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Best Cheap Eats in Melbourne


Eating cheaply does not mean eating badly. It’s a boom time for good food across the price spectrum, so it’s not hard to find affordable restaurants with delicious meals, while it’s also getting easier to get great value out of expensive ones.

To start with, try visiting areas with strong cultural ties, such as your local Chinatown. You can find real gems in these precincts, and don’t be put off by laminated tabletops and butcher’s paper menus. These places are often frequented by locals in the know, and are good indicators of wonderful food at even better prices.

In addition there are cheap eat guides galore available. Most cities have one that’s updated annually, while there’s also lots of blogs and apps well worth checking out. And although not everyone with an opinion on a blog or app is going to be an expert foodie, the recent food boom has raised the bar high enough to ensure that most have a pretty good idea of what’s good value.

If you want to indulge at an expensive restaurant, just try having one course, sometimes a decent sized entrée will be enough. Or get a share plate you can split with friends so you not only save, but you get to taste several items. Also, skip the alcohol, a bottle of decent plonk can be enough to break any budget.

Dining on a budget doesn’t make you cheap, it makes you smart!

Sarah Murray, Citysearch

Related: Eating Out On The Cheap

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Best Cheap Eats Melbourne

Bimbo Deluxe

376 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy
-37.79592411 144.9788931

Bimbo Deluxe has become a cornerstone of Fitzroy’s restaurant strip by offering everything from lunch at noon to nightcaps at 3am.

Category: Restaurants // Mains from: $6.50 // Cuisine: Pizza

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Little Malaysia Restaurant

26 Liverpool Street, Melbourne
-37.81081392 144.9711886

The decor is clean and unfussy, but people come here solely for the food. Old favourites are done well, while the menu also offers hawker-style dishes and unusual specialties.

Category: Restaurants // Mains from: $6.50 // Cuisine: Indonesian

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Nirankar Indian Restaurant

174 - 176 Queen Street, Melbourne
-37.8142762662495 144.960640668869

What do you do when your Indian restaurant becomes so popular that you cannot contain all of your clientele? Move up the street of course.

Category: Restaurants // Mains from: $12.50 // Cuisine: Indian

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Shanghai Village Chinese Restaurant

112 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne
-37.81141157 144.9691532

This vividly decorated restaurant offers an extensive menu of simple, Eastern cooking, with a variety of meat and vegetable stir-fries, seafood and soup dishes. It's hard to pin down exactly what makes it so good. Probably the apparent chaos on a busy night which thankfully encourages an eclectic crowd and seemingly speeds up the service.

Category: Restaurants // Mains from: $11.00 // Cuisine: Chinese

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Camy Shanghai Dumpling & Noodle Restaurant

23-25 Tattersalls Lane, Melbourne
-37.8118606223476 144.965441823006

Achieving cult restaurant status despite its nondescript location down a Melbourne CBD laneway, Camy offers consistently good dumplings along with its frenetic atmosphere and service.

Category: Restaurants // Mains from: $7.00 // Cuisine: Chinese

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Lentil As Anything

Abbotsford Convent/1 St Heliers Street, Abbotsford
-37.80157609 145.0020474

A unique Abbotsford restaurant, Lentil As Anything offers vegetarian food, practices a pay-what-you-like philosophy, and attracts staff and customers from all walks of life.

Category: Restaurants // Cuisine: Asian

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Don Don

Shop 6, 340 Little Lonsdale St, Melbourne
-37.810753 144.964132

Cheap but flavoursome Japanese food served to those in a hurry.

Category: Restaurants // Cuisine: Japanese

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Catherine
October 21, 2011

User rated 4 star for this content


OK, we're just heading out to buy some take away from Noodle Planet and Sushi 184 Swan Street Richmond, (near Coles) as we always have, more then happy to serve to family and friends when an instant feast is needed that makes you look good and won't break the bank) you can't go passed it. Generous portion sizes (you can see the meat, you can see the seafood) great tasting dishes(you can taste the quality and freshness) consistent quality and friendly service makes the drive worthwhile with no menu main over $12.If you just want to stop for a quick meal there are tables and chairs but if you opt to dine at home it's a one stop shop dream with a bottle shop next door and supermarket for dessert!

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