivores alike. Name it in French, Tagalog, or English, this butterfly is rare and worth seeking out.
Papillon is located at 408 Main Street in El Segundo. Open daily except Monday for lunch and dinner, buffet available at lunch. Street parking, handicap access OK, no alcohol served. Call 310-640-0408 for catering or take-out.
