Norma in Camden

Went to this restaurant in 2023 and it was lovely! Great portions and atmosphere with good food! Went Nov 2024 and the portions were much smaller, lacked flavour and there were no specials at all. Feels it has lost its touch.

These days it is rather challenging to find a restaurant in Central London which isn't part of a chane. Luckily Norma is one of the very few which remains independent. The quality of the food is noticably different from all the highstreet brands. What obviously will reflect on the bill. We loved the downstairs seating area. Excellent service with a personal touch from the manager personally checking on us. Thank you for the beautiful evening!

When "Norma" first opened the cooking was good, but it now seems to gone downhill and the prices are too high to be competitive. There are some strange interpretations of dishes e.g. an aubergine parmigiana where the cheese comes as a surrounding sauce. The Service is pleasant but the noise levels are high and one can certainly do better in the area.

The location and decor are plus points. The service is friendly if a little erratic. As for the food - a crushing disappointment. A very limited menu. The Arancina was supposed to have boar - it contained no discernible meat. The small portion of tagliatelle ragu was cold to boot. A small square of focaccia was £3.50. Ordinary ice cream was £5 per boule. I could go on. It was very poor value for money. £67 per head and some of us only had one course. None of us had more than two small glasses of wine. Would we go again? - no Could we recommend it to others? - no

He estado aquí un par de veces; la primera vez cuando estaba volviendo a funcionar después de la pandemia, y luego recientemente. En mi visita más reciente nos asignaron una mesa arriba - no recomendaría esto si tiene la opción, ya que es un espacio bastante estrecho y no particularmente agradable, mientras que la planta baja es mucho, mucho mejor. Compartimos entrantes de calamar frito y burrata con achicoria; el calamar frito fue una gran decepción - anillos ligeramente gomosos, uniformes y bastante delgados - mientras que la burrata con achicoria estaba deliciosa. Mi principal de salmonete rojo y lentejas era excelente - pescado cocinado a la perfección y lentejas terrosas encantadoras; un lado de patatas fritas también era excelente, y mi esposa disfrutó de la parmigiana de berenjena. Los vinos por copa eran limitados en la elección, pero sin embargo, buenos y bastante justo precio para Londres, y el costo de la comida en general era justo para el centro de Londres. El servicio fue eficiente y profesional.

Everyone enjoyed their food, my seafood was excellent, staff were friendly and attentive and the decor looked nice as well.

Good food. But too much air con. Final course disappointing, despite asking three times for a liqueur it didn't arrive.

I dined at Norma for lunch with my friend on 31/08 and was appalled by the lack of service and professionalism by the staff. During our lunch, we were forgotten by the waiters on several occasions, and as were our mains which we had to request for twice. Similarly, when we ordered additional drinks, it arrived at the end of our meal. We even had to request for the bill and card machine more than once and then wait at least 30 minutes for this. When the waiter finally came by, she also bought an additional waiter with her, which was intimidating and unnecessary. It was also shocking to hear from the waiter that the table was needed back and we must leave. It was unpleasant and extremely rude! I have never experienced such unprofessional behaviour in a restaurant. It was not our fault that we were still seated at the table and had been there for a long time, the waiters were extremely SLOW with their service, and did not address our concerns regardless of us asking several times. I will not be dining at Norma ever again, or recommending it to family and friends.

Wonderful welcome, excellent food and great service from a lovely waitress. Certainly not cheap but ideal for a special night out.

Firstly, the interior itself is really on point with music to match. A small but stylish bar upstairs with a small outdoor terrace complete the establishment. Moving to the food: I I went for the arancino, pasta Norma (I sense their speciality dish) and the ribeye steak. The aranicio was delicious - really tasty risotto with grilled peppers. The pasta alla Norma was very tasty and certainly worth getting the small portion (although probably a little expensive for the size). Finally the ribeye was good with really tasty sauces to accompany it. The chips were pretty poor cubes efforts, but that’s not why I was there! The steak did take around 30-45 minutes to arrive after my primi course, although it wasn’t an issue for me as I was having a relaxing solo dinner! The waitress was very apologetic and very kindly gave me my glass of red and negroni on the house - win!

Some friends and I went for the Sunday bottomless Prosecco lunch and to be honest I feared the worst - thinking it might be somewhat gimmicky - however, what a delightful restaurant. The food was wholesome, authentic and thoroughly moreish. The aubergine parmigiana was very good indeed - a massive portion….half of which I took home. The staff were helpful and efficient and it was no trouble for them to box up my portion to go. Thoroughly recommend….and when I’m in the area again will definitely visit again.

Last minute lunch with my younger son today and Norma didn’t disappoint. We both chose from the specials, swordfish pasta for Luc and I had a fabulous fish (which I think was red mullet but if I’m honest… I’ve forgotten!) served on a bed of delicious beans… green salad - and of course couldn’t resist their roast potatoes! Diet out of the window but such simple, fresh food is done so well here! Lovely to sit outside watching the bustle of Charlotte street - whilst we soaked up the warmth of one of the hottest days of 2024! Highly recommend for lunch….

Every memu is so decent! And the staff suggested good wines for considering my menus. Strongly I would recommend here with 🍷

We had a private dining dinner here for my work leaving do. Fantastic food (feasting menu), a lovely space, and attentive service. We had a great evening and I would happily recommend.

We have been before and enjoyed but had poor experience tonight. Food was ok - not brilliant but ok. But service and attitude pretty average. Don’t take customers for granted. You are not doing us a favour ….