Normands

I came here on a recommendation from my dentist actually (strange I know). She said the venue was a little bit sketchy (right beside a liquor store and on the fringe of downtown) but the food was simply delicious! When we arrived the waiter promptly took us to our table and brought us two glasses of ice water. After telling us the specials he brought over two loaves of bread with a nice tomato and garlic butter. The bread was warm and quite tasty.


We decided to share the PEI mussels to start. I am usually not a big mussels person but these mussels were simply delectable. Big and juicy and served in a white wine, garlic, peppercorn sauce finished with a wedge of lemon. We quickly devoured the entire plate and I even used the bread to dip in sauce it was so tasty.The waiter let us know that on Mondays they have a mussel special with 4 different sauces and 4 pots of mussels.


The entrees came out in a timely fashion - I ordered the petite New York Strip with a wild mushroom sauce. While my friend got the Seafood Pasta. Unfortunately the steak was pretty ordinary; served with scallop potatoes and steamed veggies. The temperature of the meat was fine but it just lacked any strong punch or flavor.

 On the bright side the seafood pasta was absolutely phenomenal. The plate came out overflowing with food. The pasta was mixed with generous amounts of seafood and spinach. There was an abundance of baby shrimp, jumbo shrimp, beautifully cooked golden brown scallops, and a steamed crab leg. Most importantly the sauce was delightful -- a light tomato seafood flavor.


Overall I really enjoyed my experience at Normands. This place isn't cheap with most entrees costing $25-45 (in our case mussels $21, steak $23, and pasta $33). The menu also featured a wide variety of game meats as well (for instance a bison carpaccio). While the steak was ordinary the rest of the food was fantastic. Verdict: 87%