First Look: The Prawn Star – New Melbournian Seafood Restaurant at Duxton Hill

About The Prawn Star

The Prawn Star is a new restaurant at Duxton Hill, opened on 21st November 2014. It sits among the other trendy eateries, watering holes, and concept stores that populate Duxton Hill. Setting foot in the store, your first thought would be that Prawn Star has an identity crisis –  despite their Caucasian servers, they do seafood tze char, but with Vietnamese and other Asian influences. 

But Prawn Star is based off a typical Melbournian dining experience, with a focus on fresh seafood and enhanced natural flavours – their Asian elements are inspired by immigrants. Prawn Star doesn’t seem to have much of an identity crisis after you learn the inspiration for their theme!

The Food

Move aside, Garrett’s, there’s a new player in town. For starters, you have to try the Sriracha Popcorn ($8). This is spicy, crunchy, salty, and basically heaven on earth. After the first bite, we were asking for these to be sold in take-home packs so that we could purchase one (or ten). Special mention also goes to the Roasted Scallops & Broccoli, XO Sauce ($18). The scallops were large and done perfectly, and the XO sauce accompanied the scallops and broccoli really well.The Banh Mi Fries ($12), topped with BBQ pork and jalapenos, were also good and crispy. We also tried the Calamari “Yaki Udon” ($18), where the udon is replaced by calamari. As for the mains, the King Prawns on Vermicelli Claypot ($32) comes highly recommended. You can have this dish with either King Prawns or Blue Swimmer Crab. All the prawns served by Prawn Star come with their shells neatly slit, so the effort of getting the meat out is greatly reduced. Thumbs up for thoughtfulness! The flavour of the vermicelli was also delicious – it was salty but not overwhelmingly so, and had a rich prawn flavour to it.We loved their Wood Fire Fish Daily Special (Starts at $32), which changes from day to day depending on what they find at the market. The price for this dish varies, depending on grammage and market price for the day. Look to their blackboard to check out what’s currently being served! We had the Seabass, which came in a very light sauce to highlight the freshness of the fish.

All the seafood at Prawn Star is first charcoal-grilled before going over the stove, and explaining the tenderness of the fish. We also tried the TPS Grilled King Prawns in Signature Kimchi-Miso Butter ($26), which was good as well. But if you’re deciding between the vermicelli and this, I’d definitely go with the former.

Verdict

The people behind The Prawn Star are clearly committed to their restaurant – and this shows not only in the food, but also the decor. Much thought was put into making 1900s pre-war shophouse look like a Melbournian back alley – there are design elements to reflect the back of three different buildings – a warehouse, an old low-rise apartment complex, and an abandoned building. Salvaged timber from freight pallets from Singapore’s docks is used as part of the bar and tabletops. 

We definitely recommend giving this place a visit – with great food and great decor, you couldn’t ask for more.

Getting There

The Prawn Star is located on Duxton Hill, between Tanjong Pagar and Outram MRT stations. 

Address: 21 Duxton Hill, Singapore 089604
Opening Hours:  Lunch: Monday – Friday : 12pm – 2.30pm 
Dinner: Monday – Thursday : 6pm – 10.30pm, Friday – Saturday : 6pm – Late
Telephone: 6323 3353

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This post was brought to you by The Prawn Star.