Saveur: more affordable French Food in SG

SINGAPORE SERIES

The day before flying off to Ho Chi Minh, I dragged my slave friend Tim (who also happens to be Sofia's favorite Godfather) to try out another French "restaurant" that originated from hawker stall roots. I read about Saveur in the Straits Times during one of the flights I was taking to or from Singapore, pretty much in the same way that I discovered Le Cuisson in the Bugis area. 

Note: Unfortunately, Le Cuisson was only there for a couple of months and I think they already closed shop at the end of May to move to Holland Village. I wrote about that here.

Anyway, to get back on topic, I wanted to try Saveur because they were also marketing themselves under the same concept of making French food more affordable for the masses, and just like Le Cuisson, they moved to a pretty central location (which basically means not too far from where I live). I can just imagine my French friend cringe at the thought...  French food with no ambiance probably does not make any sense to the French! Hahahaha... But even though I consider myself to be French at heart, I can't deny that I still earn a basic salary in Philippine pesos that just happens to get converted to SGDs while I'm assigned there... so French food with no price for ambiance sounds pretty good to me!

Saveur has recently moved to Purvis Street.
It's also near the Bugis area, right across the National Library.

Warning. The line to get in is long.
We arrived at 1:45 and we waited for more than 30 mins to get seated.

Sofia and thin Ninong entertaining themselves while yaya waited in line.

At around 2pm, they also close the line as they end lunch service at 3pm.

Still waiting...
Groups of two get to sit faster because they can seat you anywhere,
while a bigger group (we were just 4) needs to wait for a bigger table.

Not knowing what Sofia will eat, I ordered some hard rolls (soft rolls were sold out).
They also took ages to serve the bread.
I think they served our bread to someone else as they were quite disorganized.
Hard or Soft Rolls SG$2 (Php68). I think that's expensive. Just Saying.

Crispy Pork Belly with Poached Egg and diced vegetables SG$10.90 (Php370).

This was quite good but the serving is not enough to fill you as a main course.
It's not really served with diced veggies... but with lentils and they served it before our starter.
I told you they were confused. I think they gave us someone else's main when I got mad the bread took impossibly long because they were serving us another pork dish when we were done with everything.

We ordered the double serving of Pan Fried Foie Gras with Lentils and Pickled Onions.
35g SG$7.90 (Php265)    70g SG$14.90 (Php500)

Closer look. Just because Foie Gras is always love.

This may be the cheapest Foie Gras in Singapore, and to be fair it was good,
but I just prefer my Pan Fried Foie Gras in a salad, just like Le Cuisson's.
It's healthier that way. Hahaha. Just Saying. 

Angel Hair Pasta with Tiger Prawns and Lumpfish Caviar SG$6.90 (Php232).
I think this was the most value for money thing on the menu.

Surprisingly, Sofia liked it and ate a lot.

I didn't like the Tiger Prawn bits though. The one I had was mushy and not firm.
Sofia's Prawn Crackers even tasted better! Just Saying.

Confit of Duck with Orange Segments and Saute Shitake SG$8.90 (Php300).
This was one of my favorite dishes.
The duck skin was light and crispy while the duck meat was very tender.

Tim was also taking pics of our food.

Chicken Roulade with Foie Gras Stuffing and Basmati Rice SG$9.90 (Php340).
This was just plain ordinary. I will not recommend this to anyone.

This dish over-promised and under-delivered.
I ordered it for the Foie Gras stuffing. You can't see it and you can't taste it too!

Pan Fried Beef Tenderloin with Carrot Puree, Sautee Vegetable and Mushroom Ragout.
SG$22.90 (Php770)
This one was quite good among the dishes we ordered but it's just normal for a steak.
It's not cheap also. You get a better deal at Aston's.

Fif just entertained herself with Tim's phone because they were serving dishes one at a time.
As in there were long periods of no food in between, like a degustation (because we were sharing)!
Tim found the veggies too salty so I happily ate all of them.

Finally done!!! Wait... we want dessert.

Pistachio Panna Cotta SG$6.90 (Php232)
This was a good way to end the meal but Tim did not like the Pistachio topping.
They used salted pistachios. Hahaha. So I had the topping all to myself too.

We ordered almost all the interesting dishes on the menu because I didn't want to have to line up again to try something we didn't get to order. My verdict is that this place is trying too hard to be French and trying to hard to be affordable, but only a few of the dishes we tried were really good and value for money. Will I come back again? Maybe... if I have a desperate Foie Gras and Duck craving that I am willing to line up and wait an hour for it... but then maybe I'll just cab to Holland Village and look for Le Cuisson. Just Saying.


SAVEUR
5 Purvis Street #01-04
www.saveur.sg