Saveur at The Cathay is now FrapasBar – offering French cuisine still, but tapas style and with a bar

Saveur have been around for some time in Singapore’s F&B scene and is well-established as a brand for affordable French fares. After seven years, they are rebranding as FraspasBar by Saveur which will still be serving French cuisine but tapas style and with a bar to cater to changing consumers dining preferences.

FRENCH + TAPAS = FRAPAS
FRAPAS + BAR = FRAPASBAR

Get it?

For the Saveur regulars, you would be happy to know that they kept their signature Saveur Pasta (served with chili oil, kombu, pork sauce and sakura ebi) and Duck Confit (served with mashed potato, grilled orange, watercress and red wine sauce) on the menu, among other favourites.

We sat down for a dinner tasting and these are the items sampled:

We would recommend ordering the Stuffed Squid or Sophia’s Risotto as a carb main to share and an assortment of meat and vegetable dishes.

The stuffed squid is deceptively filling as each piece is packed full of fragrant french onion rice while the risotto dish is an interesting fusion dish. The latter has that local laksa/otah flavour to it while retaining the tangy texture of the french risotto.

There are some surprisingly delightful dishes which look very ordinarily when served – like the crabmeat croquette and grilled broccolini. These two were among my favourite dishes for the night for the surprise flavours they pack. The escargots served with bone marrow is another interesting fusion dish which you can order for novelty sake.

For those who are price conscious, you will be happy to know that the items on the new menu are kept very affordable, with most items going for under S$10 and the most expensive items at just S$22 for a hearty portion of risotto.

Bar items are all kept at a flat S$9 “all day happy hour” rate.

The team has done their homework well and we do believe the tapas style dining and affordable menu will work well with the largely young millennial crowd who hang out at The Cathay and the vicinity.

The portions are meant to be for sharing and it’s best to visit the restaurant with a large group so you can order many different items to go around.

Don’t expect anything exceptionally fanciful or ‘pretentious’ which is what sometimes french cuisine tend to be associated with. Instead, expect comfort food and in hearty portions at great value. It’s not as refined, but fun to dine.

The first FraspasBar was launched at Century Square, taking over the previous Saveur restaurant at the same venue. Encouraged by the response from diners, Saveur at The Cathay underwent a revamp to introduce the same concept into the city.

The team behind the revamp include the local entrepreneur and Saveur owner, Eric; Chef Tyler Lai who joined the Saveur family in 2013; and Chef Allen Tan who joined them in 2015.

Chef Tyler was part of the opening team at St. Regis Hotel’s Les Saveur and has worked with visiting Michelin-starred chefs like Jean Georges Vongerichten of New York, Bruno Ménard, David Toutian and Mauro Colagreco, and Xavier Beaudiment. While at Jaan Restaurant, Swissotel, The Stamford, Singapore, the then Sous Chef was a part of team where Jaan achieved 17th Best Restaurant in Asia and 100th World’s Best Restaurants 2014 by San Pellegrino.

Chef Allen trained at the Les Amis Fine Dining Restaurant, ranked 53rd in the
World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2012 and 19th Asia Best Restaurant 2011. He has also completed stints in Conrad Centennial Hotel Singapore and Jaan Swissotel Singapore.

FRAPASBAR (The Cathay)

2 Handy Road
#01-11/12 S229233

Sun-Thur 12pm – 1am
Fri & Sat 12pm – 2am
(Food last order 9.30pm)

Phone: 6735 1141

FRAPASBAR (Century Square)

2 Tampines Central 5, #01-35
Singapore 529509
(Street side; opposite OCBC CPF building branch)

Open Daily
11.30am – 12 Midnight
(Food last order 9.30pm)

Phone: 6789 1121