Saveur (Purvis Street)

Saveur's Pasta $4.90

Saveur is a restaurant serving affordable French Cuisine. The owners of the restaurant first the business in a coffeeshop before moving to its present location at Purvis Street. Today, the restaurant occupies 2 units at Purvis Street (side by side) and has a second outlet at Far East Plaza.
Saveur located at Purvis Street is directly opposite the National Library. It is around 10 minutes walk from either Bugis or City Hall MRT station.
There used to be long queues at the restaurant but now that the hype has died down and it has 2 units (larger seating capacity), there was no need to wait or queue for a table despite it being a weekend evening. Outside its entrance, there was even a small kiosk for customers to key in their mobile number to enter the queue. I guess there's no need for this now.
The restaurant was around 70% full during our time of visit. Looking at its kitchen counter, it still looks so classy and modern despite its pricing.

French Onion Soup $8.90

The French Onion Soup $8.90 with served with a slice of toasted french loaf was probably the most 'not-for-value' dish. It comes with a pricey price tag and in addition, it failed in the taste department. There was a weird after taste.

Potato au Gratin $3

For sides, we ordered the Potato au Gratin $3. I wonder if it was me, but the word 'Gratin' typically means that the dish is baked and comes with (top) layer of light brown crust. This was not the Potato au Gratin I was expecting. Nevertheless, at $3 this was a decent dish in terms of taste. Maybe they should rename this dish.

Saveur's Pasta $4.90

We also ordered their signature Saveur's Pasta $4.90 for sharing. It consisted of Angel’s Hair Pasta with minced pork sauce, sakura ebi, kombu and chilli oil. Tossing everything together, the taste was amazing with hints of sweetness, saltiness and just a slight hint of spiciness at times. I wonder how come it was not spicy if chilli oil was added. Priced at $4.90 this was a real steal, I could not have expected more in terms of taste at such pricing. It even came nicely plated.

Duck Confit $12.90

I ordered the Duck Confit $12.90. The Duck Confit was served on top of a bed of mashed potato with sauteed shitake with parsley and garlic at the side.

Duck Confit $12.90

The Duck Confit, typically prepared by roasting the leg of the duck till it is crispy was on the skinny side. It was not meaty enough. Moreover, some parts of the duck leg was not even cooked and hence was not crisp. Those parts that were crisp were very well executed. The mashed potato at the bottom was delicious. I was scrapping the empty plate to ensure that none were wasted.

Seabass $14.90

The partner ordered the Seabass $14.90 which was pan-seared. It was served with sauteed potato and french beans.

Seabass $14.90

The Seabass was incredibly fresh with no fishy after taste and its skin was pan-seared till it was so crisp. What puzzled us was that the french beans were layered (i.e. sliced in-between to make it 2 halves). The crunchiness was lost as a result.  

The french food at Saveur is quite affordable and value for money. Other than the French Onion Soup, it would be hard to find such prices at anywhere else. If you are on a budget, this is a place to consider. In terms of ambience, the restaurant was crowded and noisy. It was hard to strike a conversation at times.