Normand's Restaurant — Restaurant in Central Core

Over all, I have to say I was pretty underwhelmed by the experience. The wild game was alright, but everything else was super lack lustered. Maybe French cuisine isn't for me. I was expecting to be blown away, especially at the price point of $45-$60/a main. We also tried the escargot, which was just "okay" it wasn't bad, it wasn't good it was just "meh". Flavour seemed just lacked the rich and savory flavour you would expect to get from a good escargot...It is such a staple of French cuisine, it was pretty shocking to get such a lifeless rendition of escargot. For mains I had a special which featured 3 types of game meat. The meat it's self was good, but everything else on the plate was just boring. It was all something I could have cook better myself... just a standard side of steamed veggies with nothing added to it. What a shame, to have such quality meat followed such a basic and boring side. We also tried the wild boar ribs, the meat seemed to be flavourless like it hadn't been marinated, but had a sauce added for flavour. A portion of the rack seemed to be bad or had a odd flavour. And again everything else on the plate was underwhelming. Just veggies with nothing elevating them. They also came with scallop potatoes, but again, underwhelming, at least it added some flavour to the sides, but again something I could have made myself better... I can't justify eating food that is about on par with home cooking at an expensive restaurant, I wanted something MORE!Unless you are really really into wild game, I can't justify coming back here, unfortunately. They either need to step up their dishes (especially the sides!!!), or drop the price point way down. The portions weren't really that big either, the rib portion were okay, and the game I guess I can justify seeings as there were 3 different types of game meat, but still... for a $58 dish... I am not sure I got the value I was looking for or the quality I would expect at the price I paid.

The services was okay. Seemed friendly. However, we mentioned to him that the escargot was underwhelming and not great, and he sort of just shrugged it off and moved on. He also, didn't address the fact that the wild boar was barely half eaten. You would expect a "Did you not enjoy the meal" or "Was there something wrong with the food". Nope. Just took it and left and that was it. I wasn't expecting any sort of comp or anything like that, but, read the table. You can obviously see there was an issue.

I don't wanna harp too much here, because like I said, this place isn't "bad", it was just underwhelming and had some issues, which maybe could be overlooked had it not been priced at such a prestigious level.

The atmosphere was pretty decent, but you need to drop the covid walls... It is totally killing the feel of the restaurant. It is unfortunate that you were forced to invest in them, but put...

To start, the staff at Normands was great. Who i would assume to be Normand was there making rounds, checking that everything was good at each table and that patrons were happy which was sweet. Usually it would annoy us greatly, but Normand was quite respectful and not too chatty. The food varied from very tasty, to not great. First point i want to make, is the food and atmosphere of the restaurant itself (especially the food) was very outdated. Normands needs to spruce up the atmosphere and moreso the presentation of food, it looks like presentation hasnt changed in a while. We had the valentines special, which came with shrimp to start. I dont know where they got this shrimp, but it was delicious. The shrimp sat on cut up romaine, a pretty outdated presentation. Still delicious. The salad was very basic, still quite yummy, though the dressing didnt taste made in house. The bread with butter, the butter was quite tasty and it was made in house. Our main courses were okay. I got the bison rib eye, medium rare and it was still consistently bleeding and was more like a new york strip. For the price it was and the sides i received, i definitely feel it was a rip off. It was Not tender, not fatty,not tasty. Marinating any meat especially wild game which can be not as tender is so important. The dish came with steamed vegetables and potato gratin, the potatoes didnt taste fresh, they tasted like there was an onion based sauce, it would taste much better with a garlic based sauce. And the steamed vegetables were literally just steamed, no salt, butter, oil of any kind. My humble recommendation (because i would like to see Normands around for another 50 years yet) would be to steam the veggies and sautee them for a minute with some butter, salt and some type of spice of the chefs choice. And also, to choose a new butcher to get the bison from! My husbands lamb was good, again it came with the exact same sides, which we unfortunately didnt enjoy. For the dessert, fruit fondue, presentation could have been much nicer, it was diced fruit and a bowl of chocolate. Delicious, but i wish it was elevated (figurative) and presented in a sexier, fresher way. Also... Get rid of those slivered almonds! This review is long because we really liked the people of Normands and some food items, and want this restaurant to succeed. I hope someone there reads this review and takes some of these things into consideration! Normands has the potential to be a great restaurant by elevating and sprucing up restaurant and especially their dishes. Thank you...

My boyfriend and I went with another couple for a nice dinner last Friday, and wanted to try somewhere new. Norman's was somewhere we had always heard about but never tried, so we decided to give it a go. We had reservations for 1930h and were promptly seated. Our server was absolutely fantastic and his knowledge of the extensive menus was quite vast. We had our drinks dropped off at the table, along with some complimentary bread. Things were off to a great start. And then the food came.

My boyfriend ordered the filet and lobster tail, and his meal was decent - but hardly worth the price tag for cold side steamed vegetables and half cooked scalloped potatoes. Our friends ordered the bison steak, which tasted like it had sat in its own blood for too long. And the Mornay - which had ZERO flavour. I had ordered the New York - it was the least tender steak I have had in my life.

We spoke to some other patrons outside and they all had the specials and said the food was amazing. This was disapointing for us to hear as you think a restaurant that has been a staple for so long would have some solid classics that hold the menu up.

And the most frustrating thing was we wanted to support somewhere local and have a great meal, but at over $60 per plate per person, I feel scammed.

So in hindsight, if you do decide to go despite it being over priced and needs a whole new menu revamp - get the special, enjoy the drinks and fill up...