Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar

Fleming's Prime Steakhouse & Wine Bar
380 K St
San Diego
619-237-1155

Ok, I'm not the type of guy who likes eating at chain restaurants. Why go to a chain, when there maybe a restaurant just as good? I'll admit, I didn't know certain restaurants were chains when I at there. If I see a new restaurant when I'm out for dinner, I'll just stop in and have a meal there. I don't do research on a restaurant while I'm out and about. But, if I do have time to research a restaurant, I will see if it is a chain and then put that restaurant on the back burner of my "to try" list.

I went to this same exact Flemings about five years ago. I had an enjoyable meal and figured since I was in San Diego I would try them again. Fleming's is running a promotion; if you make reservations online, you get $25 off your meal, if you spend $50 or more and then you get a $25 off card that is good for the first three months in 2012!! A great deal.

Flemings is located in the Gaslamp area of downtown San Diego. It's a fairly big sized restaurant that is dimly lit. It has a nice modern steakhouse decor.

Since I was dining alone, I had to order over $50 of food, so I got an appetizer, Jumbo lump crabcakes, $16.95, with roasted red pepper and lime butter sauce. Jumbo lump are the second highest grade of crabmeat, similar to a choice cut of beef. Jumbo lump are white meat from the two muscles near the swimming legs of the crab. They should be nice and sweet.

I hate crabcakes that are nothing but fillers, breadcrumbs or other junk that doesn't belong in a crabcake. When I cut into this crabcake, nothing but beautiful white meat!! The crabcakes were beautifully browned on the outside, and it wasn't heavy with butter like some place do. It was a nice light sear and a nice texture to the crabcakes. The meat was well seasoned, if they don't use Old Bay seasoning, they use most of the same ingredients like Old Bay. The roasted red pepper and lime butter sauce added a nice cool flavor to the crabcakes. But, I could have eaten the crabcakes alone and been very happy.

If anybody complains about the price of the crabcakes, they are just clueless. Jumbo lump crab meat isn't cheap and as long as the crab cakes have little fillers, this crabcake was about 98% jumbo lump, 2% bread crumps and parsley, it's well worth the price.

Well, a steakhouse, no matter how good their appetizers maybe, has to serve good quality steaks that are cooked perfectly. I got the main filet, $41.95, cooked medium. After telling the server I wanted my steak cooked medium, he said hot pink inside. I told him yes! I like how the server make sure how your steak is going to be cooked. Some people have different definitions of how a medium cooked steak should be.

Anyways a few minutes later, I got a perfectly cooked filet!! This steak was very well seasoned. Some may say it was a little heavy on the pepper, but I like a good amount of pepper on my steak. And Fleming's uses prime steaks, the top cut of beef. So the steak was tender, melt in your mouth, good!! A very good quality steak, well worth the price.

Service was great!! The server and busboy came by my table often, and I wasn't lacking for anything.

I would gladly go back to this Fleming's in San Diego anytime. A great meal with two perfectly cooked items and great service!! What more can you ask for?

Dal Rae Restaurant

Dal Rae Restaurant
9023 Washington Blvd
Pico Rivera
562-949-2444

The Dal Rae has been on my list of restaurants to try for about five years. I love the idea of an old school steakhouse. I made plans to go to Dal Rae before, but they fell through. So during DineLA week, was going to Dal Rae, if I had to eat dinner alone!! Luckily, two good friends were able to join me.

DineLA is a promotional offer, where a three course dinner, is offered at $26, $34, or $44. The Dal Rae is always on the DineLA list. DineLA is usually offered twice a year, so check them out. There are some great deals.

Dal Rae's DineLA dinner offer, was your choice from three different appetizers, entrees, and desserts, all for $34!! A steal of a price.

FRIED CALAMARI-lightly battered and fried to a golden brown, this is how calamari should be fried. The calamari itself was very fresh, not chewy or tough at all. It comes with a very spicy marinara sauce and a lemon butter sauce, that was outstanding- a great dipping sauce for the calamari.

The calamari is regularly priced at $11.95. I'm guessing during DineLA, we got a half sized portion, which was the perfect size.

