Located within a short walk of the Adelaide Oval, the Festival Centre and Parliament House, as well as the casino next door, Sean’s offers a formula that seems to keep everyone happy. Footy fans might call by for a burger on the run. Oysters and a glass of bubbles appeal to the theatre crowd. Pollies and business types head to the private chambers upstairs where they can order as much red wine as they like.

At ground level, the dining room still has plenty of pizzazz. A high vaulted ceiling, replica lamps and wooden benches give it the feel of a train station from another era.

Sydney-based chef Sean Connolly developed the brasserie-style menu that begins with items that require little kitchen intervention. Display cabinets on the stairway have a selection of hams that are sliced to order, while raw or pre-cooked seafood makes up a variety of platters, sashimi and prawn cocktails.

Oysters, from three locations on the Eyre Peninsula, come with twin eye-drop bottles filled with white and red vinaigrette. Raw scampi, complete with their alien-creature claws, are split open and dressed with oil, chilli and coriander.

Steaks of various cuts and weights are cooked over the firepit and served with a choice of sauce (red wine, miso hollandaise et cetera) on the side.

Don’t bypass dessert and miss a lemon tart that marries bracing levels of citrus tang in the lightest imaginable curd. It’s benchmark stuff.

However, Sean’s needs to address some gaps in service to have the sparkle of the New York brasseries by which it is inspired.