Saveur

By Jennifer Jasensky on January 28, 2015

5 Purvis Street, #01-04, Singapore.

It was a rainy weekday evening when we popped into Saveur. The simple décor and bright lighting beckoned on this wet night.  It’s creators aim to produce great French food at a good price.  The reviews online were fab, so I was very excited to eat here. It did not disappoint.

The napkins were a great idea—business owners take note! Great way to advertise the other locations. Unless you have to use the napkin for something gross…maybe not the best takeaway, but at least you know the other venues exist. They have nicely shaped silverware that was able to sit on the edge of my plate without rolling all over the place (which totally grinds my gears).

I started with the onion soup with toasted cheese baguette. It was tasty, but I missed the layer of cheese you get in some preparations of this soup. The baguette was crisp and satisfying, a good accompanying size.

Then I had the star dish: duck confit. It was amazing. The duck was well cooked and flavorful in the best way. I even enjoyed some of the crispiest bits of the crispy skin—I’m not a “skin” fan. The mashed potatoes were so so creamy and the mushrooms were firm, savory, and FRESH (not canned as I usually find out here). The dish also came with mandarin orange segments. They were from a can—but for S$12.90 ($10.32) a plate, I’m not complaining.

To finish, I had the Chocolate & Hazelnut dessert (S$7.90): a chocolate mouse with crushed hazelnuts, broken raspberries, toasted chocolate rice puffs, chocolate tuile, and praline. It was heavy but super satisfying. Very rich and flavorful with a creamy texture, and was especially good when you swept your spoon through the dash of praline sauce on the side. I think it would have been better with plain puffed rice though, as the chocolate taste was nearly overwhelming.

The hubs chose a very interesting looking dessert.

Yes, that is a bowl of foam. But it is also a miniature archeological expedition, allowing you to dig inside and find all sorts of treasures. It is called Cookies & Milk (S$9.90). It contains cookie dough ice cream, milk soil, honey cloud, cherries kirsch, and peanut butter. A mouthful of a description, but a mouthful he enjoyed.

On the negative side of things, it was very noisy. I could hardly hear the hubs. It was also very hard to get into my seat by the wall; very tightly packed tables. But hey, for the price, I’ll just smile and nod at the hubs and hope he doesn’t ask me any questions.

Then there was the host at the door. Pretty sure he hated me. Or maybe he just has one of those faces. I kind of liked it actually. It made me feel like I was at a fancy, exclusive place that was so special the host did not deign to smile at me lest I get too comfortable and take off my shoes or something. He did smile at me on the way out (maybe because he saw me taking notes!), so I won’t hold it against him. :)

Overall, I loved the food. So I will go back—maybe tomorrow. :)

Want to try duck confit at home?  Here is an interesting looking slow cooker recipe, and here is a more traditional recipe.