St Kilda’s restaurant scene reflects the suburb’s personality: casual but with quality underneath, seafood and Mediterranean influences woven through, and a range wide enough that you never need to leave the postcode for a good meal. Fitzroy Street runs downhill toward the bay with the higher-end options and date-night spots. Acland Street holds the neighbourhood regulars and the European cake tradition. Carlisle Street feeds the locals who know that the best value is usually two blocks from the water.
We ate our way across the suburb. Six restaurants that cover the full range from a weeknight pasta to a proper occasion.
1. Donovans
St Kilda’s most celebrated restaurant. Sitting right on the foreshore at 40 Jacka Boulevard, Donovans has been the suburb’s finest dining room for years. The room is warm, the lighting is amber, and the menu changes with the seasons. A shared roasted duck for two at 78 dollars, some sides and a bottle from their well-priced wine list will land you around 150 to 180 dollars for two. The window table overlooking the bay is the one to request. The pavlova at 18 dollars is the dessert that finishes a date, not a meal.
Book ahead. Friday and Saturday nights fill up two weeks out.
Address: 40 Jacka Boulevard, St Kilda VIC 3182 Price range: 45 to 65 dollars per main. 150 to 250 dollars for two with wine. Best for: The third date, the anniversary, the night you remember why restaurants exist.
2. Cicciolina
Narrow, dimly lit Italian with exposed brick and a wine list that does not try too hard. Cicciolina has been a Melbourne institution for over a decade. A shared plate or two, a bottle of Montepulciano at 48 dollars, and you are out the door for under 80 dollars per person. The lighting is generous and the food arrives fast enough that you are never sitting in silence waiting.
The back room is quieter and more intimate. Ask when you book.
Address: 130 Acland Street, St Kilda VIC 3182 Price range: 25 to 40 dollars per main. 70 to 100 dollars per person with wine. Best for: First dates, weeknight Italian, the wine list.
3. Claypots
Seafood restaurant on Acland Street that has been a St Kilda staple for years. The seafood platter for two at 54 dollars with a glass of wine each is the move. Fresh, unfussy, and the kind of place where the kitchen lets the ingredients do the talking rather than drowning everything in sauce.
Casual atmosphere, good for a late bite after walking the pier at sunset. The fish changes with what is available, which is how seafood should work.
Address: 26 Acland Street, St Kilda VIC 3182 Price range: 22 to 35 dollars per main. 50 to 80 dollars per person with wine. Best for: Seafood done simply, the pier-to-plate evening.
4. Mahjong Restaurant
Cantonese elegance on Fitzroy Street. White tablecloths, park views, and a menu that covers China’s regional highlights from Szechuan to Xi’an. The weekend yum cha service is the real draw, with char siu bao and har gow that rival Little Bourke Street. The Cantonese roast duck deserves the whole bird. The chilli wontons are criminally good.
Holding it down on Fitzroy Street for nearly 15 years and still feeling fresh.
Address: 165 Fitzroy Street, St Kilda VIC 3182 Price range: 16 to 38 dollars per dish. 60 to 90 dollars per person with drinks. Best for: Yum cha, roast duck, the window table at sunset.
5. La Bas
Newer Italian on Barkly Street trading in handmade pasta and a slightly more modern room. The cacio e pepe at 24 dollars and the lamb shoulder for two at 65 dollars are the standout dishes. The pasta is made in-house and you can taste the difference: proper al dente bite, not the mushy stuff. Wine list skews Italian and the staff know it intimately.
The share-plate format works well for date night because you are constantly passing dishes and that creates natural conversation.
Address: 107 Barkly Street, St Kilda VIC 3182 Price range: 24 to 38 dollars per dish. 80 to 120 dollars per person with wine. Best for: Handmade pasta, the lamb shoulder for two, Barkly Street dining.
6. Lentil As Anything
Pay-what-you-feel vegetarian restaurant on the Esplanade that has been feeding St Kilda since 2009. Genuinely good food, genuinely welcoming atmosphere, and the concept of paying what you can afford is the most St Kilda thing in existence. The menu changes daily and draws from multiple cuisines. This is community dining at its most authentic.
Address: The Esplanade, St Kilda VIC 3182 Price range: Pay what you feel. Best for: Vegetarian dining, community spirit, spending what you can actually afford.
What We Skipped and Why
Chain restaurants on Acland Street. They exist. They are not what makes St Kilda’s dining scene worth writing about.
Every restaurant on Fitzroy Street. There are roughly 60-plus restaurants and bars on the strip. Listing them all would make this guide unreadable. The picks above represent the best of what the suburb offers.
The tourist-trap waterfront spots. Lovely views, absolutely. But 28 dollars for a pasta that would cost 19 in South Melbourne is hard to swallow when the pasta is not even that good. The better value is one or two streets back from the water, always.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best restaurant in St Kilda for a special occasion?
Donovans. The bay-view setting, seasonal menu and amber-lit room are built for occasions. Book the window table two weeks ahead for Friday or Saturday.
Where should I eat in St Kilda on a budget?
Lentil As Anything is literally pay-what-you-feel. For a proper restaurant meal under 30 dollars, Claypots does excellent seafood at honest prices. Our cheap eats guide covers the best meals under 20 dollars.
Is St Kilda good for Italian food?
Yes. Cicciolina on Acland Street is one of Melbourne’s best neighbourhood Italians. La Bas on Barkly Street does handmade pasta that justifies a dedicated visit. Both are significantly better than the generic Italian joints that line parts of Fitzroy Street.
The Verdict
St Kilda’s restaurant scene works because it covers the full range without losing quality at either end. Donovans is proper fine dining without the pretension. Cicciolina is the Italian everyone needs in their neighbourhood. Claypots does seafood the way a bayside suburb should. Mahjong proves you do not need to go to Chinatown for serious Chinese cooking. La Bas adds modern pasta craft on Barkly Street. And Lentil As Anything reminds you that the best meals are sometimes the ones where the price is whatever your heart tells you.
For the full food picture, check our best Asian food guide, the cheap eats guide for under-20-dollar meals, or the best bars guide for where to drink before and after dinner.
Explore More of St Kilda
- St Kilda History
- St Kilda Things To Do This Weekend
- St Kilda Cocktails
- St Kilda Cheap Eats
- St Kilda Rent Guide
- St Kilda Date Night Guide
- St Kilda New Openings
- St Kilda St Kilda For Retirees
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