Claypots Evening Star

Katie Lindkvist★★★★★★★★★★5.06 months ago

I’ve been here many, many times and went again for a Sunday lunch and once again, it was outstanding. The team are always so helpful and friendly, which just adds to the experience. The freshness and quality of the seafood is second to none. My absolute favourite dish is the mussels, they’re consistently incredible and the reason I keep coming back.

Henry Hsu★★★★★★★★★★5.04 months ago

I walked 1.5 hours from Melbourne Marriott to the South Melbourne Market. CLAYPOT EVENING STAR is a must visit place while there. It was lunch and there were long queue and the restaurant was really crowded. Lucky me being just a single diner, I was able to be seated at the bar counter just in front of the chef and cooking area. I ordered the signature seafood marinara pasta and the service staff mentioned that I could take away the balance as the portion is rather huge. The pasta came less than 10 min after my order. The presentation was great with 2 big prawns and at least 6 mussels with squis( or cuttle fish) and fish slices. The pasta was amazing. It was not too dry. The garlic and herb taste was strong and I loved it. The prawns were real fresh and mussels juicy. I cleaned up the whole big plate of it in 15 min. Shiok!! - meaning total satisfaction! Do pay this place a visit while around the area. The place was rather busy and all staff were totally busy. Thanks for the hard work and great food.

M Li★★★★★★★★★★5.02 months ago

We’ve walked past the restaurants for many years but never stopped as it always looked super busy, we came by for an extra early dinner around 5pm on Friday and was able to have a seat very easily. Staff very accommodating with our 8 month old baby with high chair. We tried the oyster, whole grilled calamari and pan fried barramundi. The food came out nice and quick, seafood tasted fresh. Would recommend!

Baggage Claim Philosopher★★★★★★★★★★5.02 months ago

Claypot Evening Star sits on the corner of South Melbourne Market like it’s physically holding the building up through sheer popularity. On a Saturday night the place is infected, absolutely crawling with people, tourists, locals, and that special breed of diner who enjoys standing in line for half an hour looking like they’re about to be admitted into a secret society. Let’s get this straight: I hate crowds. I hate waiting. I hate standing around watching other people eat while pretending I’m relaxed. None of this is the restaurant’s fault, because clearly they’re doing something very right. It is Saturday, after all, a day when people refuse to stay home and eat instant noodles like responsible adults. The wait is long. You wade through humanity like you’re crossing a river of opinions and linen shirts. But once seated, the bitterness fades, reluctantly. We ordered an Italian Pinot Grigio, which behaved beautifully and minded its own business. Then came the food: pasta, prawns with coriander sambal, and a full lobster tail that set me back about $100, which hurt, but only briefly, because it was excellent. Everything was properly cooked, confident, and unapologetically delicious. The mushrooms, cooked in a kind of Asian sambal, were a quiet knockout, deeply flavoured, properly spicy, and far more satisfying than they had any right to be. Earthy and rich, they soaked up the chilli and aromatics beautifully, delivering that slow-building heat that makes you pause mid-sentence and reassess your bravery. It was one of those dishes that sneaks up on you, unassuming at first, then suddenly commanding your full attention, the sort of plate that makes you forget you ordered seafood at all. The deep-fried flounder was acceptable, which, in this context, is faint praise delivered with a raised eyebrow. Perfectly edible, competently cooked, nicely behaved, but it didn’t exactly leap off the plate and demand a memoir. It did its job, caused no offence, and exited quietly, which is sometimes all a piece of fish can hope for in such distinguished company. The service is friendly in that Australian way, casual, loose, not taking life too seriously, which is exactly what you want when you’ve just spent half an hour questioning your choices in a queue. And then there’s the logo, a pair of strange intertwined serpents, which frankly makes the place look less like a restaurant and more like an occult lodge that secretly worships seafood and social endurance. Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me if the line outside is actually an initiation ritual. Here’s the uncomfortable truth: The wait is awful The crowd is unbearable The standing around is humiliating The food is exceptional Claypot Evening Star is a victim of its own success. I hate that I love it. I’ll complain the entire time. And I’ll absolutely go back. Because great food makes fools of us all…

Allen Tang★★★★★★★★★★4.05 months ago

My family of three, who were visiting Melbourne, met up with a family friend and his wife for lunch at Claypot Evening Star. Upon arrival, we were informed by a staff member that the restaurant was full and advised to return in about 45 minutes to an hour, with the assurance that he would try to fit us in. We took a stroll around the neighbourhood stores and returned roughly an hour later, only to be directed by the same staff member to another colleague, who then led us to the other side of the restaurant and asked us to join the long queue for a table. This led to some confusion, as we ended up waiting an additional 20 minutes before a table for the five of us became available. Once seated, the service improved noticeably. Our server was very polite and apologetic about the wait, which helped smooth things over. We ordered half a dozen fresh oysters, chilli mussels, barramundi wings and sambal stingray to share, along with a bottle of Gilgamesh Adelaide Hills Sauvignon Blanc. The food arrived promptly and was overall above average—fresh, well-prepared and enjoyable, especially for sharing. Aside from the initial confusion and wait for a table, the dining experience was pleasant, and the quality of the food made up for the earlier hiccups. At 3pm there was even a live performance by a duo. Overall, a solid seafood spot in Melbourne, though clearer communication at the front of house would certainly improve the experience.