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.  

Saveur (Purvis Street)

5 Purvis Street #01-05/06

Singapore 188584

Tel: 6333 3121​

Opening Hours: Mon to Sat 12pm - 215pm, 6pm - 915pm

                          Sun 12pm - 215pm, 6pm - 9pm

Website 

Saveur (Far East Plaza) 

14 Scotts Road

#01-07B Far East Plaza

Singapore 228213

Tel: 6736 1121

Opening Hours: Mon to Sat 1130am - 930pm

                          Sun 1130 - 9pm

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3G Trois Gourmands (Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh)

3G Trois Gourmands  is a French Dining Restaurant opened by Gils, a France native living in Ho Chi Minh, passionate in French culinary using natural products. The restaurant previously known as Le Toit Gourmand first opened in 2004.

3G Trois Gourmands is located in Ho Chi Minh (Saigon), District 2. It is around 20 minutes to 40 minutes drive away from the city centre depending on traffic conditions. The restaurant is located in a traditional colonial house and its interior is beautifully furnished giving it a classy modern look. The setting inside makes it a perfect place for a romantic meal between couples or gathering between friends.

We had actually wanted to visit La Villa French Restaurant, another French restaurant recommended by my Vietnamese friend. However, by the time we reached our hotel and asked the hotel to reserve a place for us, the restaurant was fully already booked. Hence, we settled for the next option recommended by my friend; 3G Trois Gourmands and got the hotel to assist us in making the reservation. (Note: It is highly advisable to make reservations as these two French restaurants are popular among locals and tourists. You would not want to travel all the way there to find out that it is full.)

Menu cover

The menu cover.

Set Menu and Entrées (Starters)

The Set Menu offers a choice of 5, 6 or 7 Course meal at a nett price of USD40, USD45, USD50 respectively. Do note the price has increased, hence its different from the photo.

We went for the 6 Course Meal which costed USD40 / VND 840,000 (S$50.40) per pax then. The 6 course meal consisted of Truffe Scrambled Eggs (Brouillade Aux Truffes), Homemade cheeses (Assortiment de fromages maison) and a choice of 2 Entrées (Starters), a main dish and a dessert.

Main Dish Menu: Viandes (Meat), Poissons (Fish)

The Main Dish menu consisted of Viandes (Meat) and Poissons (Fish).

Desserts (Sweet Desserts), Glaces Bellany (Bellany Ice Cream)

The Desserts menu which consisted of Desserts (Sweet Desserts) and Glaces Bellany (Bellany Ice Cream).

Truffle Scrambled Eggs (Brouillade Aux Truffes)

The meal kicked started with Truffle Scrambled Eggs (Brouillade Aux Truffes). The scrambled eggs were light, fluffy and buttery. I was impressed by the strong and consistency of the truffle flavour present in it. What a great start!

Entrées (Starters): Scallops Mashed Potatoes Truffle (Coquille St Jacques avec sa Purée de Pomme de terre aux Truffes)

The Scallops Mashed Potatoes Truffle (Coquille St Jacques avec sa Purée de Pomme de terre aux Truffes) was the first Entrées (Starters). This was our favourite starter!

The panseared scallops were incredibly succulent, firm and fresh. Caviar was added on top of the scallops which were laid on a bed of truffle mashed potatoes and seafood bisque foam. The taste of all 3 (scallops, mashed potatoes and seafood bisque foam) was just divine. I was scrapping off as much foam as I could from the plate. If I had it my way, I would be licking the foam off the plate =P.

The both of us wished that we had ordered two portions of this instead of sharing it. This is a must order!

Entrées (Starters): Homemade Smoked Salmon (Saumon Fumé Maison)

The second starter we had was the Homemade Smoked Salmon (Saumon Fumé Maison). This was also excellently executed.

Entrées (Starters): Goose Liver Spring Roll (Nem de Foie Gras)

Entrées (Starters): Burgundy Snails in Garlic and Parlsey Butter (Escargots de Bourgogne au Beurre)

The next two starters we had was the Goose Liver Spring Roll (Nem de Foie Gras) and Burgundy Snails in Garlic and Parlsey Butter (Escargots de Bourgogne au Beurre).

