The Normanville Hotel — Restaurant in Normanville

I went to the Normanville Hotel on a much needed weekend away. It's a good pub, but just be aware that the 'Normy' isn't necessarily cheap. Hey, I love a good schnitzel and eat them whenever I go to a pub! The last one I had at the Espy in Brighton was $18 and that came with chips, gravy and the salad bar! Awesome. So when I got to the 'Normy' I was surprised to see just the one schnitzel option for $21. When I read a little further I discovered that this includes just the chips and salad. That's when I saw that you have to pay for gravy, and it wasn't cheap. My mushroom gravy was $5, so in total my meal was $26. I was a little confused and surprised, but accepted it and ordered away. I was hoping that for the price it would be tasty, and it really was! Our table all liked their meals, and their drinks too. That is why I won't give it less than 3 stars. It's just a bit more pricey than I expected from a pub and paying for gravy did leave a bad taste in my mouth. The hotel itself is gorgeous and the staff were really nice, not super quick, but we were in no hurry. Just know that the menu is not extensive. There is one choice of schnitzel (chicken) two grilled meat options, one pasta, and a couple of bangers and mash options. There are three fish options though and a few vegetarian options too. The only pasta choice, a vego one at that, is $31 so keep that in mind too. I know from being a country girl that it is sure not easy to own a business in a country area when a decent income is often seasonal and can therefore fluctuate significantly. Throughout the year there are very much times of 'feast' and times of 'famine'. So it is perhaps quite wrong and unfair of me to expect similar prices to city hotels. Those city hotels often have those frequent customers, and access to a much greater population to provide a regular and decent income regardless of the season! Normanville is a tourist area too, so I should really have expected to pay more for that reason alone. However I still think paying for gravy is a bit outrageous though. I will say it was tasty gravy! It's a good pub, just know to not expect 'cheap' meals. When you pay more in a small area, it is keeping people employed and able to pay their ever increasing bills. I will go back now that I know what to expect. I do wish them...

To start, we were stunned at the hefty price - Garlic Bread, 3 kids meals, 1 schnitzel, 1 steak, 2 lemonade, 1 wine and a $15 beer tasting paddle cost us $162!!!! However, if the foods good, I’m happy to pay. WRONG! After 30 mins we still had no beer - they forgot. After 40 mins we asked how much longer we had to wait for food, - they had given our garlic bread to someone else. Kids meals arrived 1 hour from order, garlic bread a few mins later and adult meals about 15 mins after that. May I point out that when we were seated there was one table of four who’s meals had just arrived, we then watched 2 other tables come, order and eat in the time that we were waiting for our meals. The Garlic bread was fine, kids meals edible but not great. Chicken schnitzel was warm, served on a bed of cold soggy chips only thing hot was the gravy, the steak was served in a pasta bowl!! (surely they’d run out of plates, this can’t be normal!!) on a bed of cold mashed potato with some almost raw broccoli. We mentioned how bad our meals were to our waitress who said she would give us a bowl of chips instead?? No thanks! She then offered to mention it to the chef. I’m not normally one to complain and didn’t want to make a big deal at the time as our daughter had a friend with her and didn’t want us to. The worst place I’ve eaten in...

The hotel, located in the small shopping precinct of Normanville, has interesting timber features, large dome-shaped lead lighting recesses in each room and is littered with memorabilia that takes one back in time. The dining area is partitioned off from an equally large area adjacent to it which would be ideal for conferences or functions. These are the rooms referred to in our rating as we only visited for dinner. Our group of four unanimously agreed that the menu was more varied than typical pub food and each meal was well-presented and most enjoyable. Thank you chefs. A standout for us was 15yo Tanner who greeted every customer, took orders, served meals, promptly responded to our requests, and checked in on ongoing needs and level of satisfaction. He was incredibly mature for his age, an absolute delight, and an asset to the business. I do hope his parents read this. And please note that we were travellers from Sydney with absolutely no connections...