PETITE PEPPER FILET MIGNON- This goes for $32.50 on the regular menu and comes with green beans and a side, I got rice pilaf. So at $34 with two other course, it's a steal. I asked for and got the steak cooked medium. The steak was about 6oz and was so tender and flavorful. As the name says, it's a pepper steak, so there is lots of pepper, which I like. The pepper is combined with green onions, and I believe some garlic. The flavors all blended together perfectly. A great great steak.

GOLD BRICK SUNDAE IN A LACE COOKIE- the cookie had an almond taste to it and was light and crunchy. The ice cream might have been Haagen Dazs vanilla ice cream, it was very rich and creamy. A chocolate candy-like topping added to the richness of this great dessert.

Service was good, if a bit slow. The lady was very nice and friendly. But, it took awhile for her to comeback and take our drink orders and after getting drinks, it was a long wait before she took our orders. It was fairly busy, but nothing overwhelming. Not sure the reason for the long waits.

I would gladly go back to the Dal Rae again!! The ironic thing is, I noticed during DineLA the Dal Rae also serves lunch. So, I called and they told me, there was some flooding and they would be closed until Wednesday Oct 12th. Hopefully, the damage wasn't too severe and the Dal Rae quickly reopens. I want to go back, SOON!!

Cowboy's Steakhouse-Closed

Cowboy's Steakhouse
227 W Valley Blvd
San Gabriel
626-282-1348

The first Taiwanese steakhouse, I reviewed was Four Seasons Steak House, in Rowland Heights. I really like Four Seasons and will compare all Taiwanese steakhouses, to Four Seasons.

After going to Mei Long Village, I walked around for awhile and noticed Cowboy's Steakhouse. I wanted to give them a try and see how they compared.

So I decided to give Cowboy's a try, on June, 5, 2010. People need to remember June 5, 1989. That was the day an ordinary man, made an extraordinary show of courage. Tank Man.



I ordered the New York steakhouse, $12.45, medium rare, that comes with soup, salad, garlic bread, rice, and mushroom sauce.



Soup is a standard soup, made with corn starch, some corn, and a very bland broth. It was served warm, not hot.



Salad with a 1000 island dressing and iceberg lettuce. Fresh, crisp and served chilled.



Garlic bread/toast. Actually, not too bad. I did like this, nice garlic flavor. But it would have been better if served hot.





I ordered my steak medium rare. The server said our medium rare is bloody. I said that would be fine. When the steak came to my table it looked great on the outside, with a nice crust. But when I cut into the steak, I saw red, red, and more red. This is not medium rare, this is rare. But, since I agreed to their version of medium rare, I can't really complain.

This steak was very bland, they must not have put any salt on this steak. It lacked flavor, with lots of gristle and fat. This is a very low quality steak. It was so bland and flavorless, I had to add A-1 steaksauce and I never add steaksauce to a good steak.

Service is good. Nice, friendly servers who get the food out quickly.

I would not go back to Cowboy's again. The quality of the steaks are not that high and the steak just lacks seasoning and flavor.

