Saveur - french food in a coffeeshop

It was a most unexpected and welcome surprise to discover French food of this quality and pricing in a rather dingy and run-down coffeeshop. Run by two earnest young chefs, Saveur's offerings were served in white chinaware, with proper cutlery (safico!) and plated beautifully. Most importantly, the food tasted good.

Angel hair pasta with konbu and dried ebi (SGD4). A delicate-tasting dish, the angel hair pasta had been sufficiently infused with the umami flavour of the konbu stock.

Chicken roulade stuffed with foie gras, served on basmati rice (SGD8.90). Frankly, there was hardly any foie gras in the roll and what little there was, was not rich or creamy enough for my taste. But I'm not complaining at this price! The chicken meat was tender and moist (due to the sous vide treatment) and the seasoning was done perfectly, although unfortunately the skin was not crispy. The rice was not too memorable, and in my personal opinion a dash of paprika would have done wonders to lift the entire dish.

The duck confit, at an unbelievable price of SGD8.90, was not bad - the meat was pretty moist and not over salted. But as with the chicken roulade, this suffered from a lack of crisping. Kudos to the pommes puree though, according to E, this was made from real potatoes and not that nasty reconstituted mash. However, I thought it was a little too heavy on the cream.

All in all, some rough edges, but a raw gem nonetheless. Make your way down before the hordes descend (in fact they already have! We went for an early lunch at 12 noon and only had to wait about 10 minuites).

Saveur
www.saveur.sg
Ali Baba Eating House, Stall no. 3
125 East Coast Road (Junction of Joo Chiat Road and East Coast Road)