Shellfishly Good: Is This Dallas Seafood Spot Worth the Splurge?

Truluck’s in Uptown

We were craving some seafood yesterday and I had to go to Dallas for a doctor’s appointment anyway so I was thinking, “I know it’s not the on the coast, but it is one of America’s largest city so maybe we can find fresh seafood in Dallas that’s not battered and fried”. I was hopeful anyway after a quick Internet search. I asked a couple of the nurses at the doctor's office if they had ever been to this restaurant and they were shared wonderful memories of special occasions that they spent there so I knew it was going to be a good experience. It was in the neighborhood of Uptown and we have not been disappointed with any of the restaurants in that community yet! Upon arrival at Truluck’s, we were surprised that it was so close to a cute little boutique hotel that we had previously stayed in for a weekend getaway. While there, we walked around the neighborhood and can’t believe we didn’t see the seafood restaurant. Maybe we just assumed it was the typical Cajun seafood, which is also good, just not what we wanted right now.

Accessible parking at Truluck’s

There was an attendant standing at the valet desk and you could see that there were white linens on all the tables so we wondered if we were underdressed. The purpose of our trip was a doctor's appointment so we were not dressed up. I had on shorts and flip-flops and my husband was wearing tennis shoes and a T-shirt. We had hyped ourselves up about the restaurant menu in the truck on the ride over so our mouths were already watering and we decided to give it a shot anyway. We passed the valet and we were quckly seated by the hostess attendant. The formal dining room was not open for lunch so we were in the bar at high top table. If a guest would have been in a wheel chair, I am afraid Truluck’s would have been in a pickle. Even with that challenge, venue was fancy with white tablecloths and a beautiful baby grand piano.

There was a small sign next to the piano with a weekly schedule that showed live music almost every night at 6:30. Our table was right beside a wall of wine with hundreds, if not thousands, of choices. When the host filled our water glasses, he asked us if we wanted a wine list. It was very difficult to say no, but we had a to drive over two hours to get back home after the meal, so we opted for tea.

Joe seated by a wall of wine

I knew exactly what I wanted to eat as I have been looking at the menu previously, but my husband needed to debate some of the better options, 

settling on a half dozen fresh oysters on the half shell with a champagne mignonette. The half dozen oysters had gone down way too easily, he had wished he had gotten a full dozen.

Oysters on the half shell

For his main entrée, he was torn between the Trout Amandine served with parmesan mashed potatoes and lemon-caper butter OR the much more expensive Miso-glazed seabass with crab fried rice and shaved asian vegetables. With a recommendation from the server, he chose the seabass in the larger, 8 ounce portion. They did offer a 4 ounce portion but we were here to splurge. So why not! I had hoped to start a diet today so I knew I was going to get the Blue Crab Louie salad but I love some lobster bisque (with aged sherry and lobster morsels) so I started with that. The lobster bisque was brought to the table dramatically. It had a nice size hunk of lobster in the middle of the empty bowl, which was a little confusing. BUT, I also couldn’t wait to taste it. After placing the bowl., the waiter poured a gravy boat filled with creamy lobster bisque around the shelled lobster piece.

Lobster bisque too good to just taste

When we finished our appetizers my husband‘s main dish arrived and looked eloquent. It was a nice size piece of fish over a bed of crab fried rice. My salad looked a lot less appetizing. I didn’t realize it was going to be a wedge salad, (not specified on the menu) which I’m not particularly fond of. When I cut some of the lettuce and tried to assemble a bite that was very intricately separated for the visual appeal and then pour a few drops of the salad dressing that was in a separate boat I took a huge bite. I gagged and coughed, and was scared and disappointed all at the same time confused about what I had just put in my mouth. It was tangy and spicy and I think I got a giant bite of mustard or mustard seed in my mouth and one bite, I drank some water and some tea, wiped my nose and tried to regroup taking a second bite. That was not great, but not nearly as bad as the first. I asked my husband to try it to see if he could figure out what was the chart and spicy. He agreed that he thought it was a mustard seed, but it was not nearly as strong as the first bite where I think it was the quantity was too much being that it wasn’t mixed in. I ate the rest of the salad and did not experience that shocking flavor again, but it still wasn’t my favorite Louis salad although there was a ridiculous amount of crab on the dish.

Wedge Blue Crab Salad

I asked the waiter if they had fresh bread, particularly sourdough to go with my salad, but that’s not something this restaurant specialized in the Chilean. Seabass was delicious and the crab fried rice was good, as expected. While we ate, two older gentlemen, indulged on a pretty baked dessert that was light and fluffy like maybe an angel food cake that looked very good. Then a skinny little Barbie doll looking women came in, obviously working and on her lunch break. She ordered water and some other kind of huge dessert without a meal or any appetizers. There was no way that skinny little thing was going to enjoy that sweet treat that could’ve served four people easily. I heard her tell the waiter that she had come here specifically for that. She ate about half of it and had the rest packed in it to go box. It was the same for the older gentleman. We, traditionally, wouldn’t have dessert after such an elaborate lunch, but we are now curious, so we asked for a dessert menu. The host verbally gave us all of the dessert options which included several that I would love to try. I couldn’t pinpoint what the gentleman were eating from that list, and I thought the woman had the carrot cake because it’s their signature dessert and the waiter raved so much about it. We were expecting something that looked similar to what she was eating, which was a square cake perfectly iced but what we got was a large, but typical looking carrot cake maybe with an extra layer or two, but then the waiter presented it doused in a sauce that he poured over the cake. While the excitement on his face illuminated the table, I expected to only eat a bite or two just to satisfy my tooth but I think between my husband and I we ate a half of a slice and we also got the other half of the dessert wrapped to go.

Carrot Cake. You can’t just have one bite!

Our ticket was quite expensive was about $200 for the glorious lunch but I would say overall, the experience was worth it and we would be back on a special occasion.

📍 2401 McKinney Ave Dallas, TX 75201