For the former, I preferred the foie gras terrine compared to the foie gras macaron and the foie gras spring roll. Maybe I am too used to having my macarons and spring rolls with their normal fillings. As for the escargots, they were fresh and interestingly, the garlic flavour was much milder compared to those I had in Singapore.

Lime Sorbet

After the starters, the Lime Sorbet was served. This was light and refreshing, probably to cleanse the palate before the main course.

Viandes (Meat): Beef Filet Pepper Sauce or Morels Sauce (Filet de Boeuf Sauce Morilles ou Poivre)

For my mains, I was in a dilemma on whether to order the Beef Filet or Beef Cheeks. In the end I chose the former; Beef Filet Pepper Sauce or Morels Sauce (Filet de Boeuf Sauce Morilles ou Poivre). The beef filet was ordinary. The pepper and morels (mushroom) sauces that accompanied it was the game changer. (The sauces were served separately)

Sides

The potato and zucchini served at the side were awesome too!

Viandes (Meat): Duck Breast with Orange Sauce (Magret de Canard à l' orange)

The partner ordered the Duck Breast with Orange Sauce (Magret de Canard à l' orange) which came as a surprised to me as she was not exactly a duck fanatic.  But after hearing how the staff recommended this dish, she decided to order this.

Viandes (Meat): Duck Breast with Orange Sauce (Magret de Canard à l' orange)

The Duck Breast with Orange Sauce did not disappoint her. The Duck Breast was so tender and the orange sauce served at the side was richly flavoured but did not overwhelm the meat.

Pepper Sauce, Morels Sauce, Orange Sauce

The pepper, morels (mushroom) and orange sauces served separately. We could add the amount of sauces onto our mains according to our own preferences (the little things that matter).

Homemade cheeses (Assortiment de fromages maison)

After we were done with the mains, the Homemade cheeses (Assortiment de fromages maison) was served. We were shocked by the sheer variety and amount of cheese served. Nine types of homemade cheese ranging from goat cheese with truffle, spring onion cheese, red wine cheese, rosemary cheese, saffron cheese, cow cheese and other aged cheese. The both of us were not cheese fanatics and just sampled a little of each. Our favourite among the nine was the red wine cheese.

A video of all nine cheese. It was a waste giving us that much, but I understand that they serve this much for everyone, even if you are dining alone you get these. Cheese lovers would love them.

Desserts (Sweet Desserts): Gils Dessert (Dessert de Gils)

For desserts, we ordered the Gils Dessert (Dessert de Gils) which was recommended by the staff. It consisted of a combination of crushed meringue, nougat, berry coulis, strawberries with vanilla ice cream and raspberry sorbet. This dessert was fantastic! It had different texture and taste and was so addictive. Even though we were full, we had no problem polishing this up.

Desserts (Sweet Desserts): Chocolate Fondant (Fondant au Chocolat)

Our second (last) dessert was the Chocolate Fondant (Fondant au Chocolat). This was something that you could taste else where too. But still I must admit that it was well executed.

The chocolate cake was moist with molten chocolate flowing out of it. Berry and mango coulis was served next to the vanilla ice cream for additional flavour.

Lime Macaron

Just when we thought that we had came to the end of a fantastic fulfilling meal, we were each served a mini Lime Macaron!

Never mind that we missed out visiting Le Toit Gourmand. It was a blessing in disguise as we had such a satisfying meal at 3G Trois Gourmands. Not only was the food delicious, the staff were also very well trained. They were so friendly and hospitable. As the menu offers too many choices, I always make it a point to ask them for recommendations. They would them recommend the dishes and even went down to the extent of describing how the dish looks or tastes like. Their English was perfect! It was a breeze communicating with them.

Even though this was the most expensive meal we had, it was so value for money and affordable. It would be hard finding such food at such prices in Singapore. If we visit Ho Chi Minh again, we would visit 3G Trois Gourmands again even though we have to take a 30 minutes cab ride. This time I would go for the 7 Course Meal =) This is a must try!

