Eat, Pray, Love: January 2015

Adelaide dining scene has become more and more interesting with the lineup of famous chefs opening restaurants in Adelaide. One of them is Chef Sean Connolly. He was the host of TV food program 'My Family Feast', writer of his cookbook, producer of his home cooking merchandises and winner of Chef of the Year. His most recent venture was the opening of Sean's Kitchen in Adelaide. This multi million dollar restaurant is located next to the historic Adelaide Casino.

Upon entering the restaurant, the dining space looks grand and spacious due to its interior design. It has high ceilings and open kitchen concept. This notches up the ambience of the restaurant. Besides that, there are also a few private dining rooms on the first floor.

Dining area viewed from ham museum

During my visit there, we ordered 2 entrees, 1 side and 4 mains. Our first entree was the ceviche kingfish. Ceviche is a seafood dish typically made from raw fish cured in citrus juices and spiced. Our ceviche was served with chilli, lime, salmon caviar and coriander. In my opinion, the most important element in any ceviche is undoubtedly the freshness of seafood. The kingfish was fresh and beautifully cured, not to mention that I loved the popping salmon caviar bursting more flavours into the dish.

Ceviche kingfish

Another entree of ours was the Crab N Cheese melt. The king crab was cooked with bechamel sauce, served with rye bread with melted cheddar on top. The amount of crab was substantial and the sweetness was prominent. The cheddar also complemented the crab well with the subtle saltiness. It was a bit filling to start off our meal.

Crab N Cheese Melt

Lo and behold, we also ordered the famous duck fat chips as sides. The chips were deep fried/baked in duck fat, rendering the crunchiness. However, the chips did not meet our high expectation as we agreed unanimously that there was no difference between the normal chips and this one. Even though the chips smelled different, but the texture was similar to the normal chips. I prefer the Grill'd chips more to be honest. But well, it was an experience for me.

Duck fat chips

Moving on to the mains, yours truly ordered the Orgy of Mushrooms. It was ricotta gnocchi served with different kinds of mushrooms and burnt butter sauce. My love for gnocchi developed ever since I ordered one at La Trattoria 2 years ago. Sean's gnocchi was fluffy and accompanied by my favourite mushrooms. The burnt butter sauce wasn't too overpowering as well. It was a fabulous dish.

Orgy of Mushroom

Next up, my friend ordered the Steamed Cone Bay Barramundi with Tokyo turnips, lettuce hearts and organic soy broth. This was an Australian dish cooked in Asian way. Barramundi is a beautiful fish that can be found in Australia and this steaming technique had certainly retained its moisture and freshness. This dish was simple and straight to the point.

Steamed Cone Bay Barramundi

In addition, we also ordered the Free Range Chicken Kiev with potato and dill salad. The chicken was well cooked and seasoned. Again, this was simple cooking which matched with Sean's food philosophy.

Free range chicken kiev

We also ordered the Grasslands, Limestone Coast Scotch Fillet with anchovy butter. Sean sourced most of the ingredients from South Australia and this was not an exception.

Scotch fillet with anchovy butter

There was a surprise sent to us when we asked for the bill. The bill was enclosed with a pack of tomato seed in a pretty enveloped, whereby Sean's Kitchen was clearly embossed in gold. Now we can plant our own tomatoes at our backyard, knowing the correct season and time needed to grow!

Tomato seeds

Last but not least, this restaurant has its own highlight, which is the ham museum. Hams from different country were displayed in the museum on the first floor. It's truly amusing to visit the museum. On top of that, Sean's products were being sold in the restaurant too. From duck fat to pasta sauce, you can purchase and recreate one of Sean's dining experiences back home.