Norma — Restaurant in New South Wales

Visited Norma for my partners birthday. It always looked so warm and cosy. So let me make one thing clear, the food was fantastic. I would probably say about the best Italian food and pasta I've eaten. The staff were great in terms of table service. We asked for dishes to be brought out one at a time to share, and they were. They didn't take away an unfinished plate, but the finished ones didn't linger. Perfectly executed. That part was 5+ star easily.

So why my 3 star rating. While it looked so cosy it was more like a pub\club than an ala cart restaurant. I have no issues with pubs and clubs, I love them. But Norma is alot more expensive and I dont exepect at those prices to be jumping up to go get drinks, and drop in my food order. At a pub price, yes, not at ala cart prices. When I should have been enjoying the experience with my partner I was queuing for drinks.

The second reason, the cost of wine wasn't disclosed. The wines were great, but there was a list and the only pricing was specified as $20 to $60 or something like that i can't quite remeber the exact range. But thats a big range. Not sure why they just don't disclose it.

So basically great food, the table service they did they nailed! Spot on. But why would you then down grade the rest of the restaurant by implementing the ordering to that of a pub. So unfortunately I think overall this experience is best described as a 3 star restaurant. A pity. Something so simple fixed could make it a...

The evening started very well with a delightful young male waiter who was efficient and polite. We couldn’t fault the food and drinks. However we were less than impressed with the service once we had started eating. We were pretty much ignored even though there were only 3 tables occupied in the restaurant. Our entree plates were not removed before the waitress brought us our mains. She seemed annoyed that we asked her to clear the table before placing the large mains in front of us. The table was tiny so definitely not enough room for dirty plates to be left. We were not attended by waitress again , nor asked if we wanted more to drink or dessert which we would have ordered had she asked. On our way out we noticed dirty plates still sitting on tables where diners left them. Not...

So very underwhelming. This place looks like a training school for teenagers, where we were told the oldest person working is 21, with no supervision or trainers to be seen. We waited 1.5hrs for meals, which were reheated and average at best. Table service is non existent. After ticking the sheet & taking it up to the bar, or if you want to know anything about meals you have to go to bar to ask. Ordered drinks were not served, again back to the bar to collect your own drinks, like a pub. Tables were being cleared literally as plate was eaten, 10 minutes after being served. Then not to mention how very noisy it is making it difficult to hold a conversation. At the prices charged, I expected so much better. This place is more like the local TAFE training kitchen. Sorry, no...