Top Notch! Have come in once with a big group, and a couple of times, solo trying to bang out work - works equally well for both, in a cinch. Ditto date nights and such. Genius orchestration of this airy corner down the street from Prahran market into a "bar and kitchen" - works so well. Open, green, clean lines,airy, beautiful lighting, potted plants and absolutely top notch food and drink. To define top notch, try some of the real simple stuff on the menu - say the bread - sourdough, they bake onsite served with fantastic local Olive Oil and a Walnut Dukkah par none. Ask for some olives and you get perfectly smoked almonds, plump olives and pickled Jalapenos on a heaping plate, for barely much $. Quality craft brews and coffee...AND...I saved the best for last...the music...goodness! - some of the best tunes in all of Melbourne. The onsite DJ knows how to keep the place jiving - morning, noon and night. This place has it down! and down pat! Just go and experience for yourself!
Have had coffee here several times as well as breakfast before work. Apart from the great menu and differences in food style and flavours, if ever there was a place to watch and learn about customer service, then this place should be on your list. Order a coffee and just watch the interaction. The attention to customers is second to none here. Welcoming you like YOU are the reason they open their doors. When there is time, they chat and have a genuine interest in who you are, what you do and what you are wanting from your visit there. Many cafes (and other businesses) down Chapel Street could learn a lot about customer service from this business!
Service was very quick. Had to fill in a corona virus registration form that took a minute and took the waiter a short amount of time before we got an option on whereabouts we’d like to sit. We were a bit confused when we were sat and served just water as we expected a menu?? But turns out the menu was on a GIGANTIC blackboard with chalk; that left us a bit confused. Although the hipster cafe look of it was great, it wasn’t as legible and you had to walk to the middle of the store to see the menu so we ended up searching the menu up on hour phones on their website. We made our way around the order and drinks. The cocktails were amazing, so was the steak and octopus, however the cocktail prices were pretty expensive. Overall the food was great and ambience was good.
Situated on Chapel Street, Abacus features an open, light filled dining experience that dishes out amazing small bites paired with delicious cocktails.
It’s unfortunate that same can’t be said for our mains tonight, and it felt as if the big bites have been executed by a completely different kitchen and chef altogether.
Celebrated my friend’s 21st here 🎂 Great atmosphere & vibe, sophisticated / classy deco. Dark lighting, giving you the high class feeling. Food was great as well 🍝
If you’re lucky, you might be able to secure a deal on EatClub with 30% off your total bill.
🗓 Visited in August 2019
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Abacus surpassed my expectations in every way except the size of the menu. I would have liked to see more variety.
The decor is great: feels like a Scandinavian interior design expo with hanging gardens.
Seats: comfortable, padded, both low and at the back of the seat.
Drinks: cocktails were original with lemon myrtle, wattle seed etc.
The GSM wine was excellent for around $60 a bottle.
Menu: extremely original with one novel Australian ingredient, I had never heard of every two items.
This restaurant is one of the few that can claim to be ‘Contemporary Australian’.
Best dish: fried ox tongue and the octopus.
Worst dishes: cheese croquettes, tartare (too coarsely chopped, and not enough secondary flavours to the meat).
Service: truly fast class. Amber, our server, negotiated every obstacle I put before her. No easy task when you are a severely grumpy ex chef.
A second Dutch server was equally competent.
Amber had style and grace. She performed better than my last server at Vue de Monde.
Out of 8 or 9 restaurants I’ve visited recently on Chapel St. This is by far the best. Expect to pay a little more for this superior package.
Jacq Therese Plunquinn
+5
My Lord, the most mouth watering, conversation silencing 3 pieces of Wagyu steak I've had. Simple, delicious and very flavorful.
After being a highly successful brunch cafe for many years, Abacus Bar and Kitchen has successfully expanded its culinary expertise in Modern Australian cuisine to offer up a similarly popular dinner menu. Sipping on happy hour cocktails in the beautiful alfresco dining terrace, with an interior decorated by green bushes, floor to ceiling open spaces – honestly the perfect Springtime treat!
Abacus is located very close at the heart of Chapel Street. We instantly fell in love with the building and the high ceiling restaurant with lots of greeneries which we love so much. Love the semi open air restaurant with chilling vibe and really nice place to stay around hanging out with friends or families over drinks. We’re so excited to be invited to try their new menu.
Yay: Portobello mushroom fries, Japanese fried lakes entrance gummy shark, Flinders ranges wallaby carpaccio, Speck & gruyere croquette, Chicken liver parfait, Seafood linguine, Whole market fish cooked with confit shallots and fried seymour greens, Tiramisu
Nay: N/A
Very nice venue - visual wise - breakfast of salmon and croquettes looked great but where simple in flavour, It was nice. The doughnuts are not recommended - tasted like tough dough and a bit of granola underneath - texture and flavours did not go together at all.. ps very expensive.
