For a whole month, Sean’s Kitchen at the Adelaide Casino is having a celebration of the crustacean to get you out of your shell.

From 26 March – 22 April, you can get your hands on chef Sean Connolly‘s special crab-themed dishes plus weekly crab-concept events including last year’s frenzied Louisiana Crab Broil.

Tonight, we were invited to try some of the crab dishes that will available as part of the Crab Carnival – with bibs, mallets and all.

We start off with the Crabby Mary Cocktails. The name says it all, but in case you needed to be reassured, this has a ‘crabby’ twist to your otherwise conventional Bloody Mary. It is quite the concoction, and tastes like a lovely, chilled crab soup. If you stir the beverage every now and then with the crab leg it comes with, you more often than not get bit of crab meat in each sip. Things seem to be kicking off to a great start if this was any indication of what’s to come.

For entrees, we are served the Crab Bruschetta, Dressed Blue Swimmer Crab, King Crab Toast and Soft Shell Crab Burger.

Crab Bruschetta – crab mayo on crispy grilled bread, topped with fennel and chilli. The crab mayo is sweet and creamy, and makes for a contrasting topping on the crunchy bruschetta.

The Dressed Blue Swimmer Crab is almost like a lettuce cup, with the obvious Blue Swimmer Crab being the star of the dish. The tasty, white meat of the crab shines through its fellow accompaniments without dulling them, propped into a neat pile with celeriac remoulade, creme fraiche and chives in fresh lettuce cups.

King Crab Toast – King Crab meat mixed with creme fraiche is a balanced mixture of sweet and creamy, and goes very well on a crisp, rye toast.

Soft Shell Crab Burger – I love a good Soft Shell Crab Burger, which I’ve tried a lot of. Usually when one part of the burger is great, something else may turn out mildly disappointing. However after having a few of these little parcels of goodness, I can safely conclude that every aspect of each burger I had was consistent and very necessary. The Soft Shell Crab is fried in a light and crispy golden batter, paired with pickles and blushed mayo and sandwiched between a toasted charcoal bun. The ratio of each ingredient in the burger was perfect to say the least.

As we move on to Second Courses, we start off with Herby Salad – a leafy salad tossed in tangy vinaigrette, a necessary side might I add, and Crab Mac & Cheese. The Crab Mac & Cheese is the evolved version of chef Sean Connolly’s famous Mac & Cheese that is a fixed menu item. This dish is rich in creaminess and cheesiness, with a smooth and gooey consistency that is sure to find itself into your top comfort food list. The chunks of crab meat sprinkled on the top adds a gourmet finish to the crowd-pleaser.

Next is the Alaskan King Crab, fried in crispy, golden batter and topped off with spring onions and chilli. Cracking the legs open to reveal what feels like finding treasure in the form of sweet and juicy white meat is an exciting and rewarding feeling. The batter is delicious and compliments the meat without overshadowing the star of the dish.

Last of all we have this juggernaut of a dish, the Singaporean Chilli Mud Crab. Tuesdays are dedicated to this luxurious, rich and ever-so satisfying presentation of succulent crustacean, stir-fried in a semi-thick, sweet and savoury tomato and chilli based sauce. Despite its name, the dish is not very spicy and has just enough heat to leave you wanting more.

Apart from all these crab-rich dishes, every Thursday you can immerse yourself in their Louisiana Crab Broil where you’ll get steaming blue swimmer crabs with corn on the cob, new potatoes (freshly harvested small, sweet potatoes) and chorizo for just $40. So don your bibs, get your mallets ready and prepare for a cracking feast.

Words by Yasmine Yusuri

WHERE: Adelaide Casino, North Tce, Adelaide