There’s nothing wrong with posting a review of a RW experience. Personally, I love reading about other people’s RW dinners, good or bad. And really – anyone who decides to avoid a particular restaurant because of one disappointed RW review is not thinking straight.

Anyway, just wanted to say that we had dinner at Abacus last night and it was really great. It looks like you caught the kitchen at an off moment. My scallop was just slightly browned on top and was probably the best dish I’ve had during my entire RW experience. And thanks to your review, I ordered the cod and couldn’t have been happier with that decision. So thanks for that.

Margie, yes I’ll be checking out Bijoux later this week. From all the good things I’ve heard, I’m really looking forward to it.

FatCap, service was just sufficient, which is all I’m really looking for in RW anyway. We didn’t experience any grouchy servers like I’ve read about in other RW reviews.

“As Abacus’ Restaurant Week menu grows more and more a faint shadow of the restaurant’s actual capabilities…”

I’m clearly stating that I know Abacus is capable of more than what the RW experience captured.

Additionally, I think we all know that RW is for charity and we all appreciate that fact. However, some restaurants seem to be able to put on a better show than others during this hectic time.

Sloppy is sloppy, no matter when, even when the kitchen just couldn’t help it. I thought donnaaries found, and wrote about, a lot of positives in her meal. I would hazard a guess that her sub-par, by Abacus standards, RW meal will not prevent her future returns to the restaurant. THAT is one mark of an experienced diner.

By the way, how was the service? My experience is that, some two weeks into this year’s grind, a lot of the service staffs are holding up better, for a number of reasons. We’ll see how things are by month’s end, for those restaurants extending RW to Aug 31.

“How can you say that the food is sloppy when they are serving three times the number of people they normally do to help out charity.”

Because the food WAS sloppy. I did conclude in my review that I can excuse the sloppy food due to the fact that it was Restaurant Week.

“Do you think Restaurant week helps them out??? I used to be in the restaurant business in New York and got out of it when I married and moved to Dallas.”

No, I never said that Abacus (or any of the other high end establishments) profit from Restaurant Week. In fact, I know it’s the opposite. Most high end places lose money during Restaurant Week.

“Do you think that going out for restaurant week and traveling makes you “experienced diner”?”

Going out for Restaurant Week certainly does not make an experienced diner. In this review, I’m simply comparing Restuarant Week at Abacus from this year to last year. In which case, last year was a much more pleasant experience.

“I ate there last night and found the meal to be superb. If the portions are smaller, could it be due to the fact that we are paying $35 for a 3 course meal, plus an intermezzo?? 7 of the $35 is then given to the food bank. So the restaurants are left with $28 for that meal. Have you seen the rising prices at the grocery store. Guess what, it is the same for restaurants, even more since a lot of them choose higher quality ingredients.”

Ditto, aware of all these things.

“I had the scallops and they were excellent, cooked to perfection and the short ribs. I asked for an extra portion of the au gratin potatoes they were so good.”

Looks like you lucked out where we did not. Photographs don’t lie, my plates obviously did not fare as well as yours.

“I think it is a great idea if you do not go to restaurant week any more like you said and enjoy the full price perfection that you get at all other times.”

I think that’s exactly what I concluded.

Thanks for reading.