Saveur in Singapore is the cheapest way to sit down to a plate of duck confit without the white-tablecloth bill, and for that one reason it has stayed on every budget food list for over a decade. The honest answer in 2026: the three-course set lunch is the headline deal at around $28++ per person, while ordering a la carte at dinner pushes a two-person meal closer to $80 to $110 once you add starters, a steak, dessert and the 9 percent GST plus service charge. This review skips the food-photography routine and does the part the other write-ups skip, which is the actual money. Below are the verified menu prices as of June 2026 at the Purvis Street and Far East Plaza outlets, the set-lunch maths that decides whether you are getting a deal, the two line items that quietly inflate every French bill here, and how Saveur compares with the next cheapest French options before you jump to a $200 Michelin lunch.
Yes, by the standards of French dining in Singapore, and no, if you walk in expecting hawker prices. Saveur built its name by serving duck confit at around $13 back in its early hawker-stall days, and that origin story still anchors how people talk about it. In 2026 the a la carte mains sit higher, roughly $19 to $38, which is normal for a casual bistro but a long way from the $10 plate the legend remembers.
The value lever that has held up is the three-course set lunch at about $28++ per person. That gets you a starter, a main and a dessert, and at that price it undercuts almost every other French set lunch in the city. The catch most reviews miss is the "++": the 9 percent GST and a service charge get added on top, so the number on the menu is not the number on the receipt. We break that down below so you can budget the real figure before you book.
If you want to sanity-check what a French dinner does to your monthly eating-out budget, the personal budget calculator sorts spending into categories like dining so you can see where a $100 meal actually lands.
These are the dishes Saveur is known for, with prices verified against its booking and menu listings as of June 2026. Treat them as a guide, not a contract, because casual restaurants re-price quietly and the two outlets do not always match to the dollar. Every figure below is before GST and service charge.
The pattern to notice is that the starters and desserts are where the value sits. A $4 to $14 starter and a $10 dessert are reasonable for the setting, while the steak frites at around $38 is the dish that breaks the budget if two people both order it. The signature duck confit at roughly $19 to $23 is the sweet spot most regulars stick to.
| Dish | Course | Price (from) |
|---|---|---|
| Saveur Pasta (signature) | Starter | $4 to $9 |
| French Onion Soup | Starter | $5 to $9 |
| Pan-Seared Foie Gras | Starter | $14 |
| Norwegian Salmon Confit | Starter | $14 |
| Signature Duck Confit | Main | $19 to $23 |
| Moules-Frites (mussels & fries) | Main | $22 |
| Pan-Seared Sea Bass / Barramundi | Main | $24 |
| Steak & Fries (steak frites) | Main | $38 |
| Creme Brulee | Dessert | $10 |
| Crepes Suzette | Dessert | $10 |
| Pistachio Panna Cotta | Dessert | $12 |
| 3-course set lunch | Set | ~$28 |
The three-course set lunch is the cheapest legitimate French meal in Singapore, and the maths is simple. At about $28 you get a starter, a main and a dessert. Buy the same three dishes a la carte, say the Saveur pasta, the duck confit and a creme brulee, and you would pay roughly $9 plus $19 plus $10, which is $38 before tax. The set lunch saves you around $10 on that order, or close to a third.
The deal only works if you would have ordered all three courses anyway. If you are the type who orders one main and skips dessert, the set menu is not a saving, it is upselling you into two extra courses. In that case a single a la carte main at $19 to $24 is the cheaper choice. Decide whether you actually want three courses before the price tempts you into a bigger meal than you came for.
Set lunch is also only offered at lunch service, typically the 11:30am to 3pm window. Walk in for dinner and you are on a la carte pricing, which is where the bill climbs. If a cheap French fix is the goal, going at lunch is the single biggest lever you have. For more lunch-deal strategy across cuisines, see the best 1-for-1 dining promotions guide.
The menu price is not the price you pay, and this is where casual diners get caught. Most table-service restaurants in Singapore, Saveur included, add a service charge and then 9 percent GST on top. A $28 set lunch becomes roughly $33 once both are applied, and a $90 a la carte dinner for two lands near $107.
The order of operations matters. GST is charged on the subtotal plus the service charge, not on the food alone, so the two stack. On a $100 food bill, a 10 percent service charge brings you to $110, then 9 percent GST on that $110 adds about $9.90, for a total near $119.90. That is close to a 20 percent uplift on the number you read off the menu.
The fix is not to avoid Saveur, it is to budget the real figure. Mentally add about 18 to 19 percent to any menu total here and you will not be surprised at the till. The mechanics of how GST and service charge stack, and when service charge is and is not legally required, are spelt out in the guide to GST and service charge on your bill.
