Cafe Savour

This is such a charming restaurant run by a very warm couple. Literally, there’s no servers other than the two staff/​owner who also cook and serve. They are only open from Thurs-​Sat and offers a 3 course meal for $ 35 or 5 course meal for $ 45. The menu is interesting and eclectic as I can’t say I’ve tasted anything too similar in the city. There’s a mix of inspirations here ranging from local Canadian, Latin, Caribbean to African. The menu selection is not very large but our group was happy with the choices and of course we went with the 5 course meal.
The meal starts with complimentary homemade bread served with garlic, balsamic vinegar and olive oil dip. There are 3 salads (Greek, Caesar and Garden) — loved the caesar salad as it had a great garlicky housemade dressing and topped with asiago cheese. The Greek salad was the traditional kind (no lettuce) and beautifully presented. There were a sausage soup and a spicy vegetarian available. Soup came with a thing and crispy papadum and both soups were very well flavoured and delicious.
For appetizers, the South African combo served up a spinach and chickpea fritter, beef samosa and a masala flavoured tuna patty with a streak of tamarind sauce on the side. The first two items were delicious — hot, flaky and well flavoured. But the tuna patty didn’t do it for me especially since it was the only cold appy on the plate. The quiche tarts were 2 small phyllo filled items that didn’t resemble a quiche but were still good.
The denningvleis is a South African dish, a roasted lamb shank served with a tamarind and cranberry sauce. There was a lot of flavours going on in this dish — lots of exotic spices that it’s difficult to explain. It’s like a mix of Morroccan, Indian and Asian flavours — crazy but all very good. The basmatic rice was pretty amazing even if it’s not the main attraction. The veggies were a little undercooked and bland compared to the rest of the dish. There’s also a surprising chicken pot pie on the menu which was very homey and well made though the crust was only okay as it could have been more flaky.
There was barely any room for dessert but we all tried! There was a warm and yummy pineapple pound cake served with fresh whipped cream. The cake was lighter than the typical pound cake but still yum. The dense flourless chocolate torte was rich and decadent. And to end off the evening, we were even given the softest and delicious molasses cookie to end our dining experience. We all left the place feeling ridiculously full!
The food leans more to a home-​cooking style (not meant as a negative) but relating more to the plating. But don’t be fooled, the flavours are all there! This place wasn’t super busy but I hope more people try this eclectic and charming place.