[Food Review] Best Cheap Eats in Melbourne (All Cuisines)

Jun 18, 2018
5 min read

If you guys have been following me on Instagram @veronicaphm or my Facebook account, you know I have an album dedicated to Eating out in Melbourne. My goal when I started studying abroad was to discover as many cuisines as possible to treasure the amazing cultural diversity in this country. And that goal motivated me to go out often and try international delish (but I didn't have much money so I could only opt for cheap eats LOL). Today is the day! I finally reveal my top secret list of the BEST Cheap Eats in Melbourne from ALL CUISINES that I have tried!!! Just so you know this is my list of what I think are the best, but each person has different opinion when it comes to taste. This list is just a suggestion that can help you decide where to eat on days when your girlfriend says "I don't know, up to you :)".

Let's get started!

VIETNAMESE

First on the list, of course my beloved Vietnamese cuisine. As a Vietnamese , I found these two restaurants represent the most authentic taste of Viet food.

- Bun cha co Dao (Footscray): The Bun Cha here is the most similar to what we have in Hanoi. The other noodle dishes also meet the expectation of a Northern Viet picky eater like me.

- Co Do (Sunshine): Make sure it's the Sunshine one, not the Richmond (I found that the quality of these two places are noticeably different). I personally like Co Do the most when it comes to Viet food because it offer almost all types of Vietnamese food you can possible find in Australia. Like the menu consists of more than 200 dishes from starter to main to dessert LOL? And most of the dishes that I've ordered were delicious!

KOREAN

I think the cuisine that I explored the most in Melbourne was Korean. I've tried out like more than 25 Korean restaurants in 1.5 years I think, thanks to my Korean friends. I even got to taste the most iconic Korean dishes that I never found in Vietnam like yukhoe (raw beef)! It's so hard to narrow down the list but I've chosen the 4 best Korean restaurants from my perspective.

- For Korean BBQ: Yeonga Korean BBQ (North Melbourne). Among the fierce competition of Korean BBQ restaurants in Melbourne, I managed to choose the one that sells meat of high quality and also at a decent price (I really tried A LOT of Korean BBQ everywhere in Melbourne though)

- For Korean-Chinese food: Korchi City. Most of the time you will need to line up for seats because this restaurant is that popular. The most impressive thing about Korchi is the SIZE of the dishes. They are too large for that cheap price. Often I only paid 10 dollars for the big amount of food I shared with my friends. And all the dishes were super stunning!

- For authentic Korean food: Jango mama. A lot of my Korean friends say that this place sells the MOST AUTHENTIC KOREAN FOOD in Melbourne. It is the proof of the saying "Don't judge a book by its cover". The restaurant (more like a shop) is tiny; only 6-8 people can dine in maximum, but the food is phenomenal! I felt like I was in Korea, not Australia. The price here is a bit (just a bit) higher than average Korean restaurants, but the size and quality is on top!

- For Korean fried chicken: GAMI! No need to say anything, you all know it's Gami!

JAPANESE

- For Ramen: Musashi Ramen (Russell St). Not that because this used to be my family and most of my time in Melbourne spent here that I rate it the best Ramen in Melbourne. Try it for yourself and let me know how you think. It's opened until 1.30AM week days and 3:30AM on weekends, can you even believe that? (Remember those days when I finished working at 4:30 AM LOL). I tried all the menu and Musashi's Black Tora is the best ramen I can find in Melbourne. And also upstair is SEAFOOD BBQ and Izakaya!!! AND IT IS THE BEST SEAFOOD BBQ IN MELBOURNE FOR SURE!!! Just out-of-this-world, I love you guys, I miss you guys!

- Mr. Miyagi: This is a hot fusion Japanese place in Melbourne. A little bit pricy compared to all the other cheap eats in this blog but I just have to recommend this place. Once in a while you can reward yourself with a dinner here. You just won't believe how outstanding everything is! I will remember that Salmon Nori Taco for the rest of my life!!! Thanks babe Eleanor for taking me here <3

THAI

Jinda Thai: You know how famous it is when you often have to book 4-5 days in advance for a table :) And yes it is the best in Melbourne in my opinion.

SINGAPOREAN

Killinie Kopitiam: I and my friends fell in love with this amazing place. Everything was exquisite, and you can get full with 9-10 dollars, and get TOO FULL with 15 dollars. How is that even possible?

MALAYSIAN

Roti Road: I have a thing for Malaysian food, I just love roti and laksa and hainanese chicken rice so so much! It's hard to choose one best restaurant because all the ones that I've tried were equally good. I know Roti Road does not have high reviews as the other ones like Mamak Laksa King, etc but I think the food there suits my taste the best. And I love the variety of choices they offer.

CHINESE

- Shanghai Street Dupmpling: Super cheap, super full, super good! My eternal love <3

- Simon's Peking Duck: The restaurant is always packed, you likely won't get a seat if you don't make reservation few days ahead! But you can ask for takeaway ;) The duck is just perfectly roasted, I don't have any word to describe!

- Supper Inn (China Town): I always went here for healing bowls of congee after going out at midnight. I think it's opened until 3AM, and it's really cheap at this time.

MEXICAN

Guzman y Gomez: I was a pity that I didn't try a lot Mexican restaurants in Melbourne, like only one and then other were just food stalls in the shopping mall. So I'll go with Guzman y Gomez for now! My Spanish teacher said that was the best for her too so yeah... But I'm sure I will try the other ones when I get back to Melbourne.

ITALIAN

Universal (Lygon): I'm sure this will be the common choice. Famous restaurant, student price, highly recommend! Love the giant chicken parm that only costs AUD 14!

GREEK

Stalacities: Took me less than 1 sec to decide. I'm just crazy about this place. It's opened 24/24 hours, super busy, you need to line up in the evening. But anw I love their meat platter and the pita bread! YUM <3

BRUNCH

Melbourne is all about brunching!!! Do not miss this Melburnian lifestyle when you live there. My choice will be The Vertue of The Coffee Drinks. Unbelievable presentation!

I also tried Indonesian and Indian cuisine and I really loved them too but I just can't remember the names at all I'm so sorry! I will make sure to give you guys a name when I'm back to Melbourne.

Thank you guys so much for reading this blog post, I put all my heart in this piece of writing. It's a topic that I've always wanted to do for a long time and today I finally have the time to do it. When I was in Melbourne I really did not appreciate the culinary culture here because I felt that nothing's 100% authentic. But now when I look back, I really miss those times hanging out the streets and discover all the cuisines that I didn't get the chance to know when I was in Vietnam. Sending all my love to Melbourne <3

That's it for today. See y'all in my next blog post ;)

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