Ian Fleming presents Steakhouse Royale...

On Saturday the fam went out to Fleming's steakhouse after a great day of sight seeing at the Akron Art Museum and Stan Hywet Mansion. I guess this place is a chain but the food was tremendous.



They had two options for butter with the bread -- one plain and the other was a garlic sun-dried tomato option with other veggies in it. Good stuff.

I started off with the New England Clam Chowder.

New England Chowder

It was pretty good but more potato-y than i would want from a clam chowder. Now if it was billed as a potato soup with clams...then i would have truly enjoyed it. I prefer my chowder clammy and creamy.

I also tried their wedge salad. Who knew iceburg lettuce could taste so fantastic? I credit it to the blue cheese dressing obviously but still very delicious.

I also split the seared tuna appetizer with betty.


seared tuna


Great tuna. Way too wasabi-ful sauce set my nose and eyes on fire but man this was shaping up to be one of the best meals ever!

I ordered a straight up filet over medium.


filet, chipotle mac and cheese, sauteed mushrooms

Mine was cooked a little too much but still tasted great. Had sides of sauteed mushrooms and chipotle macaroni and cheese. The mac and cheese was very tasty and original! Sauteed mushrooms weren't bad but nothing's touching Top's Steakhouse. Everyone really enjoyed their food. I would go back for special occasions because the food and dining atmosphere are on point -- but the menu is a bit pricey for my wallet comfort.

ain't no Topping this Steakhouse...

Betty and I decided to end Retaurant week at Top's Steakhouse. This would be our 3rd time dining there and we have enjoyed it thoroughly the previous 2 times. Part of the charm of Top is the historic building and vibe of the place. I always tell our friends "...it's like a place the rat pack would hang out at for happy hour." We started our meal with martinis which have become our drinks of choice since the cruise. I was pleased with my extra dirty gin martini with what appeared to be hand stuffed bleu cheese olives. Still not as good as the Refectory but I still loved it. Betty had the Manhattan up. Can't complain about the drinks.


The restaurant week special was tremendous and we both of course opted in for the specials. I had the French onion soup. Great cheese and crouton at the top but the soup could have been hotter. Good french onion soup ALWAYS burns the roof of your mouth. It was tasty nonetheless.


out of focus french onion soup



escargot

Betty opted for the escargot which was cooked with plenty of butter, pesto, garlic and cheese. This was our first time trying traditional escargot. Ironically the butter was roof-of-your-mouth-burning-hot but so much you couldn't taste the snail. Maybe that's a good thing? Betty really liked the escargot. I thought it was okay. Still really in love with the snail terrine from the Refectory but it was good to try the traditional prepation of escargot.



surf and turf filet wrapped in back with lobster tail and sauteed mushrooms

We both ordered the above dish and the steak was excellent. The lobster was tasty especially with the side of butter sauce they gave us. It was nice our waiter removed the lobster from the tail because I would've had no clue how to eat it. The onion ring did not taste as fresh however. The mushrooms were amazing as always. Not trying to take anything away from the steaks but Top's mushrooms are off the charts. I'm not even a mushroom fan but I salivate over just thinking about them. You must order them if you go. It was great that you could have them as a side for Restaurant week as they are normally considered a specialty side. Dinner was good and there was still dessert to go.



Betty had the chocolate cake which was simply heaven.


I had the out of focus filter adjusted creme brulee which was really delicious. This was served crispity-crunchity-warm compared to G. Michael's and I really enjoyed this dessert.

Overall Top's was our favorite place during restaurant week but we did not get to try as many places as I had hoped for since I was still suffering my cruise vertigo.