4511 McKinney Avenue
Dallas, TX 75205
(214) 559-3111
www.kentrathbun.com/abacus/dallas/index.php
Price: $$$$+
Oh Abacus, how I've missed you! I went to RW at Abacus 2 years ago and I've been wanting to go back ever since. Sooo excited that I was able to get a reservation for a large party of 9 at a great time, 7PM! :)
We decided to go there a little earlier to hit up the bar because they had happy hour until 7pm. We arrived around 6:30PM and went to the bar. My friends got a couple of drinks and were charged full price....eh? We didn't really pay attention until after the fact so oh wellz.
Anyways, around 6:55PM I went to the hostess and told her that my reservation was at 7. She just stared at me and said "uh huh." ooo..k..? So I was like "can we go ahead and be seated?" She said "is everyone here?" Me: "7 of us are, 2 are running late." Hostess: "oh. tell me when they are here." (then continues to stare at me...) Stupid, mean old lady!! Soooo unfriendly. OMG. I was shocked!! No smiles and curt responses. WTF!! The majority of our group was already there, why can't we be seated?!?! So i went back to my group at the bar. I guess I'll wait a couple more minutes and then check back. In the mean time, I texted my friends and they said they were 5-10 minutes away. I waited until the old lady stepped away and went up to one of the younger hostesses. Apparently they don't seat you until the whole party has arrived, but this she told me in a friendly way. But i informed her that the last 2 were only 5-10 minutes away and she said she will check on our table for us. UGH....what an ordeal. I don't want to deal with crap like this as soon as I walk into a restaurant!! Abacus needs to do something about that snooty old lady....she's totally hurting the restaurant's image!!
The entire interior of the restaurant has been redesigned since the last time I was here. It felt bigger and more open now. And the bar area is really cool! We were seated in a large table facing the kitchen. Cool!! It was kind of blocked off from the rest of the dining room so it felt special, like we had our own dining area.
The waiter was super cool and informative. He updated us on how they don't do any promotions while RW is going on, which explained why the drinks at the bar were full price earlier. He also told us that Abacus now ONLY does RW during this time (no longer offering the regular menu as well). This was easier on the kitchen. And they have more options on their RW menu because of this. Most places have 2-3 choices per category, but Abacus offered 6-7 options each. He also gave us some recommendations on which dishes were popular and other details.
We were given a bread basket after we ordered. It's got wheat, raisin nut, white, and green onion/nut breads.
I was starving....totally eating more pieces than I should. haha.These are some of the small plates that we ordered:
I got the Crispy Pork Belly Steam Bun (Thai Chile Black Soy, Savoy Cabbage Slaw).
I can't say no to pork belly...and 2 years ago at Abacus, their pork belly was the best dish of the night. The steam bun was pretty good. The pork belly was awesome. Great flavor and texture. The bun itself with the greens were ok. It was a good dish, but I wish I could've gotten the dish from 2 years ago...hahaAncho Chile Seared Diver Sea Scallop (Fresh Corn Succotash, Texas Peach BBQ Sauce).
This was highly recommended. The portion was soooo small...but beautifully plated. The scallop was cooked nicely. I wish it could've had more of a seared crust though. And I really liked the corn succotash.Seafood Gumbo (Grilled Andouille Sausage, Cornmeal Crusted Okra).
This was a pretty hefty bowl! There was so much stuff in it. I thought that was pretty cool. It tasted a little burnt though. I think the sausage was a little burnt and that was infused into the rest of the soup. The okra was a little dry... The dish looked really good but didn't fully deliver...Mizuna-Napa Cabbage Salad (Crispy Wontons, Yuzu Sweet Soy, Rice Wine Vinaigrette).
This was super light and minty. My friend said it was kind of like eating an air freshener, but I liked it. If you don't want anything heavy to start, this is definitely a good choice.The pork belly bun was my favorite app of the night.
After the small plates, we were given an Intermezzo. A shot glass filled with Violet Granita, Gin, and Citrus Soda.
The color was really pretty and flavor was light and floraly. It was really refreshing and I liked the bit of icy granita at the end of the shot.We also had a couple of the Central Market 4th Course coupons. Each coupon gets you 2 of their Lobster-Scallion "Shooters". And we had 4...which meant 8 shooters! Woot! And 2 of my friends don't eat seafood so it worked out perfectly! :)
The shooters are fried lobster balls in a sake glass with a lemongrass, curry-ish sauce poured over it. It was tasty! I felt like it was better 2 years ago though. But I still highly recommend everyone try this at least once!Time for the entrees. Initially I was planning on ordering a fish, but the waiter talked me into the pork chops. haha. I'm easily persuaded when it comes to pork! :P I had the Herb Marinated Pork Chop (Smoked Cheddar White Polenta, Grilled Asparagus, Apple Cider Reduction) 12 oz.
