Brownies and Zucchini

A couple of months ago, a representative from Fleming’s Steakhouse contacted me to share some information about their restaurant with me.  At that time, she also mentioned that they were in the process of organizing a media dinner for a group of people to come and sample some of the food and wines that Fleming’s serves.  Last week, I went to that media dinner.  I was very excited about this dinner because I had been wanting to try Fleming’s for a long time, but never have actually eaten there.

I will admit, I was a little bit nervous going into the dinner.  I do eat meat, but I’m not a huge meat lover.  I know that Flemings is a steakhouse so I was expecting to have some meats that I more than likely would not normally order for myself.  However, I also read that everything would paired with wine, and that made me more excited.

When I arrived at Fleming’s, I was greeted with a smile from all of the staff as well as the Kurman Communications people who were hosting the event.  Shortly after that, I was given a drink.  They were showcasing one of their new drinks, which is called the Mojita Bonita.  This is part of their new 99 calorie line of mixed drinks that they have come up with for the summer.

It was delicious.  I don’t even know that I’ve had a “real” Mojito before, but this one was so smooth and a little bit sweet.  Definitely refreshing after a hot day!

The drink was accompanied by some delicious bread and butter spreads.  One of the spreads was a sun-dried tomato, and the other was some kind of champagne cheese spread.  Both of them were very good.  Somehow I managed to only eat a couple of pieces of this bread, but I definitely could have eaten the whole loaf.

Before I go on, I would just like to note: I know some of you will not believe me, but yes, I did try all of these different things.  In fact, almost all of them I ate the entire serving that I was given.  I should also mention that almost all of the photos that you will see are what one serving would be, NOT the amount that I was given to try.  Someone would definitely be rolling me out of the room I ate one whole serving of everything I tried..  The portions that I tried were generally much smaller.

We started the meal off with a sampling of three different appetizers. (none of which I would have normally ordered myself)

Roasted Mushroom Ravioli: portobello and shiitake mushrooms, porcini butter sauce.  This was actually very good. I am not generally a fan of cooked mushrooms but these were so flavorful!

Tenderloin Carpaccio: with caper creole mustard sauce and red onion. Last fall when I was feeling adventurous in Las Vegas and tried a tasting menu there, I learned that this is paper thin sliced raw beef.  I was very torn about whether to try this one or not, but it came with crispy cheesy breads, so I tried it.  I still don’t think it would be something that I would normally order, but it wasn’t bad. I was only grossed out a little bit by the rawness…and the cheesy breads made me not think about that as much.

Seared Ahi Tuna: on a fresh vegetable salad with spicy mustard sauce.  Again, another mostly raw dish.  This, however, I know is something that people who eat fancy food absolutely love. (and by “fancy” clearly I mean that they order something other than steak at a steakhouse.)  This actually was very good as well! It was so tender and had a great non-fishy flavor!

To pair with the appetizers, we were given champagne.

For the next course we got to try a couple of their entree salads.  These are new for the summer and they both looked and tasted delicious!!  The salad is called the Steakhouse Cobb and it comes with either filet mignon or north atlantic lobster, blue cheese, bacon, avocado, egg and tomato, with tarragon ranch or red onion balsamic vinaigrette dressing.  I got the sample the lobster with the tarragon ranch dressing and the filet with the red onion balsamic vinaigrette dressing.  They both were very good and definitely something that I would order as a meal.  And these aren’t wimpy salads either.  They would definitely be a filling meal….or two.

With the salads we were served a Sauvignon Blanc.

After that we got to try a few different entree’s.

The first was a Tuna Mignon: seared rare with poppy seed au poivre and tomato vinaigrette. This was just alright, I definitely enjoyed the Ahi Tuna appetizer more. It wasn’t the meat as much as the poppy seed coating that I didn’t like – just a little too much spice for me.  That was paired with a Merlot.

The next entree that we got to try was the Peppercorn Steak: prime new york strip, cracked black and white peppercorns, proprietary “F17” steak sauce on the side.  The steak was cooked very rare and the peppercorn crust was a bit too spicy for me.  This was not my favorite part of the meal.

This was paired with a Cabernet Sauvingon.

The final entree that we tried was the Porcini Rubbed Filet Mignon: center cut, grilled high country asparagus
spears, gorgonzola cream sauce.  This was SO amazingly good.  The steak was cooked perfectly, and the gorgonzola cream sauce was a great addition for a little bit of extra flavor.  The only thing that I didn’t enjoy about it was the asparagus, just because I don’t care for asparagus. (But yes, I tried it.)

This dish was served with some of their famous Fleming’s Potatoes: our house specialty with cream, jalapeños and cheddar cheese.  Now listen, it probably is a good thing that I didn’t find out that there were jalapeños in it until after the fact.  I did taste a bit of a peppery taste, but they were definitely not spicy at all – which is a big thing for me.  These potatoes were very good.  They were definitely real, cheesy, potatoes.

After that huge meal, we were all incredibly stuffed. But there was still dessert coming.  There is always room for dessert, right? 😉 For dessert, we got to try the Creme Brulee: creamy tahitian vanilla bean custard served with fresh seasonal berries.  And also the Chocolate Lava Cake: rich chocolate cake with a molten chocolate center, served with vanilla ice cream and chopped pistachios.  Oh my.  These really were the icing on the cake to this delicious meal.  They were both very good, but of the two I think the Creme Brulee was actually my favorite.  These were paired with a slightly sweet but not over the top Reisling.

A few other things that I found out about Fleming’s that were interesting:

• Their stemware (wine glasses) are made by the same manufacturer that supplies glassware to the White House.  In fact, Fleming’s is the only other place that has that brand of stemware!
• Flemings has an amazing happy hour.  For those of you who thing that this restaurant is too upscale and expensive for you, check this out.  They call it 5 for $6 till 7. 5 cocktails, 5 wines by the glass and 5 appetizers. $6 each, served at the bar until 7 PM. This is such a good deal! This selection also includes the Fleming’s burger which everyone at the event was raving about.  I am not a burger eater, but I might have to take my husband there one night so that he can try it and report back about just how good it is.
• They are very knowledgeable about wine.  Their servers are all trained and if they don’t know the perfect wine to go with your meal, they will ask the sommolier and he will gladly help you.  They also have a wine trio that you can buy to pair wines to every course of your meal!

Overall, the atmosphere and people at Fleming’s was very laid back and fun.  Definitely not stuffy and snooty seeming like you might assume a typical fine dining establishment is.

Taste: A, very good quality food.  Even if I didn’t love all of it, there was definitely many things that I did love and would go back and order.
Cost: B-, I did not pay for this meal.  However. If I had, it would have been quite expensive.  I am a big proponent of the “you get what you pay for” motto though, so I really do think the quality of food makes up for the cost pretty well.

Would I go there again? Yes. I’m glad I got this experience because I had heard mixed reviews about the food and the cost of the food.  It isn’t somewhere that we would go very often, but maybe for a nice anniversary dinner, or special occasion.

Thanks again to the people at Fleming’s and Kurman Communications for hosting this event!  It was a great opportunity for me to try lots of new things!

Buffer

Filed under: Restaurant Review Tagged: | Flemings, madison, restaurant review, Steak