3G Trois Gourmands (Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh)
39 Tran Ngoc Dien Street
Thao Dien Ward, District 2
HCM City, Vietnam 
Tel: +84 (08) 3744 4585

Website

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Danro Japanese Hot Pot Buffet (Serangoon NEX)

Being a fan of steamboat cuisines, I just had to check out Danro Japanese Hot Pot Buffet. Danro Japanese Hot Pot Buffet opened by Ministry of Food (MOF). Although Japanese hot pot buffet is not new in Singapore, Danro is the first to offer eight broths (soup base) from different regions of Japan.

The prices range from $17.90++ for weekday lunch to $25.90++ for weekend dinner (for adults).

Left to right: Chicken & Milk Broth, Chicken Spicy Broth

Customers can choose up to 2 different soup base in 1 pot. We chose the Chicken & Milk Broth from Asuka Nabe and Chicken Spicy Broth from Danro Nabe. Now's the best time to taste the original taste of the soup as the refills would dilute your soup base (will explain more on that further down the post).

Handmade Kiritanpo

Danro Japanese Hot Pot comes with handmade Kiritanpo. However, this is limited to one per person. The Kiritanpo, a specialty dish of Akita Prefecture is essentially grilled rice skewer. Japanese cooked rice are pounded until they are mashed before being hand formed into cylinders around wooden skewers. They are then lightly brushed with special sweet sauce or miso for flavour before being toasted over an open fire. The Kiritanpo can either be eaten on its own or dipped into the hot pot.

Soup Refill Station

There was a Soup Refill Station, an innovative way to cut down on the manpower and increase productivity. There were small pots of Chicken or Wafu soup in it which customers could get anytime. These soup were a 'one soup fits all solution'. Since both our soup were chicken broths, we had to use the chicken soup refill. Even when e were to ask a serving for a refill, they used just chicken soup for both our soup bases. The problem with this was that it resulted in a diluted and not as fragrant soup base compared to when we just started.

Hence, our Chicken & Milk Broth became less milky and less fragrant while our Chicken Spicy Broth became less spicy. In addition, there was no attempt to stock up the soup refill station. Midway into our meals, there were no more pots of soup at that station as the were too few staff and these staff were all busy clearing the tables.

Condiments and sauce dips

A wide variety of condiments and sauce dips.

Onsen Egg

The Japanese Onsen Egg in light soy sauce was very well executed. Not only did it looked good, it also tasted good too. I liked it so much that I went for an additional helping of it.

Left to right: Japanese potato salad, Somen with soba sauce

The Japanese potato salad and Somen with soba sauce were quite decent too.

Sushi

There's a wide variety of food available ranging from Sushi, Bak Kut Teh, Japanese Yong Tau Foo, Cooked food and the typical steamboat ingredients such as corn, meat, seafood, vegetables.

Left to right: Bak Kut Teh, Japanese Yong Tau Foo

Left to right: Homemade Hot Dishes and Vegetables

Left to right: Seafood, shabu shabu beef and pork slices

The seafood corner was just average. The clams and prawns were not fresh especially the latter which stuck to its shell and meat was not firm. The shabu shabu beef and pork slices fared much better. We ate so many plates of it.

It was easy to control the temperature of the hot pot with the electric induction cooker.

Desserts and cakes

Left to right: Drinks, Soft Serve Ice cream

The DIY Soft Serve Ice Cream was fantastic. Its the same as what you get when you order ice cream dishes in MOF. Even though we were very full, we still went for this and it was oh just so shiok! There's always room for dessert! 

Although there were hits and misses (seafood was not fresh, one size fits all soup for refills, service), Danro Japanese Hot Pot Buffet is really value for money! I certainly enjoyed most of the food here. 

Danro Japanese Hot Pot Buffet (Serangoon NEX)

#02-04/06 Serangoon NEX

23 Serangoon Central

Singapore 556083

Tel: 6634 4608
Opening Hours: Mon to Fri: 11:30 am - 3:30 pm, 5:30 pm - 10:00 pm
                          Sat to Sun: 11:30 am - 3:30 pm, 5:00 pm - 10:30 pm

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Ichi Tei Japanese Bento & Udon (Sunshine Plaza) 2nd Post

Whenever Sunshine Plaza is mentioned, I am sure that most of you would be thinking of Victor's Kitchen or Parklane Zha Yun Tun (Wanton) Mee House. Well, if you have missed my earlier post in 2011, there's another hidden gem in Sunshine Plaza and it is Ichi Tei Japanese Bento & Udon aka Ichi Tei!

