If your idea of summer dining leans more toward napkin-dabbed civility than gloriously messy finger food, Rambutan’s upcoming Jaffna Crab Night might not be for you. But if you’re the sort who finds joy in communal chaos – elbows on the table, sleeves rolled up, bits of crab shell flying in spirited conversation – then mark your calendars for 1st July and prepare to get involved.

Located in Borough Market, Rambutan has been redefining the capital’s idea of Sri Lankan cooking since it opened in 2023. Founder and cookbook author Cynthia Shanmugalingam has never been shy about big flavours, nostalgia-fuelled dishes, or the kind of generous, family-style hospitality that makes London’s more buttoned-up eateries look, frankly, a bit beige.

On July 1st, Rambutan’s Jaffna Crab Night celebrates the British crab season with a menu built around Sri Lanka’s most iconic (and messiest) dish: the deeply aromatic, coconut-rich Jaffna crab curry. It’s the kind of thing you eat with your hands and a fistful of napkins.

The set menu will kick off with zingy seasonal acharu – a selection of Rambutan’s house pickles. There’s also poppadom-like rice appalam, flavoured with cumin, and fluffy deep-fried roti with a spicy katta sambol of dried chillies, shallots and Maldive fish flakes. Next, a heirloom tomato white curry (a curry made with coconut milk and only a pinch of spice), along with tempered potatoes tossed with fragrant pandan. For the main event, roll up your sleeves and get stuck in with the crackers: beautiful whole British crabs cooked in the traditional way, with an aromatic mix of coconut milk, freshly roasted spices including coriander, cumin, fennel and pandan, and moringa leaves, which have a peppery, earthy flavour, served with yellow rice, and simple white kade paan, or ‘shop bread’, to mop up every last drop of the rich sauce. Dessert comes in the form of a silky, tart-sweet passionfruit and jaggery ice cream.

Tickets are priced at £60 and bookings can be made at rambutanlondon.com.

 10 Stoney St, London SE1 9AD