Cody Pham
Google
We made a last minute reservation at Flemings for my parents’ anniversary dinner on a Thursday night, which wasn’t really necessary because there was plenty of availability. We were pleasantly surprised to see the staff had set the table with little hearts and a card for my parents’ special occasion. We appreciated lovely atmosphere created by the small extra touch.
For the most part, service was great. Our server, Eric, took great care of us throughout the night. Nothing wrong with him - he was perfect. However, I could have done without the racial micro aggressive comments made by a man I assume was the manager (he wore a black suit and had a man bun).
We were enjoying our dinner when he came over and asked us if we were Filipino. We weren’t. Then he starts going off about how his wife is Filipino and colonization. I want to call attention to this kind of behavior and denormalize it. I hate when people come up to me and start trying to guess my ethnicity like I’m some kind of sideshow attraction. Guessing a person’s ethnicity unprompted may seem like a harmless icebreaker, but is actually a racist micro aggression that singles out minorities for appearing different and makes them feel like they don’t belong in a community.
And on top of that, it’s rude. What am I, a cocker spaniel? It should not be (and isn’t) socially acceptable to come up to Asian people, try to guess “what kind of Asian they are,” bring up your Filipino wife just because we’re Asian (we weren’t even Filipino), and go on a tangent about colonization.
… Anyways, my father and I opted for the wine flights. He had the $18 Paso Robles flight, and I had the $15 House of Brown flight. For that price, we each had 3 2 oz pours of various wines. As someone who doesn’t drink wine often, I liked getting to try different wines. I particularly enjoyed my father’s Sauvignon Blanc. I actually liked all of my dad’s wines better. My mother got the Blueberry Lemon Drop, which I also enjoyed.
To start, we shared the large seafood tower, which is $189 and is good for 3-4 people. The seafood was fresh and delicious. Each bite of the lobster tails and Alaskan king crab legs was plump and juicy. I’m not an oyster person, but I presume they were good because my father and sister cleaned them all up. They said that the mignonette was especially good.
The sides were also very good. We got the Sweet Corn Brûlée and the Chipotle Mac and Cheese. The crab cakes were decent, but I feel like I’ve had better.
I had the Filet Mignon with Crab-Stuffed Lobster as my entree. To be honest, I thought the filet mignon was just ok - a bit tough if anything. The crab-stuffed lobster was delicious, but a bit too small. I expected better for an $89 entree.
And for dessert, we had the Cheesecake and the Molten Lava Cake. I was not a fan of the cheesecake - the texture was too waxy for me. The molten lava cake was decent. Dark chocolate forward. And at the end, the staff gifted us some complimentary dark truffle for my parents’ anniversary.
Overall, I had a good dinner at Flemings. Would I come back? …mmm… meh? Maybe if I needed another last minute relatively fancy dinner reservation.