Saveur's pitch is that it is the entry rung of French dining in Singapore, and on price that holds up. The gap between it and the next tier is wide, and the gap to Michelin level is a different universe. Here is the ladder, with set-lunch and entry prices verified as of June 2026 and quoted before GST and service charge.
The takeaway is that Saveur is not just a bit cheaper than the alternatives, it is the floor. The next casual bistro up costs roughly 50 percent more for a set lunch, and a one-star lunch costs around seven times the Saveur set. If your only goal is to eat decent French food at a sit-down restaurant without overthinking the bill, Saveur is the rational pick. If you want the full fine-dining production, you are choosing a different product at a different price, not a slightly fancier Saveur.
| Restaurant | Tier | Set lunch / entry price |
|---|---|---|
| Saveur | Casual bistro | Set lunch ~$28; mains from ~$19 |
| L'Angelus | Classic bistro | Weekday lunch from ~$31.90 |
| Bistro du Vin | Casual bistro | Set lunch from ~$42; dishes from ~$10 |
| Les Amis / Saint Pierre | Michelin-starred | Lunch menus from ~$198 to $355 |
Saveur runs two outlets: the original at 5 Purvis Street, #01-04, in the Bugis area, and a second at Far East Plaza on Scotts Road near Orchard. The Purvis outlet now takes bookings through platforms like Chope, with a small deposit that is forfeited on no-shows or cancellations inside 48 hours, plus a 1.5-hour table limit at dinner. That deposit is not a cost if you turn up, but it is real money lost if your plans change, so only book a time you are sure of.
The hidden cost at the walk-in outlet is time. Saveur is small and popular, and at peak dinner hours queues of 30 to 45 minutes are common. There is no monetary charge for that, but if you value your evening, lunch service is quieter as well as cheaper. Going at lunch solves the price problem and the queue problem in one move.
If you are pairing the meal with a date or a celebration and want to keep total spend down, anchor the expensive sit-down meal with free or cheap surrounding activities rather than stacking paid ones. The free date ideas in Singapore list pairs well with a $28 set lunch for a full day out under $40 a head.
If the goal is the cheapest real French meal you can get away with, the play is the set lunch, water instead of drinks, and two diners sharing where the menu allows. Two people on the set lunch with no alcohol come to about $56 before tax and roughly $66 all-in, which for a three-course French meal each is hard to beat anywhere in Singapore.
Dinner is where discipline matters. Pick the duck confit over the steak, share a single starter, order one dessert between two, and stick to water or one glass of house wine. That keeps a two-person dinner near $70 to $80 all-in rather than the $110 a full order with drinks produces. The difference is entirely in the drinks and the steak.
One thing Saveur will not stretch is loyalty rewards or vouchers. It is a single independent operator, so do not expect chain-wide promotions or 1-for-1 deals. If maximising every restaurant dollar is your habit, route the bill to a card that pays a strong dining rate, since the cashback applies to the full GST-inclusive total. The best dining rewards credit card guide covers which cards pay the most on restaurant spend.
The three-course set lunch is around $28 per person before tax, which is the cheapest deal. A la carte mains run roughly $19 to $38, so a two-person dinner with starters, mains, a dessert and drinks typically lands between $80 and $110 once you add the 9 percent GST and service charge. Budget about 18 to 19 percent on top of any menu total for the real bill.
It is the cheapest sit-down French restaurant in Singapore, with a set lunch at about $28 against $42 or more at the next bistro tier and $198 or more at Michelin level. It is affordable relative to French dining, not cheap in absolute terms. A hawker meal is a fifth of the price, so think of Saveur as accessible fine-dining rather than a budget meal.
Yes. Like most table-service restaurants in Singapore, Saveur adds a service charge and then 9 percent GST on top of the menu price. The GST is calculated on the subtotal plus service charge, so the two stack to roughly an 18 to 19 percent uplift. A $28 set lunch becomes about $33 on the receipt, and a $90 food bill becomes near $107.
Saveur has two outlets: 5 Purvis Street, #01-04 in the Bugis area, and Far East Plaza on Scotts Road near Orchard. The Purvis outlet takes bookings through platforms like Chope with a small forfeitable deposit and a 1.5-hour table limit at dinner. Walk-in queues at peak dinner can run 30 to 45 minutes, so lunch is the quieter and cheaper slot.
Only if you want all three courses. The set lunch saves roughly a third versus buying a starter, main and dessert separately. But if you would only order one main and skip dessert, a single a la carte main at $19 to $24 is cheaper than the set, which effectively upsells you into two extra courses you did not plan to eat.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.