Saveur @ Purvis Street

Saveur (pronounced as sah-vere, 5 Purvis Street #01-04) has recently received a lot of publicity for serving (really) affordable French food, but does it live up to the hype?

We arrived slightly after 12pm (opening time for lunch) on a weekday, but the restaurant was already filled up to the brim. Business is bustling good here! We had to subsequently wait for about an hour to get a table for 3. So if you intend to come in a group with more than 2 people, I would suggest you make your way to the restaurant after 1.30pm when it's less crowded and more seats are available. Or you can start queuing at 11.3oam. (BTW, the restaurant does not take reservations.) While waiting in the queue, many passerby office workers actually know of this place but are simply unwilling to wait so long.

The white-walled eatery is simply decorated and unpretentious. The service staff were really polite and apologized for the long wait. One waiter actually asked us three times whether our good was up to mark.

This is their incredible Angel Hair Pasta With Sherry Minced Pork And Sakura Ebi ($3.90) that has everyone swooning over its value for money quotient. I really liked this al-dente spaghetti tossed in olive oil and garlic, topped with bright pink dried shrimps and minced pork paste. Where can you find decent restaurant quality al dente pasta for $3.90? Wise Guy of RERG compares this dish to "bak chor mee" and I have to agree in terms of taste and texture there are similarities. This italian mee kia may be a tad oily for some but it just has such intricate balance of flavours at an affordable price.

Pan Fried Foie Gras With Lentil And Pickled Onion (70g- $14.90)- an affordable french delicacy. This is actually my first time sampling foie gras, but I understand the best foie gras should not have any lingering taste of liver. The foie gras served here melts in your mouth but did have a little liver taste.

Confit Of Duck With Orange Segment And Sauté Shittake ($8.90) is a dish adjusted for the Singaporean palate. The original french duck confit is usually very salty, but this dish is not salty at all, but still well done. The duck meat is very tender, not overly dry or tough. The duck skin is also roasted to a perfect crispiness. This dish comes with mash potatoes, very flavourful shittake mushrooms and random pieces of orange.

For dessert, we had this spectacular looking Chocolate and Hazelnuts dessert ($7.90) It does look like a smiling face, with a protruding hat doesn't it? It is essentially chocolate garnished with bits of hazelnut shavings and raspberry. The chocolate had a smooth, mousse-like texture- well balanced and not overly decadently sweet. My friend found the raspberry sauce too sour, but I thought it was a nice pairing with the chocolate.

In such pressing times of austerity, everyone is cutting back on spending. Should you scrimp on good food too? As much as I would love that this eatery serves restaurant quality food at affordable prices, I'm not sure if I would want to queue so long to get in. But if I do manage to get a seat, I will definitely savour their cheap and excellent angel hair pasta.