The Palm- West Hollywood-Closed

The Palm 

9001 Santa Monica Blvd 

Los Angeles 

310-550-8811 

I have always wanted to try The Palm because I've heard great things about their steaks. The Palm had a special during DineLA, three course meal for $34, so I decided to go!! I'm not a fan of Dine LA because I think most of the restaurants mass produce the special meals and many times the food isn't freshly prepared and/or cooked. The first course was a nice Iceberg Wedge Salad with Danish Blue Cheese Dressing and Applewood Smoked Bacon. They quartered a head of iceberg lettuce and topped this with Danish blue cheese dressing and applewood smoked bacon. The lettuce was fresh and crispy. The blue cheese dressing was chilled and had a perfect blend of blue cheese. Great stuff. What wasn't so great was the bacon, which had been sitting under heat lamps forever. Cold, ok it is going on a salad, but you could tell it wasn't fresh. Another thing that wasn't freshly made was the fried onions. I guess every table got the fried onions because I didn't order them. But man they were cold, soggy, greasy and just plain bad. So what if this was free. If a restaurant wants to make a good impression, they need to make sure all their food is fresh. But I came to The Plam for the 9oz Filet Mignon over Wild Mushroom Ragout. I asked for a medium rare steak and got it. But as with most DineLA dinners, the food is quickly prepared and then sitting around heating lamps. The steak was very tender and flavorful but served about luke warm. I know steaks have to rest for about 15 minutes before being sliced but this steak must have been resting for at least 30 minutes. The wild mushroom ragout was served hot and maybe it kept the steak warm!!! I did enjoy the steak but I don't think the steak is worth their regular $45 price. Dessert was Key Lime Pie and it was great. I loved the subtle citrus flavor and creaminess of the pie. The crust was flakely and wonderful. Service was below average. The server wasn't always around and didn't even come by to ask how the food was. When he was at the table he was friendly and helpful. I wasn't overwhelmed by The Palm, it didn't live up to my expectations. I would have been upset if I had to pay the high prices on their regular menu. There is no need for me to go back to The Palm.

Four Seasons Steak House-Closed

Four Seasons Steak House
18457 E Colima Rd
Ste H
Rowland Heights
626-964-5115

WOW, what a surprise. I heard about Four Seasons Steak House from a friend who said they have good steaks at good prices. I was a bit surprised it was in the same plaza as Newport Seafood. Four Seasons is in the food court area of this Pacific Plaza. The steaks are a Taiwanese style steak, where they come out sizzling on a cast iron plate. This reminds me of the Romantic Steakhouse in San Gabriel.

I got the sauteed rib eye steak, $11.95, topped with a mushroom sauce and served with your choice of rice or spaghetti and an egg. Yes, that is the correct price and yes there is an egg. I was surprised when I got a salad and corn soup. The salad was just iceberg lettuce topped with thousand island. The lettuce was fresh and the thousand island dressing comes cloest to McDonald's Big Mac sauce. The corn soup was a corn starch thicken broth with some corn. Nothing great but hot, which is always good for soup.

The rib eye came out on a cast iron skillet, sizzling like crazy!!! I turned over the egg quickly since I hate sunny side up eggs. The egg was an interesting addition to the steak. I didn't eat much of the egg but then again I was there for the steak. The steak was pretty good, great if you consider the low price. Hey look it is not dry aged prime beef. It is select, which mean it will be less tender and flavorful. But it was still a well cooked piece of meat. I asked for and got medium rare. The mushroom sauce had a tomato taste to it. I wasn't that impressed with the sauce, next time I will ask for black pepper. But the steak had good flavor was pretty tender and moist. I may try their filet or the New York steak next time.

Service is pretty good. This is a family run restaurant and the owner and her son were nice. The food came out quickly.

I was impressive with the quality and prices of the steaks at Four Seasons Steakhouse. I would go back!!

Update Nov 13, 2009.




I was so impressed with Four Seasons Steak House that I went back there the next day. I went for lunch and at lunch all the steaks are about a $1 off but you do not get a salad. I got a medium rare, New York steak for $10.70 with the pepper sauce.

The pepper sauce was better than the mushroom sauce. But I think next time, I'm just going to get no sauce.

The steak was a bit undercooked, too much redness for medium rare, it was closer to rare. But a flavorful and pretty tender steak. Again for the price you can't beat this.

Service again was good. I did find out they are closed on Tuesday and on weekends they serve their dinner menu the entire day.

Sizzler- Anaheim-Closed

Sizzler
888 S Brookhurst St
Anaheim
714-772-0010

Why is The New Diner doing a review of Sizzler? To be honest, I'm not really sure. In the early to mid 90's I went to Sizzler quite often. They had decent food, a buffet, and had pretty decent prices. This may surprise people but at the time, there were not many buffets; no Hometown buffets, no Chinese buffets, or any all you can eat options, other than Sizzler's salad bar and shrimp. Of course over the years many Sizzlers have closed down.

But recently I saw an ad for a special at Sizzler, $11.99 steak and malibu combo with a salad bar. So when I passed a Sizzler on Brookhurst in Anaheim, I decided to stop in.

