Claypots Seafood Bar - St Kilda

About 4 years ago I met up with a couple of friends for what was to be a quick lunch in St Kilda. This lunch ended up being the longest of my life, continuing until our small group of four had turned into a group of 20, for dinner also. A good dozen or so wines later and countless amounts of beer and I had probably just experienced one of the most random, fun days of my life.

Last Saturday, Nick and I were visiting Chris our beautiful friend that has recently moved back to Melbourne after living the high life in Europe for the last few years. Our breakfast at 181 Domain Café turned into lunch at Claypots, albeit less messy than the last one.

Claypots in St Kilda is a sweet, dark little restaurant with a tiny open kitchen in the middle and a giant refrigerated cabinet full of fresh fish and crustaceans. There is a great sunny courtyard out the back, which is perfect for those warm summer days when you don’t want to sit inside in the darkness.

On this occasion we ordered the mezze as a teaser followed by the chilli crab. The mezze I had never eaten at Claypots before and I must say it was really good and there was certainly enough for the three of us with eight different dishes coming out. There was a fillet of lightly battered Snapper served cold with a lemony sauce. A green bean salad was a nice vegetable accompaniment as were the lightly pickled carrots. My favourite was the calamari.

Following the cold mezze dishes it was time for the hot chilli crab. I love eating crab; it would have to be one of my favourite pastimes!

There were three little blue swimmer crabs cooked to perfection and served on top off a bed of rice covered in a hot chilli glaze. To be honest I could quite easily have eaten all three crabs but I had to share.

The beauty of Claypots is the purity of the place and the astonishingly good prices (we paid $10 each for mezze and $55 for the chilli crab). It is simply seasonal fish cooked nearly any way you would like in a cosy little restaurant just around the corner from the hustle and bustle of Acland Street.

On the odd occasion we have been able to listen to a band over a pint of lager on a Sunday afternoon in the cool bar that Claypots runs next door to the restaurant. This is always a great way to top off what is sure to be a fabulous lunch or dinner!

There is also a Claypots on Gertrude Street in Fitzroy that I hear might even be better than the one in St Kilda, which is a tall ask but I am willing to find out!

Claypots Seafood Bar
Address 1: 213 Barkly Street, St Kilda
Phone: 9534 1282
Address 2: 153 Gertrude St Fitzroy VIC 3065
Phone: (03) 9416 411
Bookings: No
BYO: Wine only (This may have changed)