The pork chop was delicious! It had a great crust on it and was cooked really well. The polenta was nice and creamy and with the asparagus it was a very cohesive dish. I shared some of the chop with my friends and then cleaned the plate!! YUM! It was my favorite entree of the night. I made some great choices that night! :DWood Grilled Scottish Salmon (Chipotle-Key Lime Butter, Charred Corn-Green Chile Grits).
The salmon was pretty good, but kinda generic. But I loved the chile grits and the chipotle sauce was pretty dang awesome. The portion size was pretty good too.Port Wine Braised Beef Cheeks (Roasted Baby Carrots, Goat Cheese Whipped Potatoes, Natural Jus).
This was highly recommended by the waiter as well. I think he said they braised it for over 10 hours so the meat is super tender. And he was right! The meat was super tender and juicy. YUMMY. However, I'm not a fan of goat cheese and the little bit of whipped potatos I got was just overpowering. My friend that ordered it doesn't like goat cheese either, but he said he didn't think it was that strong. So good for him I guess. haha.Hickory Grilled Strip Loin (Oven Roasted Marble Potatoes, Aged Sherry Chimichurri).
This was kind of a disappointment. When you think of steak, you think of a big piece of meat. This was tiny....haha. One guy inhaled it in just a few short minutes. I was able to get a couple bites. The flavor of the steak was really good, but it was overcooked and dry. I really liked the roasted potatoes though.On to the desserts. They offered a Shared Sampler of Goodies, shared between 2 people. From left to right:
- Dark Chocolate Cake, Chocolate Mousse Filling, Raspberry Sauce
- Deconstructed Blueberry-Lemon Cream Pie
- Peanut Butter Mousse Cup, Peanut Butter Cookie, Marshmallow Fluff
The chocolate cake was by far the best one on there. It was rich and creamy and chocolatey. Soooo delicious! I liked the deconstructed pie, minus the lemon. The lemon sauce was a weird addition to the mix, but I really enjoyed the blueberries. Also, the scoop on top was whipped cream...could've been better if it was ice cream. Lastly, the peanut butter overload! I really liked the cookies and the fluff. But the mousse cups were wayyyy too thick. It was like eating pb out of the jar. Still delicious, but needs to be tweaked texturally.Overall, it was a great dinner for me...I think I made all the right choices. Compared to my memories of 2 years ago, it wasn't as good...but maybe that's because I've created such a high expectation in my head? not sure... The waiter was great. He was able to give us separate checks with no mistakes and in a timely manner. Mad points for him. But to the rude lady in the front, you just lost some cookies for the restaurant!!
Still a great place to go. I definitely recommend this for RW. And I've heard the regular tasting menu is absolutely amazing!
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~~ CHOMP CHOMP ~~
The cornbread came highly recommended by someone I talked to, and man were they delicious!! Whole kernels of corn inside each delicious bite! Mmm!
It was different than the menu description I got from online... The actual salad had pomegranate, no radicchio from what I could tell, and some sort of crunchy slices...I'm guessing it's jicama? Not sure. Well whatever...it was great. I really enjoyed it. The flavors were good, it was fresh, no complaints!
This way the ingredients stayed nice and crisp, that was pretty smart. The soup is thicker than most tortilla soups I've seen before. The broth was kinda smoky and creamy. It's not bad. But they used strips of corn tortilla...which I don't like and I could smell it as soon as they poured the soup in. bleh. I would say as far as tortilla soups go, it was pretty good. But I'm typically not a fan of tortilla soup, and this doesn't make me wanna go order it or anything. I didn't get the hype. Cool presentation though.
I can never say no to braised short ribs!! Especially when it has "chili" in front of it. haha. The dish was really good. Everything was cooked nicely. The short ribs were tender and juicy, great flavor. The whipped potatoes were light and fluffy and sooo smooth...no lumps at all. And the crispy onions added a nice change of texture. I liked it a lot...although I never really got the hint of chili in the entire dish.
It was a pretty big chunk of salmon! I would guess around 7 oz. or so? The fish was pretty good....a teeny bit overcooked for my preference but was still pretty juicy. I was surprised that I liked the bbq sauce on top. I'm not normally a bbq sauce person. The black eyed peas and string beans on the side provided a good amount of veggies. I would say this was pretty good...not great. She really enjoyed it though.
