Fleming’s offers prime meat along with prime dining
Fleming’s lives up to its reputation as one of Baton Rouge’s premiere steak houses. Beef lovers will certainly appreciate the many choices of prime beef available on the menu, but the restaurant’s fame can easily be extended to other dishes as well.
The restaurant’s dressy but casual atmosphere appeals to the corporate upscale crowd. The open main dining room with warm woods and soft lighting has a contemporary country club feel. Be prepared: the restaurant is pricey. Prime meats and prime service don’t come without a high tab. That being said, it’s a pleasure to enjoy a leisurely, relaxed meal while being royally treated.
A Sunday evening dinner was just the right time to enjoy Fleming’s without the bustle of an early weekend crowd. While studying the menu, we munched on rosemary enhanced bread served with a choice of two butters: one enhanced with tomato and basil and the other infused with chardonnay and feta cheese. Our group of four started with the delightful tenderloin Carpaccio ($13.50), consisting of paper thin shavings of rare beef topped with a piquant Creole mustard sauce with capers, onions and a generous amount of shredded fresh basil. It’s served with buttery toasted bread rounds.
The prime New York strip ($40.95) was a large, thick steak, seasoned with a béarnaise, chimichurri and Madeira sauce and cracked black pepper. It was buttery and contained little or no fat and grilled medium rare to perfection. One guest chose the prime rib Dinner ($36.95) that is available only on Sundays. It comes with a choice of salads, side orders and desserts. The prime rib was extremely tender, but served very rare after being ordered medium.
The double thick pork chop ($29.95) was an enormous portion with literally no fat, lean and tender. The meat, enhanced with a slight Creole mustard glaze, was served with a sweet julienne of apples, jicama and apple cider, a tantalizing combination of flavors. Seeking something lighter, another guest chose Fleming’s lobster tempura ($22.50) from the small plate menu. The four lobster tails were fried in a very crispy batter that overpowered the delicate flavor of the lobster. It was served on a bed of julienned carrots and jicama and a soy-ginger dipping sauce. While the small plates are not always less pricey, they do come with less amounts of food, certainly a better choice for the light eater or dieter.
All items at Fleming’s are a la carte.
Fleming’s has become known for its lush lava cake (a chocolate confection), but it must be ordered at the beginning of your meal. We opted for a slice of finely textured carrot cake ($7.95) filled with walnuts, topped with a delicious smooth cream-cheese icing and served with chantilly cream.
The only distraction at Fleming’s is the background music that tends to overpower dinner conversations. It’s rather bland and annoying. We suggest soft jazz or light classical music would be more appropriate for a restaurant of this caliber. Our service was outstanding. Our water glasses were refilled constantly and our server promptly filled all our requests. While we did not order wine, Fleming’s offers more than 100 wines by the glass.
If you are a wine aficionado, you should have no trouble finding a wine to pair with your meal.