The salad bar was pretty impressive. They had a huge salad selection, many fresh veggies and dressing. I got a simple salad with iceberg lettuce and sunflower seeds and ranch dressing. The salad was fresh and cold. The ranch dressing was very good because unlike other places they didn't delude it with water.

I also wanted to try something hot and got the chicken wings. The wings are a fried wings, not a buffalo wing. The wings were very meaty and moist. But the batter was very salty, it reminded me of the frozen fried chicken from Banquet.

Now why two pictures of the clam chowder? The first picture was from the bottom of the clam chowder container. It was very thick, as if there was a ton of corn starch in it. It was also very salty and didn't have much clam flavor.

The second picture was after they finally refilled the clam chowder. The chowder was much less thick, had a ton of potatoes, clams, and flavor. This was like a masterpiece, while the first bowl was like a 5 year old's drawing!!!

Now for the steak and Malibu chicken. The steak, I wanted a medium rare, I got medium rare. This is one interesting thing about Sizzler, I have always gotten my steak cooked correctly!!! I have been to other steakhouses where the steak was either under or over cooked. The steak was OK, of course it wasn't dry aged prime but a good steak, though a bit small. It was well seasoned and had nice flavor.

Malibu chicken is a fried chicken pattie topped with ham and swiss cheese. The best part if the Malibu sauce which is mostly a mixture of mustard and mayo but Sizzler puts something else in there, because it takes different at Sizzler than when I've tried to make it at home. Anyways the chicken has gotten smaller over time and I'm sure by now, is frozen instead of freshly made. Anyways it was still pretty good. Moist chicken, not rubbery, ham is hot and cheese is melted.

Service by the server was below average. While she was nice and friendly, she wasn't always around, I had to wait a long time for drink refills, new plates and bowls for the salad bar, and napkins. The place wasn't too busy, sure there were people there but it wasn't crowded.

What is worse is that the salad bar wasn't always refilled. It took them a ton of time to even have soup spoons!!! The clam chowder took at least 20 minutes to refill. The chicken wings about the same. Ok the salad portion of the salad bar was quickly refilled. I saw a little girl who must be the daughter of one of the workers in the area where the servers pick up the orders from the cooks. Not only is that dangerous for the little girl, it slows down the server.

I haven't been to Sizzler in a long time. The food is about the same as I remember. I don't have a need to go back to Sizzler for a very long time.

Taix

Taix
1911 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles
213-484-1265

I'll be honest, I am not a fan of the French, who I think are arrogant assholes. Then when those wussies didn't support Operation Iraqi Freedom, I said screw them. Screw the frenchys. I haven't really been to any French restaurant. But when I heard that Taix has been in LA since 1927 and offers a $18 filet mignon on Mondays, I decided why not? Plus I knew I was going to enjoy the company of other foodies, including some hotties.

So I got the filet mignon, $17.95, which comes with a baked potato and some broccoli and carrots. For $4 more you can get a veggie salad and a great blue cheese salad.

The veggie soup was awesome and I don't order soup that often. The soup was full of veggies, including zucchini, which I do not like, and some red beans. The soup was spicy, rich and hearty. A good example of homemade veggie soup.

The blue cheese salad was very interesting. A quartered head of iceberg lettuce drown in blue cheese. Oh was this good. Very fresh lettuce, blue cheese dressing which was very thick and rich, lots of flavor.

Then the main course, the filet mignon. I was worried about the quality and quanity of the filet but after one bite, all my worries were eaten away. The filet was soooo tender, sooo flavorful, it just melted in my mouth. I could have used a plastic knife to cut the filet. The bearnaise was very good, it added to the flavor of the filet. But I think next time I go, I will ask for the bearnaise on the side. I also thought the filet was a very good size, I would say about 6 to 8 oz. The steaks is a steal at $17.95.

Service was awesome. Bernard was our server and he has been at Taix forever. He knows how to provide great service.

I would go back to Taix anytime. Every Monday is their filet mignon special. They have a daily special, also for $17.95, I think the next time I go, I will try the roast pork loin.

