Kingsleys Steak and Crab House, Woollomooloo

Why is it every time I see the implements of torture for crab, the first thing I think of is that chilling movie Dead Ringers? Still it doesn't stop me from ordering crab, just gives me momentary pause for thought. Liss and I are sitting at a waterfront table at Kingsleys Steak and Crab House, the very last restaurant on the wharf which sits halfway down. We're handed a large, paper menu which resembles a New York steakhouse menu. On the left are the creatures of the sea and on the right are the four legged creatures complete with black and white sketches of a pig, fish and a lamb.

There was no doubt in both of our minds that we were going to try the Alaskan King Crab Legs. Everyone by now has heard of or watched "The Deadliest Catch" where for the short three week harvest season fishermen risk their lives fishing the Bering Sea in order to catch these Alaskan King Crabs. The bodies themselves are fairly empty and all of the meat is concentrated in the long thick legs. This was the first time we were both trying it. The legs are precracked and are easy to crack open due to the strategic cracking. It is served with a mayonnaise and the meat is sweet and moist and we both instantly regret not ordering the bigger size. If I were to describe the texture of the meat it is firm and I would guess that seafood extender is trying to emulate the texture.

The Western Australian lobster tail comes coated in a crunchy salt and pepper batter with three large Queensland king prawns. The king prawns still have their shells on and are best eaten shell and all or peeling them would make you lose all of the flavour on the batter. It's not a typical light salt and pepper batter, it is much crunchier and a bit drier. The lobster tail is a tad tough and meaty and we prefer the prawns. They're served with a nice garlic aioli.

This salad had three of my favourite ingredients: heirloom tomatoes, 25 year aged balsamic vinegar and burrata. If you've never heard of burrata, it's a cheese well worth acquainting yourself with. It has a mozzarella type outer and inside it is filled with cream. Their burrata is from Queensland but if you are curious, Paesanella do an excellent one too. The burrata here sits like a shiny, plump bag of treasure at the bottom of a glass, glistening with olive oil and the syrupy aged balsamic. The maitre'd places it on top of the salad and pours the balsamic and oil around it to dress the salad. The fresh flavours of the tomatoes, the tiny basil leaves and the creamy burrata are heaven together.

We turn around and see a couple of girls who have parked their boyfriends at the pub and are enjoying a Singapore Chilli mud crab (1-1.2kg $64.90). Not only are they wearing something to protect them but they are full length plastic aprons! "I don't ever want this to end" one says and Liss and I ask if they have any crab left. Alas they have just sold their last one! Never mind, we say but our maitre'd asks if we would like more of the Alaskan crab legs. We look at each other, widen our eyes and nod eagerly.

Our first steak is a 350 day grain fed, marble score 6-7 from Oakleigh Ranch in Queensland. Because it is such a rich cut with the fat marbled throughout they recommended a chimichurri sauce which is a herb and oil based sauce which is designed to cut through the fat of the wagyu. The wagyu itself is ideally cooked and is buttery soft due to its high marbling score. The chimichurri isn't bad but it is a bit too heavy in oregano for my taste and we both prefer the steak just by itself.

The next steak is a monster 120 day grain fed Riverine Premium Beef marble score of 2+. It looks enormous at about 20cms in length and attached to a bone. It has a lovely char taste to it and the dry aging ensures that the flavour is purely concentrated and the difference between the wagyu and this dry aged beef is clear in flavour.

This is our encore course of Alaskan king crab. Yep we couldn't resist the sweet leg meat of the crab...

It's been ages since I had a sundae so when they guarantee that there are genuine brownie chunks in this and not just chocolate chunks I have to order this. And the brownie chunks with the crispy outer and gooey inner are my favourite bits.

Now this was what I was hankering for and when I sink the tines of my fork through this I'm surprised at the moussey, light texture. The bottom is a shredded wheatmeal type of base but the top is moreishly light and just begs going back for more. It is accompanied by a vanilla ice cream with praline crumbs.

The creme brulee has a thick toffee crust on top and a sweet blueberry compote but I don't often go for creme brulee and we mainly ordered this because it was popular. It's nice certainly but we both love the flavour of the toffee cheesecake.

We leave clutching our stomachs and try and hail a cab. We stand opposite the road from Harry's Cafe De Wheels and a taxi driver pulls up. He asks us where we want to go and we tell him and he asks us to wait a few minutes while he gets his dinner from Harry's. We sit in the taxi waiting and as he gets in he apologises to us saying "I'm sorry, I am really ruled by my stomach". We laugh and tell him "Don't worry, you're preaching to the converted".

So tell me Dear Reader, how do you like your steak?

Kingsleys Steak and Crab House

10/6 Cowper Wharf Rd, Woolloomooloo, NSW

Tel: +61 1300 546 475