Marty Webster and Amy McGouldrick have worked in enough wine bars to know what makes a dull, cookie-cutter venue. So their debut, The Walrus in St Kilda, is anything but.

Dark timbers and an inky palette are banished. Oysters are a focus but chablis, their most common partner, is not. Cocktails don’t come with names. And Sunday is the most indulgent day of the week.

Webster and McGouldrick, partners in life and business, met at Lyndon Kubis’ group of wine-focused venues that include The Alps, The Moon and Milton Wine Shop. After moving to St Kilda a few years ago, they realised there were few venues like the ones they’d worked in and enjoyed visiting.

“There are plenty of places to drink, but to get a great glass of wine? Not so much,” Webster says.

The Walrus is now that place, pouring lesser-seen wines such as Sicily’s catarratto and those from regions such as Penedes in Spain.

The two-room space is a sunny clash of bright yellow, deep green and purple, with art by friends and Webster on the walls.

“I worked in a lot of wine bars, and they’re dark, with black walls and chalkboards. I wanted to go the other way,” Webster says.

Webster, who wrote the wine list, included a section that are an unrivalled match with the oysters on offer, yet might surprise some people.

“Everyone assumes chablis and oyster is a wonderful pairing, and absolutely it is, but it’s very expensive. It’s not an everyday wine,” he says.

More affordable muscadet, cava, Portugal’s vinho verdhe and aligote – the “other” wine from Burgundy – are among the recommendations. There’s great value elsewhere, too, with half the wines by the glass sitting between $13 and $14.

Cooking, shared between Webster and third partner Michael Weal, is limited to an induction hob and benchtop oven, so the menu is mainly tinned Spanish and Portuguese seafood and pintxos in addition to the daily oyster line-up (which often includes Wapengo Rocks).

The day’s pintxos menu is scrawled on a mirror. Items like smoked eel cigars, anchovy toast and Gildas are joined by share plates like avocado and smoked chilli dip, and seaweed-cured kingfish with orange and beetroot.

On Sundays, the usual “mezze” towers (oysters with pickles and snacks) get an upgrade, with items like crab choux pastries and lobster crumpets. Special bottles of wine are opened and half-serve martinis are on offer. Webster says it’s quickly become a weekly ritual for locals.

An aversion to cocktail names means the owners decided to give each of their drinks a number instead, which helps customers focus on the ingredients to choose what they like.

Open Tue-Thu 3pm-10pm, Fri-Sat noon-11pm, Sun noon-6pm.

9 Inkerman Street, St Kilda, 03 8626 7711, thewalrusoysterbar.com