Fifteen years ago you could have bought two large sausage rolls, three party pies and a Nippies chocolate milk for your Friday school lunch order and still get change from five bucks. Now you can barely get a happy hour G&T because inflation is the worst thing since rye bread. So to celebrate the current financial climate, we’ve put together a list of Melbourne's best cheap eats under $10 in our expensive beautiful city to help you distance yourself—ever so slightly—from the poverty line.
Below you'll get a hold of the best value restaurants, cafes, and bars in town—because we all need a cheap dinner now and then.
- Get your Vietnamese street food fix with $3.50 rice paper rolls at Nhan Ngai on Richmond’s Swan Street.
- Splash out for the $7 Crumbed Tasmanian Camembert at Shaw Davey Slum in Carlton, you can even pair it with a $2 pot of beer or cider and you’ll still be under budget.
- Pizzas at Fitzroy’s Bimbo Deluxe are $4, which means you can bloody well have two! This pizza special occurs at different times each day, so make sure you check the website before you head over.
- There’s good and bad news: you’ll be 80c short for a laksa at Flemington’s Laksa King, but you can still get four of their chargrilled satay chicken skewers for $8.80!
- Shut the front door. The chicken pad thai at Asian Beer Cafe in the CBD is $9.
- Pop across the road and you can grab a bowl of smoky mac ’n cheese from Father’s Office for only $8.
- Head on down to our favourite watering hole by the Yarra and you can pick yourself up some $6 zucchini and halloumi fritters with labne and zhoug from Arbory Bar and Eatery.
- We hope you’re sitting down because the tacos at the Fitzroy Social are no less than TWO DOLLARS.
- But if it’s reeeaaal Me-hi-cahn you’re after, you can grab $8 Chilaquiles (fancy nachos) at La Tortilleria in Kensington.
- Head up the road a bit and you’ll hit the brand new Mr Griffiths Bar on Macaulay Road where for only $8.50 you can grab the ‘G’s Burger’ with beef, cheese, pickles, onions, ketchup and mustard.
- Cross the city to Collingwood where you can fork out $9.50 for a famous Flaxseed Falafel kebab at Biggie Smalls.
- Or alternatively, spend that same $9.50 on the equally renowned ‘8Bit Burger With Cheese’ at in the CBD.
- Spend an hour trying to track down Japanese restaurant, Don Don, in the CBD and then cough up only $7.70 for their delish chicken curry don (Japanese curry with teriyaki chicken on rice).
- Get a lil bit fancy at The Atlantic with some $2 oysters, now that's cheap. Available Monday to Wednesday throughout winter.
- Head on over to the Maeve Fox in Richmond for a some $1 dumplings and spring rolls on Fridays from 5-9pm.
- Be a proper tight arse on Tuesdays from 3pm at the St Kilda Branch where they’re offering up 50c wings. Happy hour also runs until 7pm and features $5 house wines and $6 spirits.
- PSA: Collingwood’s Mr Scruff’s has $5 nachos on Wednesday evenings.
- This one’s a bit of a secret, but you can get $8 Philly cheesesteaks on Monday nights at The Catfish.
- If you go to Naked For Satan in Fitzroy on any Sunday evening from 6pm, you can have literally any dish on the menu for $9.
- Forget Philly cheesesteaks, you can get $9 Philly cheesesteak SPRING ROLLS with honey mustard aioli at Belleville in the CBD.
- You can grab a $6.95 Dose meal at Dosa Corner in the CBD, which includes a plain dosa, idly, vada and drink.
- Head over to the Malaysian Laksa House on Elizabeth Street in the CBD and grab a $9.80 vegetarian laksa.
- Load up on three sushi rolls and a miso soup for $7.50 at Sushi Monger in the CBD.
- You can fork out $9.50 for the Schnitty Bao at Mr Miyagi in Windsor.
- Wander down to Misuzu’s at Albert Park for $9.50 Pork Gyoza.
- Drop you homemade peanut butter sanga, because Burger Project in the CBD do their Classic Beef Burger for no more than $9.90.
- Channel your inner New-Yorker and treat yourself to a $6 pizza bagel at 5 & Dime in the CBD.
- $8.80 can buy you not one BUT FOUR BBQ pork bao at Wonderbao in the CBD.
- Aphro & Wolfe are the cheese toastie connoisseurs of Fitzroy North (if not Melbourne) and have a $9 classic cheese toasty on their menu.
- You can pay even less for a $7.50 toasted salami focaccia with halloumi, mushrooms, olives, tomatoes and roasted capsicum from The Green Refectory in Brunswick.
- Pay up $7.80 for two satay chicken and cucumber Vietnamese rice paper rolls at Misschu in South Melbourne.
- We’ve got your Friday night sorted because FAT Fried And Tasty do their ‘The Original’ crispy fried chicken burger with coleslaw and mayo for only $9.90. They do it at that price every day, but Fridays already embody a real feeling of celebration.
- Head over to Son In Law in Collingwood and spend $9 on 3 prawn spring rolls.
- For $7 you can grab the ‘Just Cheese Please’ at Gami Chicken & Beer in Fitzroy, which is no less than three pieces of deep fried cheese sticks with sweet chilli sauce, served with cabbage salad and apple dressing.
- Hawthorn’s Holy Moly serve $5 classic pizzas (such as Margherita, Calabrese and Napoletana) between 12-3pm and 6-9pm Monday-Saturday and all day Sunday.
- Ok so this deal’s a bit sweeter–you can get an $8 ice cream sandwich from Windsor’s Bistro Morgan. Not only that but you also get to choose the type of doughnut, the ice cream flavour AND topping variety.
- Head east and grab the $8.90 American Potato Gems with American cheddar, or chilli cheese sauce & spring onion from the Fish & Burger Co. in Doncaster East.
- See what all the fuss is about with a $3.90 baked cheese tart from Hokkaido Baked Cheese Tart Australia in Melbourne Central.
- Treat yo’ self to possibly the best toastie in the entire city with a $9.50 ‘All American’ cheese toastie from Maker & Monger at the Prahran Market.
- You can throw your diet to the kerb with $9.00 onion rings and a mac & cheese croquette from Truck Stop Deluxe in Werribee.
- You can grab a $6.60 wok fried rice with hot and tasty Japanese-style fried rice, scrambled egg, minced BBQ pork and spring onion at Little Ramen Bar in the CBD.
- Get your cheap eats early with the $9 ‘Ellen’ breakfast burger packed with a hash brown, avocado, lettuce, tomato, smoked paprika mayo, and tomato sauce from Huxtaburger in Collingwood.
- Cough up $8 for Agathé Pâtisserie’s famous Creme Brulee at the South Melbourne Market (everything else is pretty much under $10 as well).
- Pick up a $5 Monsieur Truffle Chocolate Brownie from East Elevation in Brunswick.
- Jump in line and treat yourself to the Pain au Chocolate for $6.50 from Lune Croissanterie (~fancy~).
- Get a grip on a delicious Matcha Cheesetart from Uncle Testu for just $4.50 a piece.
- Why not up your breakfast game with a chopped egg, and bacon bagel for $9 from Huff Bagelry.
- Chow down on the 'Jane' at Toasta & Co for $9 with their signature 3-cheese blend.
- Take up Upsy Daisy's eggcellent offer of 2 fried eggs on a slice of wholewheat toast for just $9.90.
- You absolutely cannot go past the $5 parma at Forester's Beer & Music Hall which is on offer every single night of the week.
Image credit: Mr Griffith's | Griffin Simm