La saveur French Restaurant - Balmain, New South Wales

Manatoa Louis

Très bonne cuisine française, revoir le camembert au four dans la façon de présentation. Sinon rien à redire.

Billy Chan

Food is excellent. I really like the lobster bisque it is so authentic and delicious!! So do the snail!! I really enjoy the small restaurant vibe and make me have a sec to think I am in southern France.

Harry

La Saveur is a fantastic French restaurant - with overall great food and not too pricey. The service was really nice - just one staff member to wait tables and cook. He did a fantastic job at waiting the tables and the food was great, but he needs another staff member with him, especially when it gets a little busier. Luckily we were the only table during most of our experience but I can see this being a problem if there are even just one or two extra tables.

The atmosphere was good - nice French music and the place was nice, with a few minor improvements (like the bathroom being through the kitchen, different candles and maybe some other French decor) this place could look incredible.

Starters - 7/10 overall

Garlic bread - 7/10 - this was good. Just standard garlic bread, nothing more, nothing less.

Escargot - 7.5/10 - the garlic flavour was nice, and the fact that you could dip the bread in the oil with the snails was very nice. Overall a nice flavour, would have liked to see more snails though.

Mains - 9/10 overall

Coq au vin - 8.5/10 - this was really nice. The red wine sauce was rich in flavour, the chicken was quite tender and had a nice texture. I enjoyed the potatoes with the rich sauce as well. I haven’t had Coq au vin much elsewhere to compare but this was really good just as a dish.

Beef bourguignon - 9/10. The beef had a very nice texture and flavour, and the red wine sauce was really nice, even better than the coq au vin. One of the best stews I’ve had when eating out. The mushrooms were really nice as well, gave a great addition to the texture and flavour of the dish, and the potatoes also added to this, and worked really well with the sauce.

Lamb shank special - 9.5/10 - the lamb was falling off the bone, extremely soft and delicious meat. The sauce was outstanding, like the beef bourguignon, but the lamb flavour really elevated this dish as the favourite of the night. The potatoes and other bits and pieces were nice too.

Green beans - 8/10 - nice flavour and complimented the other dishes well.

Fries - 8.5/10 - with a bit more crisp these would be perfect, but still very nice.

Desserts - 5/10 overall

Crème brûlée - 5/10 - this was a bit of a disappointment. The consistency was a bit too jiggly and the flavour was not quite right, a bit too eggy and needed a bit more creaminess. It wasn’t absolutely terrible, just not a crème brûlée that I would recommend, as it lacks a lot of what makes crème brûlée so delicious.

Toblerone choc mousse - 5/10 - this was just okay. The toblerone flavour wasn’t really there, it just tasted like an average chocolate mousse. Bit disappointing for this one as well. If it was a bit richer, more flavourful and was a bit more unique (really lean into the toblerone flavour), this could have been an easy recommendation.

Just a note about the ice cream for both dishes - it was okay,- it icey and a bit on the cheap side. Some French vanilla ice cream would be a nice improvement as well.

Don’t let the desserts dissuade you though - the food on the whole was fantastic. I recommend just coming here to grab a few of the mains. The prawns look really nice as well, if you like seafood. But the beef bourguignon and the lamb shank are easy 100% recommendations though.

Carrie Ho

Authentic French cuisine. Highly recommended onion soup, snail and cassoulet. Delicious!

Amy K

There weren't many customers on our night so it was quiet for us to enjoy our dinner. Didn't wait too long between each course. The food was delicious and always hot when it came to the table. The food portion size was perfect - not too much or less. The crepe was excellent!! A sweet note to complete the 3-course dinner. Friendly and helpful staff.

Paul Thompson

Absolutely magnificent!

Possibly the best French restaurant I've been to outside of Paris. It is a very small one man band restaurant serving magnificent food hidden away in Balmain.

I had schalops followed by beef bourgogne followed by a creme brule. Every dish was perfectly prepared and the bourgogne was easily the best I've ever tasted.

Hana Mara

Good food but only some of it is French. It was delicious though, we went for dinner and i would highly recommend both the steaks and the lamb ragout pasta.
The waiters working were hovering over us waiting to take our plates. Put your fork down and they lunge to collect it even though I'm not even finished. It's OK guys, calm down a little bit. They also took all the tables plates except one person and then was eyeing them to finish. It just felt a little rushed

Matt Burns

Look it was just ok for me. The entre and desert wasn't too bad at all. The stew as a main wasn't anything to write home about sorry. It needed bread and butter to give it life. We were the only 2 people there at 8pm on a Tuesday night. I feel for the Chinese waiter who may have also been the chef? I never saw the two in the same room at the same time. Wine by the glass had 1 choice only and it was a Shiraz. It wasn't a bad experience at all but I don't think I could recommend it sorry, after having been to many many French restaurants, even in Paris.