Best Cheap Eats in Melbourne
Put down the instant ramen. Melbourne might be one of the most expensive cities in the world, but if you know where to look, affordable lunches and dinners are everywhere.
Here, we’ve gathered our savvy specials and cheap favourites to help make your dollars go that bit further. This guide counts diners with dishes under the $15 mark; all-you-can-eat joints that offer bang for your buck; and weekday specials that promise a meal and a drink for around $20.Take your pick from gözleme, ramen, pot and parma nights and more.
Restaurant
Good Times
Let the good times roll with $9 puttanesca and napolitana pastas. There’s also a ratatouille with grilled zucchini, gold capsicum, squash and spiced cannellini beans for the same price. Feel like a drink? Negronis and wines carafes are also $9.
Restaurant
Soi 38
Bangkok-style Thai fare for a steal. By that, we mean $15 papaya salads, grilled pork skewers and punchy noodle salads. Plus, plenty of aromatic soups, deep-fried dishes and natural wine.
Restaurant
Just Falafs
There’s far lot more on offer than what’s in the name, but it’s hard to go past the falafel pita pockets. You can get one for a keenly priced $14. It comes with hummus, pickled cabbage, Israeli salad, sumac pickled onion, pickles and tahini.
Restaurant
Butchers Diner
A good burger isn’t hard to find these days. A cheap, well-made one? That’s a different story. But Butchers Diner has you covered with a $12 hamburger that’s among the city’s best. And it’s available until late.
Restaurant
MKS Spices’n Things
A South Asian eatery and specialty supermarket where you can buy dinner for around $10. The bain-maries might be filled with anything from a creamy eggplant masala to bright-red chicken tikka, and your choices come with an enormous plate of rice. Cheap roti, samosas and lassi are also on the menu.
Restaurant
Citrus
Another all-you-can-eat Sri Lankan feast. You’ll find 15 or so dishes from all over the country, including yellow-lentil curry, spiced potatoes, fried soybeans, hot buttered fish with peppers and more.
Bar
Harlow
The $20 lunch special here is available every weekday – and it’s nigh unbeatable. Choose a schnitzel, parma, pie or burger and receive a schooner of beer on the house. Plus, a cracking rooftop view for the win.
Bar
Leonard’s House of Love
A $15 brisket and short-rib cheeseburger so good, it’s a wonder why this retro ’70s den doesn’t jack up the price. Throw in some cheesy poutine for the win.
Cafe
Goz City
Thank goodness for Goz City. After all these years, it’s still serving satisfying gozlemes for $14 a piece. Also, pide for $8 and a stellar ricotta, feta and herb borek finger for just $5.
Cafe
A1 Bakery Brunswick
A cool $11.50 at this family-run Lebanese bakery will net you the A1 special: a za’atar pizza base with tomato, onion, black olives, capsicum, beef sujuk, spinach, Danish feta and haloumi. And many more items on the menu (including the crowd-favourite cheese pies) are less than $10. Also in Fitzroy and Fairfield.
Bar
The Workers Club
From Tuesday to Friday, you can grab a hearty lunch at this Brunswick Street boozer for just $15. There’s a satay chicken wrap, a meatball sub and a schnitzel burger (all come with fries), plus a classic Rueben sanga with a side of crisps. While veg lovers can lean into the Greek salad with house-made falafel.
Restaurant
One Noodle Friendship
Tucked away inside an arcade, this tiny Chinese restaurant is all about affordable noodles and dumplings made fresh daily. Many dishes sit around the $15 mark.
Restaurant
The Happy Mexican
Why stop at Taco Tuesday when you can also do Burrito Thursday ($12) and Margarita Friday ($12)? If Tuesday is the day you decide to hit this colourful cantina, all tacos are half-price. And you can snag that same deal at its CBD rooftop cantina on Wednesdays.
Bar
The Orrong Hotel
This lovingly restored boozer runs specials every day of the week. But the pick of the lot is the $24 pot and parma deal on Wednesdays, featuring a 300-gram chicken breast that’s brined, crumbed and fried until crisp, then topped with a braised tomato sugo, three cheeses and Virginia ham.
