Been looking for Miss Katie's Crab Shack? She's left her digs at The Rochester Hotel, which was her crustacean-heavy home for over two years, to set up shop at Ding Dong Lounge in Melbourne CBD from Thursday 11 August. The roving restaurant run by chef Katie Marron takes over the empty kitchen left behind by Southern soul food eatery Girl with the Gris Gris, and will serving more of Crab Shack's crowd favourites including fried chicken, crab boils smothered in Old Bay seasoning, and potent Bloody Marys.
To celebrate her new Chinatown digs, Miss Katie's will be hosting a housewarming party on August 11, where the crustaceans will be on the boil, $1 oysters will be shucked from 5-6pm, and cocktails will be flowing.
Replacing Miss Katie's Crab Shack at the Rochey is a fresh pub menu devised by ex-Movida chef Steve Rogers and Pope Joan's Matt Wilkinson. Offering hearty pub fare, the new menu includes numbers like The Pope's chicken Kiev with chips, garlic bread with bolognese and cheese, lamb vindaloo, home-style fish pie, and a fish finger butty for grown-ups. New weekly specials, like the $15 Friday lunch menu, is also ensuring locals missing Miss Katie's presence will keep coming back to the Rochey.