Restaurant Review: Abacus (Dallas)

When I started my new job, I spent a few days in Dallas and was able to spend the evening with my sister and Eric.  When I told her I was coming, the first thing she asked was, "where do you want to eat?!?"  I love my sister :)  The first night, we went to Abacus and oof, ate so much I went into an immediate food coma.  The second night, Chef Eric cooked his yummy Sinigang soup, which I tried to recreate and home and will post in the coming days. 

Abacus is run by Chef Kent Rathbun and this restaurant has earned a slew of accolades including Bon Appetite's Best Tasting Menu. The atmosphere consists of a black and red decor and was surprisingly busy on a Tuesday night with plenty of tables of business dinners. Appetizers, side dishes and entrees were all delicious!

Tempura Calamari with a sweet thai sauce. There were also tempura fried scallions and mushrooms. This was surprisingly delicious and highly recommended.

Creamy Black Truffle Risotto - This absolutely kicks major butt. Sometimes you don't really taste the "truffle" but this risotto, perfect combo of creamy/cheesy goodness mixed with that hit of truffle. Um, if I didn't consume my entire entree, this would have been gone in a flash!

Pomme Frites w/White Truffle Oil - Good but not spectacular.  Didn't really taste the truffle and when taste the truffle risotto before this, every other side dish just doesn't compare.

Applesmoked Bacon "Mac & Cheese" - This was my least favorite side dish.  Nothing spectacular and didn't really taste any different than other mac and cheeses. 

Duck w/blackberry sauce - The online menu doesn't show this but the duck was pretty fantastic. There were plenty of medium cooked duck and I would take a bite with a bit of blackberry sauce. 

Eric tried the seared venison and I'm not exactly sure what my sister had.  Thinking it was fish but I had a bite and I remember it being quite tasty.  Per my last experience w/venison I didn't have any of Eric's venison so not sure if they were good or not - he said they were.

Overall, I give this place a 4.5 out of 5.  Decor was good and we got to sit in a little booth.  It did get pretty loud at times. Food was good and the waiter wasn't too pushy.  We left feeling pretty great after eating such a good meal.