Restaurant
Little Ramen Bar
Little Ramen Bar has some solid renditions of ramen’s greatest hits: tonkotsu, miso, shoyu and tantanmen. Order a soul-warming tonkotsu with classic toppings of chashu, spring onion, black fungus, nori and bamboo shoots for $15.90.
Restaurant
Laksa King
The king serves laksas and rice dishes such as Hainanese chicken starting at less than $15. Many of the dishes on the menu – which spans curries, noodle soups, satay skewers and more – won’t set you back more than $20.
Restaurant
Betty’s Burgers
Betty’s classic burger – a weighty thing featuring an Angus beef patty, lettuce, tomato, onion, cheese and special sauce on a glossy white bun – doesn’t pull any punches on quality. And you can have it for a mere $11.90.
Restaurant
Tim Ho Wan
Considering it’s the only option on this list with Michelin-star cred, it’s a wonder how this Hong Kong dim sum master manages to keep a lid on its prices. Plates of glistening prawn dumplings and chicken wonton noodles? Right this way.
Bar
The Cheeky Pint
You can’t argue with a $15 bowl of pasta on a Monday night. The selection changes weekly, with a vegetarian option always available. And if you come down on a Thursday night, all burgers are $18.
Restaurant
Cambodia’s Kitchen
A sibling duo are behind this snug Cambodian restaurant, and they want to help Melburnians get better acquainted with dishes from their homeland. You might kick that off with the signature Cambodian noodle soup, fried pork, or fried combination meatballs – which are reasonably priced.
Restaurant
The Waiters Restaurant
This family-run spot has served up reliably good pastas and desserts for decades. There’s nothing fancy here – just classic pastas starting at $22.50 a bowl, good wine in glass tumblers ($11.50 and up), and a chalkboard of hearty Italian classics.
Cafe
Cookshop Rotisserie
Chicken, chips, gravy and salads by a former Mamasita chef. A standout is the quarter chicken with your choice of side, and hulking meat rolls that come in under $15. Forking out extra for the gravy is worth your money.
Cafe
Half Moon Cafe
After 20 years in business, there are still lines out the door at this modest Egyptian canteen. Its falafels and kebabs are generously packed with ingredients meaning you can easily fill up for less than $15. The Colibaba – stacked with roasted cauliflower, family-recipe baba ghanoush and house-made falafel – is easily one of Melbourne’s best falafels.
Restaurant
Lulu's Char Koay Teow
Owner Chee Wong quickly made his mother-in-law’s char kway teow (and the special sauce) a hot commodity. Choose one of the seven options of the popular Malaysian hawker dish (including original with prawns, and vegetarian) for a sumptuous midweek meal. No booking? No worries.
Cafe
Wonder Pies Coburg North
Pick up one of Ray Capaldi’s famous pies to take home (or eat it on the spot). Flavours range from the classics like braised beef mince and gravy to a lasagne rendition filled with sheets of pasta, Wagyu mince and bechamel – and most come in around the $10 mark.
Restaurant
Miznon
Miznon’s satisfying vegetarian pitas, which come in at $15, are all you need when the lunch hour pangs hit. The soft and fluffy white pita might come stuffed with hot chickpeas, cauliflower or falafel.
Restaurant
Hooked Windsor
Healthy fish and chips on the go.
Restaurant
Curry Cafe
The tables at this bustling Indian joint fill up early – and for good reason. Go for its all-star curry menu that features creamy lamb pasanda, paneer makhani and staff-favourite eggplant curry. Plus, find house wines in glass tumblers, plus sweet mango lassi.
Restaurant
Greek Street Food
This Greek family’s popular souva mobile found a permanent home on High Street. Here, you can create your own Greek spread of stacked souvas, crispy pita, meat skewers and Greek salads generously topped with salty feta – all served on old-school enamel plates.
Bar
Sunshine Social
Rotisserie chicken and chocolate ripple cake in a former petrol station.
Restaurant
El Jannah
El Jannah is the go-to for top-notch Lebanese-style charcoal chicken. Most of the menu is reasonably priced. But the quarter chicken plate – with smoky chicken, signature garlic sauce, mixed pickles and warm Lebanese pita – is the biggest steal at around $12.
