Connoisseurs of soft shell crabs know that the time is right from now through mid-summer to enjoy this specialty shellfish.

One place to savor them in exceptional style is San Francisco’s iconic Boulevard restaurant, which is offering a special soft shell crab menu every Thursday from now through Aug. 29.

The four-course prix fixe is $119 per person (or $160.83 inclusive of 6 percent SF Mandate, 8.63 percent sales tax, and 20 percent service charge). An optional wine pairing is $65.

Because only a set number of soft shell crab menus are offered each Thursday, it pays to reserve it ahead of time. Otherwise, you take your chance as to whether any are still available when you finally sit down at your table with a view of the Bay Bridge.

I was fortunate enough to be invited in last Thursday as a guest of the restaurant to try the menu spotlighting the seasonal crab that is harvested when it has outgrown and shed its hard shell but before its new shell has hardened.

Executive Chef Dana Younkin’s soft shell crab menu changes every week, with the star attraction usually popping up in the last savory course. The evening we were there it also included two optional supplemental dishes: Golden osetra caviar service ($145), and twice-baked truffle souffle ($22).

Boulevard, which celebrates its 32nd anniversary this September, has always been a place with a great emphasis on attention to detail since it was founded by Chef Nancy Oakes. That’s especially evident with this menu when you see the whimsical ways in which the crab theme is reinforced throughout the meal.

In this day and age in which restaurants are having to cut back in many ways, it’s nice to see one that still offers classic bread service, with four types carried on a silver tray to each table so that each diner can choose their favorite. Seconds can be had, too, for anyone wanting to try one of each.

The menu kicked off with rich and meaty slices of bluefin tun crudo dotted with pearls of finger lime and dabs of fresh real wasabi. It was presented with a crystal carafe of smoked soy sauce and lemon slices playfully propped up on silver crab holders.

Apply the soy sauce with the eye dropper because you want just enough — but not too much — of the smoky, salty condiment to amp up the umami note but not overwhelm the silky lusciousness of the tuna. A 2021 J.J. Prum Spatlese Riesling provided a beautiful counterpoint, coating the palate in floral sweetness with notes of peach and honeysuckle.

That was followed by delicate, sweet, barely cooked spot prawns with kaluga caviar arranged over a thin layer of savory egg custard. Think a shallow pool of chawanmushi that tasted of the bracing sea. To go with, a glass of 2021 Romain Collet Chablis 1er Cru redolent of slate and minerals.

Then, it was time for the star attraction, the soft shell crab, dipped in buttermilk, lightly dredged, then fried to a deep crunch. It was propped up on chilled, citrusy somen noodles, accented with radishes, cucumbers, and a puddle of creamy, nutty tasting black sesame hollandaise.

A dish like that really makes you appreciate when a prized ingredient is handled with reverence yet simplicity to let the sweet flesh and potato-chip-crispy exterior of the crab take center stage.

It was paired with a 2022 Domaine Fontaine-Gagnard Chassagne-Montrachet, a white Burgundy with jasmine on the nose, and subtle brioche on the finish.

We opted to share the supplemental twice-baked truffle souffle. It arrived next, warm with the distinctive citrus-y, mushroom-y, and slightly funky taste of Brilla-Savarin triple cream cheese. Slivers of crisp fried sunchokes and Australian black winter truffle dotted the top. The souffle’s airiness and petite size belied just how rich and indulgent it tasted.

Dessert was a yuzu white chocolate souffle. Because it’s baked to order, there might be a slight lag between receiving it and the end of your last savory course, so General Manager A. Jacob Paronyan is apt to send out glass of fizzy Moscato d’Asti to tide you over.

When the souffle arrives, it’s more than worth waiting for. It’s like a warm cloud with the scent of flowers and tangy citrus wafting from it. Alongside is a bowl of vanilla ice cream studded with white chocolate and ginger pieces. Eat them separately, or spoon some of the ice cream into the souffle so that as it melts, it becomes like a creme anglaise that makes the souffle taste even more buttery.

The mignardises can’t help but make you chuckle. They come in the form of a bowl of individually wrapped “crab” candies.

But don’t freak out, as these Ukrainian candies don’t actually contain any crab. Instead their hard sugar shells encase a center of chocolate and peanuts.

You just have to love a restaurant that knows when to take itself seriously — and when not to.