solid but not extraordinary. we received a promotion in the mail from flemming's & decided to give the restaurant a try. it was my husband's birthday & it seemed like it would be a nice, upscale experience to make the birthday festive.
first, the good: we found the service excellent. from the moment we were greeted by the professional and friendly hostesses to our waitress and the man who kept our water glasses filled, the flemmings staff struck the right balance of attentiveness and service without being intrusive.
the atmosphere was pleasant: it's a big place & it was busy, so the energy and buzz were nice, but despite the number of diners, the room was not too loud. lighting was dim; décor simple yet classy.
we both wanted to order the seasonal special prix fixe menu ($39 for an appetizer, entrée, and dessert), but we decided that at least one of us should order a steak since that is what flemmings is supposed to do best. so my husband ordered the prix fixe dinner, choosing an autumn salad (mixed greens in a teriyaki-like vinaigrette, with slivered almonds and a toasted slice of bread covered in gorgonzola and bacon); osso buco served on roasted vegetables & risotto; and a dessert which was supposed to be a dark chocolate cheesecake.
i ordered the porcini-rubbed filet mignon and a side of roasted garlic mashed potatoes.
the osso buco was fabulous. this was the clear star of the evening.
which brings me to the bad. first, the filet mignon. ok, to call it "bad" is an overstatement, because it was not bad. but neither was it special or particularly delicious. frankly, my husband creates a more succulent and memorable filet mignon dish. my meat was fine, but i couldn't taste any porcini and the gorgonzola sauce that was served with it was rather meager and did not contribute all that much taste. for $38, the filet mignon at a fancy steakhouse really should have been spectacular.
second, the potatoes were good, but again, for $7.50 for some mashed potatoes, i was expecting something a little more memorable. there was nothing wrong with them, and they were good, but neither was there anything that set them apart from the crowd.
finally, my husband's prix fixe menu came with a dessert (dark chocolate cheesecake) that was not among the usual desserts listed, but i wouldn't have chosen any of the listed desserts otherwise, because none of them sounded that interesting to me. i have commented before on the lack of originality that to many restaurants demonstrate with such ho-hum standards like molten chocolate cake and crème brulée, and sure enough, these were offered. when we declined to order an additional dessert, our waitress asked if we liked carrot cake, and if we might prefer to switch out the chocolate cheesecake with the carrot cake. we eagerly accepted. the cake was good, but really entirely too sweet and rich. i hate to say it, but the cake reminded me of something you get from costco: relying on an overabundance of sugar and a bit mass-produced.
it's not as if we expected this meal to be "light" or diet-worthy, but after the meal, and all night really, we both felt almost sick from the food. i don't think that there was anything wrong with it, or with how it was produced, but we suspect that the dinners must have been much, much richer than we realized; everything cooked with an abundance of butter and cream. as my husband said, part of the enjoyment one gets form a meal is how you feel afterwards, and we both didn't feel all that great.
so, in short, the prices at flemmings are very high, and some of the food is good (the osso buco), but the steak was unimpressive, and the desserts unimaginative and equally unimpressive. we might consider going back, but there other places in town with better food and lower prices that we are much more likely to visit first.