The pork was nice and tender and the glaze was surprisingly good. We were a little apprehensive on the watermelon bit. But it wasn't too sweet so that was good. The fried okra was done nicely...crispy outside with nice spices. The greens...we were guessing to be collard greens, but I'm not sure. The flavor actually reminded me of a Chinese dish my mom makes at home. The best part of this dish was the corn stuffing. It was delicious. I wanted to take the bread from the basket and sop up all that creamy goodness. It basically tasted like the batter for their jalapeno corn bread. Y-U-M. YUM!!
The peach parfait was nice and light. I really liked the whipped cream on top. However, it didn't take me long to notice that the peaches were canned. WAT??? I couldn't believe it... I would've never expected a restaurant like this to use canned peaches. Thought that was kinda sheisty. And the cookies on top would've been good if they were crunchy for texture, but it was kinda soft and spongey. It was still pretty good, but I was quite disappointed with the quality. The brownie sundae on the other hand was just divine!! The brownie was rich and loaded with chocolate chips. The caramel sauce was awesome! I don't usually care for caramel but this just made it better. Plus the scoop of ice cream on top was creamy and cold and cute the denseness of the brownie. Great dessert....I could eat that all day.
The bread wasn't anything too special but it was warm and fluffy on the inside so I was happy. Plus it came with whipped butter...for easy spreading...always a plus!
I really really liked this salad. First of all, it was HUGE! The lettuce was super fresh and crisp and all the toppings and dressing came together really well. The only complain is that there was too much dressing. HOWEVER, this dressing wasn't too heavy at all so I can let it pass that there was too much. I really wanted to finish it, but it was making me full already...I needed to save room for the entree!
Also a hefty portion. The salad was different than your typical caesar flavors. The dressing had a nice tang to it...but not too sour. The pumpkin seeds were a nice touch...I loved the texture it provided.
Of course I had to order it! It was massive....FOUR bone-in chop that they carved for you table-side. It was served on a skillet, the smell was AMAZING!! After it was carved, the waiter explained to us the different pieces. Clockwise from the top left you have the ribs, the tenderloin, and what they called "eyelash". 
The eyelash is the piece that is at the end of the chop, where it hits the grill...it has the most flavor. The flavor of this chop was awesome. It was salty, sweet and bold all wrapped up in one bite. The applesauce was a great addition to it. The applesauce was cool and sweet and really cut the grease and fat of the meat so it wasn't too heavy. My favorite part were the ribs, I thought it was the most tender overall. The only complaints on this dish was that certain sections of the meats were quite dry. The bottom half of the tenderloin was extremely lean, therefore, dry. Flavors were still amazing though. But for the dryness I had to deduct some points. Also, I wish it had some veggies with it on the side. Obviously it was too big to finish. After giving some to my bf I took half the tenderloin, half the eyelash, and 2 ribs in a doggy bag. I wanted to keep eating, believe me....but there's still dessert!
It was pretty puny compared to my pork chops...hahaha. But it was excellent! It was pretty much cooked to perfection...soooo tender. And my favorite part of the steak was the crust. The crust was soooo good. Great flavors with a slight crisp. The asparagus was also cooked well and added a nice contrast to the meat. I didn't try the crab but my bf said it was really good and the crab was light and balanced well to the red meat.
It was so cute! They look small, but the portion size was perfect. The vanilla creme brulee was my favorite of the 3. It was a little thin compared to normal creme brulees, but the vanilla bean flavor was very prominent. The flavor was great, with the sugar crust on top. I normally don't care too much about creme brulees but this one was pretty tasty. 2nd favorite was the cheesecake. The texture was different than normal cheesecakes...it was more crumbly like an Asian cheesecake, but it was still super moist. I enjoyed it a lot. The truffle was my least favorite....surprised? since I LOVE chocolate...haha. It was very dense and rich. It was infused with Grand Marnier which gave it an orangey-citrus flavor. my friend thought the Grand Marnier flavor was too strong. I'm just not a fan of candy, and the truffle felt more like candy than a dessert...that is why it was my least favorite. Still...I cleaned my plate!
The udon was pretty sizable with lots of beef slices in it. The udon was cooked nicely and the broth was full of flavor. Not too shabby! :) 
The sushi was ok at best. The rice was too mushy and I felt like they didn't use real sushi rice but regular rice instead. The spicy salmon itself had a nice kick to it, but I didn't feel like it was super fresh.
I love tonkatsu, so I feel the need to try it at every new Japanese restaurant. The bento box was a good size. It also came with a miso soup, which was quite good. The tonkatsu was pretty yummy. It was fried nicely and the meat wasn't too dry. Could've been a little fattier, but that's just my personal preference. The tempura vegetables were fried nicely, I enjoyed those as well. The california roll was ok, same issue with the rice as the spicy salmon. On the whole, it was a good choice.
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