Abacus Bar and Kitchen is a beautiful and contemporary restaurant perfect for a special night out. They offer an array of delicious dishes and unique cocktails to suit all tastes. Portion sizes are also reasonable. Would recommend!
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We popped into Abacus to check out their recently revamped evening menu. Abacus is still one of the nicer venues we have seen in this part of the world and we love that green feel about the place that we mentioned in our previous review.
We ordered cocktails and sipped on the Rosella Spritz and Slow Sunrise Sour cocktails whilst discussing the menu. The spritz was refreshing and not too sweet a nice way to start the night. The Slow Sunrise sour was punchy, frothy with vegan friendly aquafaba instead of egg white. Both dangerously drinkable.
The new menu is all about sharing with a lot of key ingredients sourced locally. We selected a range of dishes of various sizes to make up our meal. For starters we had the chicken liver parfait, speck and gruere croquettes, tuna tartare and wallaby carpaccio.
The parfait pate was silky smooth and absolutely delicious with bang on perfect texture. When I paired this with the pickled vege and salty pickled plums and the crunchy thin toast my tasted buds exploded. A truly fabulous combination.
The spec & Gruere croquettes had an awesome crunch, a sweet smokey flavour and a wonderful and cake with a beetroot infused organge segment for some pizazz. (Wow....., just wow).
The tuna tartare had a wonderful delicate texture, a tangy dressing, sensational popping roe, a tinge of heat from the chilli, it was extremely pretty to look at and very very easy to eat.
The Flinders rangers wallaby carpaccio came on watermelon and was sliced sliver thin. Exceptionally tender and highly refreshing
For larger dish items we ordered the scotch fillet (medium rare) and the seafood linguine, perfect sizes for sharing.
My steak was tender, with a superbly juicy peppery flavour, served on a bed of silky, creamy herbed garlic and topped with a pepper berry crumb.
The housemade linguine had the most amazing texture, it was generously smothered in a rich hearty seafood ragu and topped with delicious crispy salt bush.
Along side our mains we enjoyed a crispy light palate cleansing fresh salad.
For dessert we tried the poached Seymour apple with nut crumble and vanilla ice cream. The firm poached apple was sweet and I loved this deconstructed apple crumble.
We also tried the tiramisu had a great coffee hit and was topped with crunchy coffee soil, a good strong finish to our excellent evening.
Previous Review
4
We came to this light, bright and green decked out cafe in search of a tasty beverage while we waited for a friend to arrive for a quick chapel street dinner elsewhere. I loved the space and feel about the place. Long Bar area and a wood fire pizza oven were definite features as was the large tree growing slap bang in the centre.
We ordered off the smallest drinks menu I have seen in some time (in size not qty) and both had the same idea of G&T. Fortunately they had Four Pillars gin so we knew we would be in safe hands. Gins came out sexed up by orange slices and babys breath flowers and was a wonderful flavoursome gin to start the night off right.
Pizza looked really good as did the espresso martini’s
Very good location and great design of the venue. Staff are friendly and helpful. Love the look of the food and love the taste even more! Recommend the house aged butcher's cut the most as it has a beautiful aroma of the beef, especially when having it with the bone marrow. The lamb rump is served with pumpkin, which smoothed the whole flavour. The drinks they recommended are also lovable. Will definitely share the experience with my friends and come back again.
One of the larger cafes at Chapel Street. I like how the space is all open with lots of natural lighting and filled with plants. Reminds me so much of a cafe in Bali (minus the heat). A wonderful place to hang out and spend the day.
The flat white oat coffee I had was just a little more roasted then usual. As for the blue swimmer crab crumpets it was a little too doughy for my liking, wishing there was more crab than crumpets. I must say I liked the side salad very much, which tasted like tart sweet apple slices (heard it’s either raddish/turnip).
Super speedy, lovely and friendly service. I just popped in to get an iced coffee as no other coffee place nearby was open and they got right on it! Love the ambience and the decor, will have to come by to try their food next time. Iced coffee with alternative milk for takeaway was $7.50 which I thought was reasonable for how good it was.
Went on a Sunday afternoon and enjoyed the live music while having our meals. Tasty food and friendly service, the reserved coffee was excellent. Love the seasonal truffle dish! A perfect environment for dating or catching up with friends.
Great service. Flavours (especially in the sauce) was delicate yet flavourful). Cocktails were also creative and delicious. Atmosphere and ambience was also on point. Would be happy to visit again.
Such a great experience, staff was super friendly and patient and considering how busy it was they still paid attention and would stop if we needed. Food so delicious I am salivating just remembering my dish and cannot wait to go back for more! The place itself the atmosphere is great and well designed.
Really lovely dining experience. The atmosphere of the restaurant is modern and sleek. The food and drinks were tasty and beautifully presented. The staff were very friendly and food arrived in a timely manner. Overall a great place for my lunch today.
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