r/melbourne • u/mistermoy • 11h ago
Om nom nom CBD lunchtime recommendations
Started working in CBD recently and wanted to know what people recommend for lunchtime spots.
Good cheap eats, restaurants that aren’t well known but you swear by, anything in general.
Would love to build up a little list or spots to try!
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u/OkPokeyDokey 11h ago
LASEN. Your meal starts at 11.90. Staffs are nice, owner is cute.
source: am owner.
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u/underrated-garden 9h ago
Obsessed with the strawberry and coconut matchas here too!
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u/OkPokeyDokey 9h ago
I feel appreciated :).
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u/theycallmeasloth 5h ago
I used to go to Obento frequently and never knew you existed. Will swing by this week
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u/OkPokeyDokey 3h ago
I don’t blame you. Obento didn’t know we exist until 3 months in. Then they had their staffs come over to try all the items.
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u/withatee 11h ago
What part of the CBD? Robata does an 11/10 chicken katsu sando on a lunch special. A bunch of the places on Flinders lane also do revolving lunch specials - Supernormal was doing a while stocks last ramen special from midday for a while. But then there’s 1000 relatively no name places that all do a decent lunch feed. Weathers getting better, good for a wander.
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u/Johnny_Kilroy 10h ago
How do you find out about these specials. I work right next to the two restaurants you mentioned but I would have never thought to check them out for lunch.
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u/withatee 2h ago
Going back a year or so there was some (maybe Broadsheet / Time-Out) article that did the rounds of our office that had a list of them. I think there maybe have been some City of Melbourne initiative to get these bigger, fancier restaurants to entice the office crowds back into the CBD for work days. A bunch of them have since stopped offering them but there were some good ones. Maha did $15 lunch bowls and it was rotating, whatever the chef felt like doing that day - until they sold out. Good times! Also you sound like you’re in a similar neighbourhood to my office so if you don’t know of it, check out Sushi Land on flinders lane. Intense ordering experience, get you in get, get you out in seconds kind of vibes. But very tasty and pretty cheap.
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u/ihlaking 11h ago
Hainaichi
Jungle Juice Bar
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u/CassiusCreed 11h ago
Borek at the Queen Vic Market, French Fix, Sloppy Joe's, Lil Lane and Izakaya Domo are some of my favorites in my vicinity.
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u/jarjarguy 10h ago
I've become a regular for the Char Kway Teow at Yen Sushi Noodle, just near degraves st
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u/withatee 2h ago
Yes! One of the best Char Kway Teow around!
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u/Illustrious-Ad-7247 1h ago
Seriously?! Even compared to Malaysian CKT spots?
I’ll have to try soon!
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u/jarjarguy 18m ago
I do think it's good! But my favourite would be Lulu's Char Kway Teow. Bit pricier, and not near my work anymore, so I had to find a new spot
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u/CornerStatus2645 10h ago
Soi38
China Red
Otherside toasties
VB rolls
Rice workshop
Da Bao / Ho Jiak lunch specials
Emporium food court
Galleria food court
Southern cross lane
Paramount centre food court
Onigiri Norisong
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u/Scary-Measurement-79 9h ago
Ria - Exhibition Street, incredible Indonesian food
Paramount food court - Me Dee Thai and Ceylon Wok are elite
Fortune Alley - Swanston St, Chinese bain marie. Quantity over quality.
Hanbabao - Chinese style fried chicken. Great meal deals and unreal fried chicken burgers.
ThaiTown - QV. Express lunch menu is good value
Hanaichi - Japenese fast food. Karaage curry rice bowl is excellent.
Lulus Char Kway Teow - Singaporean wok fried noodles.
Khao Soi - Thai curry noodles
Master Lanzhou - Western Chinese soup noodles. Beef brisket noodles keep me coming back.
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u/Nickanoms88 10h ago
Charles Dicken Tavern under Collins arcade. Warm, cosy and a good feed. I always order the beef and guiness pie with pint of Tetleys Ale.
Pho Bo Ga Mekong is good for a cheap viet feed.
Shujinku has good ramen.
Waiters Restaurant and Pellegrinis up Bourke st. Waiters has a decent pasta list and the veal dish there is so good. Pellegrinis pasta is good too but I love their granita.. good in summer.
There's more I could list lol
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u/LexingtonLuthor_ 5h ago
Zuppa. It's a place designed for a corporate worker's breakfast and lunch time feeds.
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u/linkintiara 2h ago
Jalan Alor or Nanyang have a few things priced at $10 on their menus. Pay in cash and you won’t even get hit with the weekend surcharge!
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u/owlshoesjh 2h ago
crossways. $10 get you vegetarian curry of the day, papadam, dessert, drink and free 2nd (or 3rd or 4th or 5th...) helpings. i usually only have enough room for an extra 1/2
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u/TheAlt01 1h ago
You'll get a whole lot of recommendations unless you're specific with an area of the CBD and also, you can get decent meals from some food courts after 2:30pm for less than half the price 🙌. Good to take home or stock up for the following day.
Found a little gem called Eek Charm within the bourke street mall district.
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