So I’m going to do something that I don’t normally do, which is to review a restaurant with no photos of the food. We unintentionally left the camera in the car but I didn’t bother going back out to get it because we were a run-of-the-mill chain steakhouse, and it was Easter so I figured we deserved a break anyway. I was pretty appalled by the food we had so I changed my mind about doing a write-up, and instead I’m using this as an experiment to see how a review turns out without pictures. Given all the publicity lately about food photography (aside from Grant Achatz and Anthony Bourdain, the New York Times just ran an article about it), and the debate about taking pictures, this seemed like a good opportunity to test out what it would be like if we scaled back on photos. Please let me know what you guys think!
Josh’s mom had a craving for steak so we ended up going to Fleming’s in Edgewater for Easter Sunday dinner. I was surprised that they were open on Easter but they seemed to be fully staffed and operational, and while the restaurant wasn’t full, it was definitely more crowded than I expected it to be. We were only a party of four on this particular Sunday night so we got a nice cozy booth near the back of the restaurant, with a good view out the panoramic windows that face the city skyline.
We were given a loaf of soft rosemary bread to munch on while we looked over the menu. The bread was dense and fluffy with no real discernable crust, but I enjoyed the woodsy rosemary flavor. There were two different butters that came with the bread, one was salty and flavored with feta while the other was sweet and flavored with sun dried tomatoes. Both were pretty enjoyable slathered on the soft bread.
Josh and I had a big Easter lunch with my family and had been snacking all day so we decided to forgo appetizers. Alice and Lloyd shared the wedge, which was a quarter wedge of a large head of iceberg topped with red onion, grape tomatoes, and crumbled blue cheese. Josh and I really dislike blue cheese but I tasted a small portion of the salad and found it to be pretty good. The iceberg was crisp and fresh, the tomatoes were sweet and juicy, and the blue cheese was relatively mild compared to others I’ve tasted. I can see why this is such a popular combination for a salad.
For my entrée, I had the double thick pork rib chop that was baked with apple cider, creole mustard, and a julienne of apples and jicama. It sounded good on paper but the flavor was off in execution. It was sweet and sour in a weird way, and the flavors were muddled. I couldn’t really taste apple, or mustard, but something more maple-like and a bit smoky. The pork chop was huge but it was kind of tough and I think a bit overcooked. I had asked for it medium, which our waitress said would be pink in the center, but it was white throughout and a bit hard to chew. The julienne of apples and jicama came out like a mushy sauerkraut and had both a strange texture and flavor. Suffice it to say, I was not a fan of the dish.
Both Josh and Alice ordered the petite filet mignon. Alice’s medium rare steak ended up being more rare, so she sent it back for them to cook it a bit longer. However, Josh asked for his black and blue, and it was cooked perfectly. The outside had a nice seared crust, it was ruby red in the middle, and the seasoning was just perfect. It was a good piece of meat and pretty well executed.
Lloyd had the lamb chops served with a champagne mint sauce. I had a bite and it tasted pretty good, with a nice crust on the outside and lots of gamey flavor. Lloyd seemed to enjoy his dish and I didn’t hear any complaints.
In typical steakhouse fashion, the meats are mostly served a la carte, so there is a long list of sides you can order to accompany your main course. We got sautéed sweet corn and creamed spinach for the table. The corn was fine, with sweet kernels cooked in a buttery sauce, but it was uninteresting. The creamed spinach was mostly cream and cheese but I still thought it was tasty. It definitely could use more spinach in the mix though.
Alice and Lloyd also split a baked potato, which comes with sour cream, butter, chives, bacon and cheddar cheese. The potatoes are usually huge and fluffy on the inside, but this time their potato was only medium sized and hard in the middle. It had clearly been undercooked, so they sent it back and got another potato, which was also on the smaller side and had a big unpleasant-looking black bruise on one side that was basically inedible. Not wanting to send back a second potato, they ended up just eating around it but it wasn’t a great potato to begin with. Considering you’re spending about $7 on a baked potato, I would expect them to inspect their potatoes a bit more closely.
Josh and I split an order of the half and half, which is half French fries and half onion rings. The fries had such potential because they were thin shoestrings and obviously cut from real potatoes, but the frying left much to be desired. The fries were limp, soggy, and greasy, which was really too bad because they looked so appealing. The onion rings, however, were fantastic. Huge slices of onion were lightly breaded and fried to a perfect crisp. I wish we had a whole plate of these onion rings instead of the lackluster fries.
Overall we were pretty dissatisfied with the meal we had at Fleming’s. We’ve eaten there previously so we know it’s standard steakhouse fare, but I thought the overall execution was pretty bad. I could barely get through half my pork chop, not because of its size, but because of how it tasted. The steaks and lamb chops were better because they were simply seasoned and broiled. I think sticking with the plain meats is the way to go at this restaurant. The sides were mostly all pretty disappointing though. What makes it more unforgivable is that this is an expensive restaurant. Yes, it’s a chain, but most entrees are $30+, and they’re served a la carte. Sides are an additional $7-$9 each. The side dishes can be shared but it’s still not a cheap dinner. Service was ok but not particularly attentive. Our waitress didn’t really come by to check on us very often, and they seemed annoyed when we sent back the first potato. I just don’t think the restaurant is worth the price, and I doubt that we’ll be going back there any time soon.
Fleming’s (multiple locations)
90 Promenade, City Place Shopping Center
Edgewater, NJ