Oh, since I am on this, I visited Victor's Kitchen 2 months ago. Standard has dropped, and their selection of dim sum and drinks has been decreased (which means several items on the menu are not available). It was a disappointing meal.

Back to Ichi Tei..

Ichi Tei located next to the Parklane Wanton Mee is a small eatery specialising in Japanese cuisine such as Bento and Udon set.  It is a small shop unit with limited seating capacity and can sit up to a maximum of 22 customers at any one time. Sounds alright? Well, there are just 5 tables with 14 seats inside the shop unit while there are 2 tables with 8 seats outside the shop unit. I would not advise you to visit if you are coming with more than 4 persons.

Although Ichi Tei was just a small shop unit, it had a cozy and homely ambience. However, the chairs were not exactly comfortable.

The kitchen located at the back was just a small narrow kitchen.

Ichi Tei is managed by two persons; a husband and wife team. The husband takes charge of the back end; the kitchen and cook the food while the wife runs the front end operation and serves the customers (takes the order, serve, collect payment and clear the tables). 

Disposable chopsticks and spoons are place on every table together with chilli powder. Two years back, I remember that the food used to be served on disposable bento plates for dine-in. I am glad that they have switched to something more environmental friendly.

The post shows a consolidation of food consumed over several occasions.

Beef Teriyaki Don $10

The Beef Teriyaki Don served with potato salad and a bowl of miso soup was listed on the menu as a 'Must Try!'. Personally, I thought it was just average with nothing much to shout about. The beef did not strike me as particularly outstanding. In addition, this was one of the most expensive Don set on the menu. Their other Don sets fared better.

Beef Teriyaki Don $10 - Potato Salad

The Potato Salad served in the Don sets was delish and left a deeper impression on me compared to the beef. It was essentially mashed potato.

Beef Teriyaki Don $10 - Miso Soup

Miso Soup was decent.

Chicken Teriyaki Don $7

On another occasion, I ordered the Chicken Teriyaki Don which was still as good as before. As with all Don set, it was served with potato salad and a bowl of miso soup

Chicken Teriyaki Don $7

Chicken Teriyaki Don $7

The Chicken Teriyaki was grilled in a Japanese styled oven where the heating element comes from the top. The chef had to adjusting the height of the pan to ensure that the chicken teriyaki was cooked. The Chicken Teriyaki was to die for - it was well executed and delish. The top layer where the skin was, was grilled till it was sightly charred resulting in an incredibly crisp texture. Beneath, the meat was tasty and succulent. With each bite, the flavours and juiciness are bound to satisfy your palate.

Shishamo Udon $7.50

On a third occasion, I ordered the Shishamo Udon which was not too bad. If you are a Shishamo fan, then this would be fore you.

Shishamo Udon $7.50

The Udon was not bad and the soup-base was light and tasty.

Shishamo Udon $7.50

The Shishamo were served separately with shredded Japanese cabbage and mayonnaise. The Shishamo were fresh and grilled till the ends were crisp. (Shishamo is capeline or what we commonly know as pregnant fish)

Overall, I would say that their food are not too bad. Ichi Tei would be a place worth checking out. The must try would be the Chicken Teriyaki Don. The Saba Don is also another item to try (based on my past visit 2 years ago). The service at Ichi Tei was prompt as it was just a small unit which can cater to limited number of customers. For such a small operation, you would be surprise that they offer quite an extensive variety of food. Although they have increased the price slightly compared to my visit in 2011, I am still of the opinion that is value for money. I noticed that during lunch time, a significant percentage of their customers prefer to takeaway the food as proper disposable bento plates were provided.

Do note, it can get quite warm if you are choose the table nearest to the kitchen. 

Ichi Tei Japanese Bento & Udon (Sunshine Plaza)

91 Bencoolen Street

#01-52 Sunshine Plaza

Tel: 91391746 

Opening Hours: Daily 11am – 8.30pm (Closed on Sun)

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