Normans Bar, Leeds

Occasion: Dining with friends
Party Size: 5
Overall Rating: **** Good
Date Visited: July 2012
Price Per Person: £5

Normans is situated on Call Lane in Leeds city centre a street that is renowned for its many independent bars. Normans predominantly falls in to the category of a bar but does have a large area set aside for dining throughout the week with many offers on through Monday to Thursday at £5 per person. 5 of us visited Normans on a Wednesday night when the offer is a Thai curry plus a drink (bottle of beer, glass of wine or soft drink) for £5.

On first impressions this place has a nice informal and relaxed ambience; it’s modern with soft lighting and plenty of tables along the edges to cater for couples and groups. The deal is a fantastic offer so it is always pretty full. You can book a table in advance but usually you can get a table if you are prepared to wait a short while.

The staff are young, quirky and most importantly very welcoming. We had no problems with the service. The deal is very well run with the turn around on food being very quick. This £5 menu is all about simplicity with a limited selection of green and red Thai curries with a choice of Chicken, Prawn, Beef or Tofu. However, you can order off their main menu where starters are priced at approx £4 and main courses at approx £8 which a selection varying from Asian inspired dishes to the good old burger.

So going back to our meal the food was very well presented and the portion size adequate. Even though you are paying less it’s not to say you get a smaller portion. However, this is not as big a portion as you would get in a restaurant where the curry and the rice are served separately – but it’s a fiver and if you want more then there is no excuses to not splash out on some prawn crackers, starter or a side!. The quality of the curry is good with a nice selection of vegetables used and lovely authentic flavour and consistency. The dishes are nicely spiced so if you like curries mild then check with the staff if you can have a taster, otherwise a friend highly recommends the Pad Thai for those that prefer no chillies. They take the time to present and garnish their dishes and the staff checked that everything was ok with our meal which is not commonplace in bars when dining. Just goes to show that good, tasty, fresh food doesn’t have to cost the earth.

This is the perfect venue to grab a bite to eat after work, to have a catch up with friends. It’s simple, you pick a curry from the meal deal menu, pick a drink and pay £5! Normans is definitely worth a visit.

http://www.normanbar.co.uk