After just receiving a $3 Million upgrade we were able to take a look at the new Normanby Hotel. A place now catering for all types of people throughout its many different room layouts and relaxed menu. Web sampled a variety of dishes, all made in house with a strong emphasis on nothing being bought in pre-made in bags.

Revisit this hotel before the expiry of its Mad March promo. Dined at the Garden grill area and found that it was packed with people who were mostly indulged in their alcoholic drinks. It was noisy but full of fun. Listened to Joe (one of the Zo-mates) and not ordered any seafood this time. Instead, we ordered the pizza bread, Eye fillet and Bone on Rib Eye. The pizza bread was surprisingly good with strong aroma of cheese. Even though it was so busy, chefs' culinary skill is consistently good and so as the quality of steaks. Due to the surprise of the pizza bread, I may return to try the pizza next time.

Perfectly cooked, medium rare, Wagyu Beef was the highlight of a very enjoyable lunch at the Normanby Hotel with the venerable Joe K.

The reason we were at the Normanby for lunch on a weekday? They are running a half-price promotion for the entire month of march, where everything on the restaurant menu is 50% off the regular price for lunch and dinner.

Joe and I both took full advantage of this wonderful promotion and ordered the most expensive (and most desirable) item on the menu, the 300 gram Wagyu Porterhouse which is listed at $48. The Wagyu was highly marbled, the fat was beautifully rendered and the meat was tender and delicious. This was the most perfectly cooked steak I've had in over a year and the overall best steak I've eaten in many months. The Wagyu Porterhouse rated a 4.5!

Served with Chips (3.5) and a salad (or double chips in my case), this represented tremendous value for $24. The only negative about this dish was that the Red Wine Jus was quite sweet and was very copious. Less sauce would have better highlighted the tremendous flavour of the beef. Next time I will request the sauce on the side.

I also ordered the Falafels and the Chicken Caesar Salad, which list for $12 and $22 respectively. The falafel were freshly fried in small balls, but lacked flavour and was a bit disappointing - this rated a 3. The Chicken on the Caesar Salad was very dry and there was very little dressing, making the whole salad quite dry. After a few bites I decided to have the salad packed for takeaway and the lovely waitress was kind enough to provide me with extra dressing. I sampled this and it was immeasurably better. With the additional dressing this rated a 3.

My overall rating reflects the very average falafel and salad. Had I just ordered the steak, my overall rating would have been a 4.

Next time I'm sticking to steak and/or schnitzel!

Great steaks, fantastic service, ample free parking and 50% off the entire restaurant menu during the month of March make the Normanby a no brainier this month.

Many thanks to BrisvEGustation for bringing the 50% off to our attention!