August is the month to celebrate OYSTERS at Sean’s Kitchen, and with an exciting $1 oyster hour, who can say no?
Sean Kitchen’s Oyster Festival will run from the 1st of August to the 31st of August, presenting a quality selection of locally sourced produce and menus dedicated to our tasty sea-friends. Sean’s Kitchen will also host an Oyster Hour in celebration, running from 12-1pm and 5-6pm every day in August!
Head Chef Sean Conolly states: “The Oyster Festival is my way or celebrating the finest produce South Australia has to offer. This month, I’ve put together a menu that heroes these delicious creatures.”
Sean’s Kitchen during lunch service
It is a little known fact that oysters taste better in winter, thanks to a chilly atmosphere keeping them nice and fresh for consumption. During summer months, oysters also tend to lose a little of their flavour and become more watery because they are spawning, so August is, in fact, the perfect time to be getting your oyster on.
A menu dedicated to oysters is a menu worth devouring
The Adelaidian ventured in on Monday to try out the exclusive new menu, sampling a range of Sean’s delectable oyster dishes and cocktails. We especially loved that Sean’s had gone all out with the theme, dressing their staff in cute ‘I love oysters’ shirts (where can we purchase our own?!).
Midday saw cocktails on our agenda, and fortunately Sean’s Kitchen presented us with a cocktail menu comprising of five different and some nautically-named oyster options: Oysterita, James Pond, Pearls of Wisdom, Surf and Turf and The San Fran Oyster Cocktail.
Pearls of Wisdom Cocktail
The San Fran Oyster Cocktail
Kristen lapped up The San Fran Oyster Cocktail which came deconstructed in three parts: one part oyster, one part Rye whiskey and one part Bloody Mary. The idea was to consume the drink in separation, to get an idea of each of the flavours individually yet also together. Mel tried the Pearls of Wisdom, infusing vodka, clamato juice and spices, as well as skewered pickled oysters to garnish; the drink was inherently savoury, alluding to a Bloody Mary (perfect for her post-birthday hangover).
It was time to get stuck into the food menu, and we were almost overwhelmed by the choice at hand. After a little help from the waitress, we finally decided on our order and shortly thereafter received our first (and perhaps most important) meal, the Oyster Flight. The flights came with 6 oyster types, each reigning from a different South Australian region: Denial Bay, Peter’s Island, Smoky Bay, Coffin Bay, Cowell and Kangaroo Island.
x2 Oyster Flight, please
Every oyster was served fresh, raw and free of added condiments or ingredients, making the subtle flavour differences obvious where they’d have otherwise gone unnoticed. They came presented in a large, elevated ice bucket, with signs marking the oysters’ regions, sliced lemons and sauce on the side. Smoky Bay’s highly salty characteristics came out to be the most distinctive of the bunch, whereas Denial Bay’s oysters proved the most mild to us, and also of a firmer, less gooey texture. Since everyone knows sparkling champagne and oysters are a seamless pairing, we decided to enjoy our flights with a luxurious bottle of Louis Roederer.
Popping open some Louis Roederer Champagne
A highlight dish of the day was certainly the Chowder and Fries, which perhaps looked like the most unappealing, but ended up being arguably the tastiest. The chowder simply came with a bowl of seasoned, duck fat chips (Sean’s Kitchens famous chips of choice) and a little jug on the side containing creamy leek and oyster soup. The thick soup looked like green, globby gloop when poured on top of the chips, however, when consumed, it became a whole other story. The rich flavours were pretty much unbeatable, alongisde a fulfilling and wholesome texture that we certainly weren’t expecting from this dish. Additionally, a lonesome oyster was buried underneath the gloop like a hidden golden treasure, ready to surprise its unsuspecting consumer.
Compiling our Chowder and Fries
Our last ‘oyster-licious’ meal was the Chicken Fried Oyster Tacos, served ‘naked’ with slaw and chipotle aioli. This dish was what we would suggest be suited to those holding a lower tolerance for the slimy texture and oceany flavour of oysters; these are notorious characteristics that tend to have many people gagging at the thought of consuming an oyster. The tacos are a great way to work your way up on the oyster scale, seeing as the oysters contained in this dish were mostly overpowered by the fillings and aioli, holding a very minimal flavour of their own. The fact that they were fried meant the texture could become firm with a slight crunch, and the fishy nature of any seafood flavour often decreases when cooked or fried.
Chicken Fried Oyster Tacos
Desserts and coffee awaited us at the end of our Sean’s Kitchen Oyster Festival experience, as we delved into a Raspberry Sandwich, consisting of raspberry soft serve, raspberry macrons and raspberry dust, and a Cherry Sago Sorbet, made with coconut milk and pistachio. Both held a distinct pink theme and, as lovers of generally anything pink (except our clothing), this made us very happy customers.
Raspberry Sandwich
Cherry Sago Sorbet
