Spare Change Meals: Rice and Noodles For Less Than $15 in Perth

A good feed shouldn’t be dictated by what’s in your pocket, but where can you find restaurant-quality food for $15 in Perth?

At Canning Vale Markets, Sunlong Fresh Foods chairman Sun Weimin (Mark Sun) has built the answer: Hello Spice, a “loose-change” canteen that’s dishing out fresh noodles at wallet-friendly prices. There are scallion oil noodles with your choice of Sichuan chicken, braised pork belly and fried chicken – all for just over a tenner.

When Sun arrived in Perth in 1989 he was working over 16 hours a day. He kept his nose to the grindstone and eventually opened Sunlong, a greengrocer selling affordable Asian groceries and giving homesick families what they needed to cook comfort meals at home. Now he’s keeping things affordable at his new restaurant. It’s his way of giving back to the community that’s supported him over the last 35 years.

Now, with Hello Spice, Sun wants to unite the community behind a simple idea: that restaurant-quality food can cost less than $10.. “You should be able to feed a family [without breaking the bank],” he tells Broadsheet.

Since opening earlier in 2024, on any given week at Hello Spice you’ll find young families, tradespeople in high-vis, seniors and students all nudging elbows while watching the noodles being pulled by a machine at Hello Spice. It’s a safe haven amid the soaring cost of living – and an interesting counterpoint to Junda Khoo’s argument that we should be paying more for Asian dishes.

But for Sun, it’s not a question of how much these dishes are “worth”; it’s about keeping the community fed when they’re feeling the pinch. Here are six venues – including Hello Spice – serving seriously affordable dinners.

Hello Spice

Hello Spice has a simple mission: to serve restaurant-quality food at canteen prices. Sun’s Sunlong gave diaspora families access to “Asian” groceries, like choi sum and fresh taro, back at a time when these staples were not available on the shelves of most conventional supermarkets. Thirty years later, Hello Spice provides a taste of home at an affordable price point. The menu comes courtesy of chef Vincent Lim, who has decades of experience cooking across Asia and Australia. Pick up freshly made, preservative-free noodles with your choice of braised beef, pork or chicken as a side, or try the Shanghainese chicken rice with a side of pork and chive dumplings – both for less than a tenner. Add sesame-covered tang yuan (glutinous rice balls) for dessert and you’ve got a three-course meal – entree, main and dessert – at prices that’ll give Maccas a run for its money.
Market City, 280 Bannister Road, Canning Vale

Hifumiya Udon Noodle House and Jigoro

Hifumiya is renowned as the first udon specialist in Perth, but the affordable dishes go beyond broth. Hearty bowls of rice with curry and pickled vegetables or teriyaki chicken cost $7.80. Hifumiya’s signature fresh udon, swimming in a dashi-clear broth, also rings in at just under $10, even when you add spicy miso pork and an egg to your bowl. The strong and punchy bukkake udon, served cold with a slice of lemon, is fresh enough to withstand the brutal heat of the Perth summer and costs $9.80. It’s all ready to be topped with a sprinkling of fried udon from the self-serve bowl just past the cashier.
Shop 2, 100-104 Murray Street, Perth

Spice Master Noodle House

Spice Master Noodle pays homage to regional classics while inviting diners to get creative and build their own bowls. Start with a choice of noodle types (rice or egg noodles), one of three broths (bone broth, hot and sour or their signature slow-cooked spicy broth) and then choose either vegetarian or meaty toppings. Prices start at $13.
Unit 1/297 William Street, Northbridge

Taka’s Kitchen

Many a student and harried office worker has stopped at the corner of Barrack and Wellington streets to grab a feed from Taka. It’s the no-frills institution that offers generous serves of rice, topped with Japanese favourites like karaage chicken, golden-crumbed chicken katsu and teriyaki tofu or chicken. Each lunch comes with a cup of miso soup. Prices start at $9.50.
150-152 Barrack Street, Perth

Tokyo Food Mart

Tokyo Food Mart is known for pumping out bento, sushi and onigiri to CBD workers, tourists and backpackers on their way to the Bell Tower. Pick up on-the-go onigiri, filled with your choice of tuna, chicken and beef. Two palm-sized onigiri should be enough to fill you up, but if you’re looking for something more substantial look towards the pre-packed bento boxes and place a fresh order with the staff at the back of the store. Order a rice bowl with yakiniku (beef), glistening teriyaki chicken or an onsen egg. When you crack an onsen egg, it’ll release a golden-orange lava of yolk that coats each grain of rice giving that unctuous restaurant-quality feel at the bargain price of $14.50.
43 Barrack Street, Perth

China Tang

Broadway has always been a hub for student meals and China Tang, just a five-minute walk from the University of Western Australia, is a prime example of this. Order face-sized bowls of noodles that’ll have you travelling through regional China. Each bowl sits at just over $15 (yes, that’s more than a tenner but these are seriously huge serves). Start with Chongqing hot and spicy noodle soup and pair it with a side of chilled cucumber in garlic sauce (proof that cucumber salads were a thing before they started trending on Tiktok). If you’re seeking the type of spice that numbs your tongue, go for the Sichuan cold seaweed salad in summertime or the Sichuan chilli and beef noodles with peppercorn in winter. Moving away from soups, China Tang’s dan dan noodles, pairs the smooth earthiness of peanut and sesame with fresh batons of cucumber.
Unit 7/88 Broadway Fair Shopping Centre, Crawley

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