Restaurant
Trippy Taco
This vegetarian north-side spot always offers bang for your buck. Find plenty of options for $15 or less like quesadillas, taquitos, tacos and elote (Mexican grilled corn). And for an extra dollar, the standout tofu asada burrito (with two types of cheese) is a solid choice.
Restaurant
Railway Hotel Fitzroy North
Despite changing hands in 2023, this classically Italian pub honours its forebearers with affordable pasta options. Three of them will set you back just $17.50, including the broken pasta, a take on the classic pasta in brodo (broth) with poached mussels and calamari.
Restaurant
Bowltiful CBD
Tuck into a huge bowl of its signature Lanzhou Beef Noodle Soup for $15.80. The noodles are available in nine different widths and come in a clear, consommé-like broth. Plus, there are lamb skewers, Lanzhou-style spicy lamb burgers and steamed buns for under $11. It also has spots on Elizabeth Street and in Box Hill.
Shop
A1 Bakery Fitzroy
Since 1992, this family-run Lebanese bakery has served up affordable Lebanese pies, pizzas and falafel platters in Brunswick. At its city-side outpost (which is mostly takeaway) go for spinach triangles, haloumi pies and chicken pita wraps, alongside flakey baklava and hot coffee.
Restaurant
Moroccan Soup Bar North Melbourne
Since 1998, Hana Assafiri’s Moroccan Soup Bar has gained a loyal following for providing comforting Middle Eastern food at extremely affordable prices. That rings true at its North Melbourne iteration – where the cult chickpea bake starts at $14, pita wraps are $15 and tangy soups are $7.50.
Restaurant
Cafe Lalibela
A small-scale Ethiopian restaurant with tradition securely at its heart.
Cafe
To's Bakery
Delicious treats abound at this long-standing Vietnamese bakery.
Restaurant
Roti Road
A cheery Malaysian-Chinese eatery along the Barkly Street strip.
Restaurant
Pasta Prego
Choose-your-own-pasta adventure at this fast-casual Italian spot. Pick your sauce (be it creamy carbonara or hearty ragu) and marry it with your favourite pasta shape, before adding toppings like anchovies, prawns and kalamata olives.
Restaurant
Danny’s
Danny’s is the second oldest burger shop in Melbourne. But it’s kept up with the times, plus you can nab one of these old-school fish’n’chipper-style burgs (and maybe a dim sim spiked with soy sauce) until late every night.
Shop
Rocco’s Deli
The lines form early (and out the door) at this no-frills deli. Its main draw is the Rocco Roll – an Italian-style sub that’s made-to-order with antipasti, cold-cuts and cheese. But the cannoli, jam donuts and coffee by Reverence are also worth the wait.
Cafe
Green Refectory
With only the word Green on the window – Green Refectory is a slim, spirited space where food is the hero.
Restaurant
Lucky Coq
Now-closed Bimbo Deluxe pioneered the beer-and-cheap-pizza formula. Lucky Coq replicates it just as well. Come for $5 pizzas on Wednesdays and Thursdays and 12 beers on tap.
Bar
Back Alley Sally’s
Your west-side after-work beer is here, but that’s just the entry point. Come on Tuesdays for $9 pizzas and $6 sides (think loaded fries and potato croquettes) until sold out. Or on Thursdays for $10 parmas (until sold out).
Restaurant
Hotel Collingwood
A menu that flits between classic pub grub and Asian-inspired “beer food” are what separates this historic pub from others nearby. There’s also its standout $20 workers’ lunch and drink weekday special. So, what’ll it be – a rump steak, chicken parma, vegan cheeseburger or otherwise?
Restaurant
300 Grams
This compact 25-seater flips a tight menu of beef and plant-based cheeseburgers. And its classic cheeseburger – with a single beef patty, cheese, onion, pickles, 300’s secret sauce and tomato sauce – is just $13.50.
Cafe
Saul’s Sandwiches
Saul's is the sandwich king of the south east. Taking inspiration from New York’s delis and diners, it serves fully-loaded sangas such as smoked pastrami and chicken parma. And the breaky roll is less than $13.
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