Truluck's Ocean's Finest Seafood and Crab — Restaurant in Austin

My wife and I went to Trulucks on Research Blvd in Austin with our two good friends to celebrate my wifes birthday. Poor decision on our part. Oh how the mighty have fallen. We were told there was only a 6:15 or 8:45 time slot for reservations, although midway through our dinner the area we were seated in was only about 30% full. On to dinner. I ordered the Wedge salad and my wife had the lobster bisque for appetizers, along with a cocktail for me and a bottle of wine for the ladies. My salad came out first and I sat there for about 5 minutes waiting on the others to arrive. Our waitress made her way back over to our table about 5 minutes later. She looked surprised, as were we, that I was the only one of the four of us with food in front of me. So after sitting about 10 minutes the other three finally got theirs. The wedge was just ok. It came out rather devoid of dressing and what there was on it was a little thin and lacking any sizeable pieces of blue cheese. I had to ask for some additional dressing to make it palatable. The lobster bisque was so salty my wife couldn't eat it. I can tolerate a little more than she can so I ate what I could of it but it was really very salty! For entrees, my wife ordered the Chilean Sea Bass, and asked for it to be pan seared with a side of broccoli. If you look at the pictures I'm not sure the cook knows what "seared" actually means. And it came out on a plate with only a lemon and no broccoli. Again we had to ask for her side dish, and again we waited to begin for it to arrive. Her dish was unusually "fishy" for sea bass, which is normally a light, flaky white fish. Obviously not "seared" as it should have had a nice crust on the outside. My friend ordered the ribeye. It wasn't the nicest cut of meat I've seen, and he spent a good deal of time cutting away the fat and gristle. Also, there didn't seem to be a "cap" on it, which to me (and him) is the best part of a ribeye. It wasn't a total disaster or I would have given a lower rating. To wit, my friends wife ordered the salmon, and she said it was good. I orderd the lobster pasta dish and it was actually very tasty. The pasta was nicely seasoned, and the lobster was sweet and cooked correctly. As for the atmosphere, had I known the entertainer in the "lounge" area they seated us would be as loud as she was, I would have asked to be moved. She was talented and put a good twist on several of the tunes she played, but the volume was loud enough our waitress had to go around the the other side of the table to hear our guests place their orders. Conversation was basically a shouting to be heard over her music. It would be appropriate as "bar music", but not if you're going to seat diners in there 10 feet away. All in all I'd say Trulucks was a dissappointment. We didn't send any of the food back but probably should have, particularly the sea bass. The prices they charge are in line with many fine dining selections in Austin...the...

I've reviewed quite a few restaurants that have really good food and service. Truluck's is definitely a significant step above those and almost all the others. The ambiance is very classy and the restaurant’s lights were dim. A very pleasant surprise was the wine list and regular menu were illuminated for easy viewing without being harsh or glaring.

The flavors were outstanding in everything we ordered. For starters we had Yellowfin Crudo and Salmon Crudo. The plating was wonderful with the slices of fish were arranged beautifully with the sauces carefully poured to also make them visually appealing. The tastes of each Crudo were distinctly different due to the sauces, both of which were outstanding, and the fish was of extremely high grade.

For the second course we had the Sonoma Greens salad with a terrific dressing and the Lobster Bisque with horseradish goat cheese. The bowl was was delivered empty and the server (Leo, who was excellent throughout the entire meal) put the dollop of the flavored cheese mixture in the center and then poured the bisque around it and mentioned the chef suggests we mix the bisque and disperse the cheese mixture throughout it. The resulting flavor really popped.

I will try something else for the main course next time, just for variety. We both had the scallops which were perfectly cooked and came with amazing parmesan mashed potatoes and a delicious sauce, artfully plated. We also had the mushrooms to share which had a wonderful taste, unlike any we've had previously.

The desserts we chose were the Vegan Cheesecake and Key Lime pie. I can't recall having a more rich and flavorful cheesecake, vegan or otherwise. It was elegantly served with artfully shaped scoop of raspberry sorbet topped by a pair of fresh mint leaves. At first I was a tad disappointed the Key Lime pie cannot be served sans the whipped cream. Upon arrival, I saw why. This was no spoonful of Ready Whip or Cool Whip. It was clearly made from scratch and covered the entire slice and had tiny chocolate morsels throughout, with a twisted slice of lime atop.

During the entire experience, Leo correctly served us delivering a new course from our left sides, of course, my wife first, and replacing the silverware each time.

I have no doubt we will be back.

We came a month later and again had another fabulous experience. Trulucks cares so much about the experience, the day after each visit, someone calls you to get your feedback on...

I have mixed feedback about this restaurant. The food is great, environment is quite decent. However the waiter served our table was not satisfactory. We had 6 people, on business trip, had $100/person budget for a decent dinner. I was going to order some crab cake as appetizer for us, so I asked him how large is the crab cake, is it fried, and he answered. Then I asked others do you want some crab cake, and some says yes, and we confirmed 2 should be enough for all. Then he asked me “what side course do you want with the crab cake?” I asked “does the price of crab cake include a side course?” because normally when I was asked this question, I would assume so, otherwise he could ask “would you like some side course with the crab cake?” You get it, they have different implies. But he said “no it’s not, but normally people would order some side course with it.” I didn’t say anything besides no, but seriously? Even if everyone else is ordering side course, I may not, so why do you have to sound like the price is included? Money isn’t really a problem for us, just we don’t have much interest in veggies.

I guess that’s how he thought we were short on budget, and we were wearing T-shirts and sneakers (because we had Karting races right before the dinner). If the waiter has listened to any part of the conversation earlier of me asking others about crab cake, he should understand the crab cake was meant to for us to share. However he thought that was my main course, and without asking “would you like anything else”, he just moved on to the next person. So after the next person finished his order, I had to tell him “I haven’t ordered my main course”.

And a few times when I asked/told him something, he didn’t stop and listened to me, but just kept walking and turned his head partially to me and nodded. Are you really that busy? Overall I felt the waiter’s manner is below the standard for such restaurant. I was demanding about his manner because it’s such a high end restaurant. We spent $95/person, we deserved better...