Claypots Seafood & Wine St Kilda - Space Oddity

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Claypots Seafood Wine St Kilda - Space Oddity
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• There are still a few places around Melbourne
  that when I admit that I haven't visited after
  living here for over a year currently actually
  draws a gasp from the questioner. One of the most
  recommended places is Claypots Seafood Wine on
  Barkly Street in St Kilda that I admit that I
  haven't visited until recently. More than a
  handful of people have told me to dine at this
  place and to put the Chilli Crabs high on my
  must-do list. Far be it for me not to accept a
  recommendation.

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• This is a strange place. As the entrance to the
  dining area is through a wine room, the first
  time we entered the space, there was nobody in
  attendance of the bar area and not a customer in
  sight. I thought it was strange that the front
  door was open but nobody was home so not wanting
  to be accused of anything, we left and went to
  Lau's Family Kitchen, which turned out to be a
  great experience as an aside. The second time
  that we attempted a visit to Claypots, we entered
  the wine bar area once again however there was a
  lady behind the bar this time.

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• She looked at us incredulously and after
  inquiring about eating, she took us through the
  door leading to the dining room cautiously as I
  dawdled to look at the piano and notice a sign on
  the wall saying that an Elvis impersonator would
  be performing there at some point. I stopped to
  admire the fresh fish in the glass case in the
  dining room before sitting. An impressive
  selection of fish was on ice on display however
  the front of house seemed like she was on another
  planet so I refrained from asking questions about
  the curious things that I had just observed.

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• After taking a table and being provided a bottle
  of tap water, we were advised that the menu was
  on the wall along with some wines that were added
  as graffiti as a bit of an afterthought to the
  formal wine list that was presented that had
  nothing too out of the ordinary articulated from
  within its pages. As the Chilli Crabs (55) came
  highly recommended, an order was placed for one
  serve of the crustaceans and also four Garlic
  Tiger Prawns (10/each) which seemed like a
  reasonable amount of food for two people to share.

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• I went exploring and found an outside area where
  you can smoke however for half of the year I
  wouldn't want to be stuck out there eating
  considering the cold inclement weather. Sitting
  near the door that accesses this garden of sorts
  would also be an inconvenience for those that do
  not want to be bothered by second hand smoke.

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• After returning to the small table, the prawns
  were served in a thick metal bowl and were
  bathing in a sizzling garlic sauce. The oil and
  garlic hot bath made for a great dipping liquid
  for the hot fresh bread that was provided. We
  began the task of shelling the mighty beasts and
  removing the black intestinal tract. Although it
  doesn't hurt to eat this, I would prefer not to
  and the exposed flesh looks much better without
  it. Ultimately the prawn meat, the garlic bath
  and the bread combined to make a great starter. I
  am not a huge fan for working for my food and
  rarely will get prawns that require me to remove
  their shell manually but the effort was worth it
  in this case.

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• When the crabs appeared on a large long dish,
  stacked up on a bed of rice, with approximately
  twenty mussels, I was surprised and uttered
  blasphemy. The stack of seafood looked great
  however as the discard bowl, crab cracker, finger
  bowl and stack of serviettes appeared, we ran out
  of room on the table. We could have moved to a
  larger table at this point but it just seemed
  easier to get on with it.

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• As you can expect, when you start fiddling with
  the crab, it is a messy exercise. I wouldn't
  recommend visiting this restaurant on a date or
  if you need to do business as getting the crab
  meat from the shell is not a simple or clean
  task. After we each excused one another's bad
  manners, we employed every trick in the book to
  extract the beautiful crab meat using hands,
  utensils and frequently licking our fingers like
  hounds lap up food in a bowl.

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• There was no point in being meek or timid as
  recovering the crab meat proves fun yet tedious
  and the product was well worth it. The mussels
  were obviously fresh when they were cooked and
  served with both the beard removed and the meat
  slightly exposed from the gasping shell. I really
  liked the mussels and were some of the best that
  I have had.

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• The dining room has some interesting artwork on
  the wall. One painting was a variation of an
  image that I studied in University. A giant squid
  with a naked woman along with some other oddities
  were used as decorations. Besides the large
  off-white painting canvass which was bare besides
  for the name of the genius who produced it, who's
  name was scribbled in the corner, the circuit
  breaker box was exposed on the dining room wall.
  The chef even appeared at one point to reset a
  circuit as he seemingly lost power somewhere that
  was near and dear to him.

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• What was a standout was the seafood however the
  other bizarre aspects like service and the
  ambiance made for an "interesting"
  experience. Specialising is one thing however
  when you are left talking about weird aspects of
  the service and fit-out it leaves amusing
  memories for all of the wrong reasons.

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• For details information please visit

http//www.epicureanofsouthbank.com