Taix is a long time LA restaurant that everybody must try. A nice restaurant without being full of arrogant assholes.

Charley Brown's-Closed

Charley Brown's
909 San Gabriel Blvd
Rosemead
626-288-6001

Charley Brown's used to be very popular in the 70's and 80's. But now this location in Rosemead maybe the only one left. Charley Brown's was Black Angus before Black Angus came to LA.

I came here for appetizers at the bar. I got the calamari, $7.95, and the chicken tender, $7.49, during happy hour. Happy hour runs Mon-Fri, from 4-7pm. Charley Brown's happy hour isn't that great. They do have a buffet with some veggies and some tacos. But their happy hour menu is seven items from their happy hour menu discounted to $7.49.

The calamari was OK. Nothing great. They were pretty crispy but too chewy, as if they weren't fresh. What was weird is that there were some machine made rings and pieces that looked like octapus. It doesn't bother me but I know it may bother other people. I would not order this again. The tartar sauce was awesome. A great tangy flavor and just awesome. I wish I could bottle their tartar sauce.

The chicken tenders were so small and dry, I thought this was McNuggets. There is nothing great about this appetizer. Why the would even serve this is beyond me.

Service was very good. There was only one server working but she was working her butt off. I wasn't lacking for anything.

If their appetizers are any indication of the quality of their food, I would not go back to Charley Brown again. They were good back in the 80's but judging by their appetizers, it's no wonder why most of their locations have closed.

Clearman's Steak 'n Stein

Clearman's Steak 'n Stein 

9545 Whittier Blvd 

Pico Rivera 

562-699-4716 

While doing some cleaning of photos, I realized that I went to Clearman's Steak 'n Stein in Pico Rivera, but never did a review. This review is going by memory, I think I went to Clearman's back in late summer of 2007. I think I ordered the New York steak, $30.95, or the Special steak, $26.95, medium rare with onion rings and a baked potato. The steak was cooked perfectly. Whatever cut the steak was, it had nice flavor bit a bit tough, especially for these prices, I would doubt it if these were prime cuts of steaks. When I'm paying these prices, I expect a more tender steak. The onion rings and baked potato were ok. Nothing bad or outstanding about them. Service was very good. We weren't lacking for refills on drinks and our meals were served up quickly. I would not go back to Clearman's Steak 'n Stein. The steaks are pretty good but overpriced.

The Madison-Closed

The Madison
102 Pine Ave
Long Beach
562-628-8866

The Madison is housed in an old bank on Pine Ave in Long Beach. I sat down and when I got the special menu, I noticed it was half price food if you sat on their front patio. So I quickly asked to sit in the patio.

I had thought about ordering the filet but I ordered the rib eye, $31 with a bleu cheese red wine sauce. The steaks are served al carte, no potato or veggies. The rib eye was a huge piece of steak and cooked just as I ordered it, medium rare. The lean parts of this rib eye were great, very tender and juicy. But there were a lot of grizzle which I wasn't happy about. Even though the steak was half priced, there was just too much fat and grizzle. Not what I expect from a place known for their steaks.

Service was below average. The server was very nice and friendly when he was around. But he wasn't around much. After we sat down outside he said he would come back and take our drink orders. About ten minutes later he came back to take our order. He then came back with our drinks and then came back another 10 minutes later to take our dinner orders. When he came back with our dinners, he forgot the potatoes au gratin somebody else at our table ordered. We asked again and about half way through our meal, he finally got his potatoes, terrible service. There weren't that many people inside the restaurant so I don't know why he was taking so long.

The good news was the busboy was very friendly and helpful. We saw him much more than the server. The busboy refilled our drinks and always made sure we had everything we needed. He even placed a rush order on the potatoes au gratin after the server forgot. The busboy should have gotten 90% of the tip.

Sitting on the patio is a great people watching place but it's very windy and cold there. I didn't think it was too cold but if you're going to sit outside, bring a sweater or windbreaker.

I'm glad I only paid half price for the food at Madison. The food was just OK in my book. Nothing overwhelming and not worth the regular prices. I would go back to The Madison if the food was half priced. I would not pay the full price.