Hi!
My wife and I will be arriving in Melbourne (from BNE) this Saturday arvo and want some ideas for Saturday night and Sunday.
We love good food - we also love good deal. We're both in our mid-late 20s.
Wondering what might be good to do - AFL games seem a bit dry due to the bye (could go see Carlton vs Bulldogs)… not sure about any shows or other attractions! What do you think I should do? What deals can I take advantage of?
Thanks for the advice!
Whats your favourite cuisine?
Anything that pairs well with red wine :)
Good food month has some pretty cool stuff happening at the moment.
check Eatclub, if not go to Asado for dinner might have to make a booking though but its yum
If you do Chapel St head into the Prahran Markets there's a lady in a caravan in the open area that sells mussels, grilled or in broth, that are amazing.
If you go to to the Melbourne Arts Centre at 6pm they sell unsold tickets to their shows for $30. - https://www.artscentremelbourne.com.au/visit/tixatsix
+1 for tixatsix.
MrsE and I have seen performances at the State Theatre a couple of times now, only paying $30 each for tickets that our neighbors paid $200+ each for…just be sure to line up early (think 4pm-ish) and be patient (take a book as phone signal is woeful!)
As it happened, we got chatting to two ladies who worked for the production company during the interval….who kindly offered us tickets (plus drinks/nibbles) to see the dress rehearsal of the upcoming show a few days later = FTW!
Phone a friend?
;)
You should be studying!
If you go to Carl vs Bulldogs you could start at the DFO at South Wharf https://www.dfo.com.au/south-wharf/stores/ where you can normally pickup cheap carlton kit in the Nike shop and then walk across the footbridge and 5 min walk over to Marvel stadium for the game. Food wise Melbourne is loaded with options. The best places are normally booked in advance. on the South Bank theme there are some nice restaurants around the Casino and along the waterfront. Across the river and heading into the city there are loads of little restaurants in Melbourne small laneways. You can literally walk through to them from Flinders St opposite the station or from the other end probably on Lt Collins St.
in terms of Bargains there are loads of outlets in Melbourne. I already mentioned the South Wharf DFO, there's another DFO at Southern Cross Station in the city. Theres a bunch scattered through the inner suburbs but there used to be a cluster of outlets on Smith St in Collingwood as well. Smith St is literally a short tramride from the CBD.
Download the EatClub app for discounted feeds
Good food and also good deal, I'm keen.
Been to Melbourne before?
There's some really good pre theatre dinner offers.
i.e. http://www.bottega.com.au/pretheatre.html
A bit further out in South Yarra, but https://www.steerdiningroom.com.au/express-dining is a great restaurant. Even better the pre theatre dinner for $50 is cheap (not available Sat night).
Also lunch here is great- https://redspiceroad.com/menus/#expressmenu It's a bargain at $36… make sure you get the Pork Belly.
Otherwise Chin Chin is always entertaining to go.
Gallery and Museums are an cheap option.. all the good theatre shows would most likely be booked out.
Steer also do an express menu, $40 for an entree and steak. Available between 12-3pm and 5:30-6:30pm. Steak options are limited to Cape Grim Black Angus Porterhouse or Scotch fillet and Sher F1 Wagyu Rost Biff. Goddamn they do a good steak. Steaks there normally range from about $60-$200.
Pre theatre dinner = express menu.
Yeah 2 courses for $40, however for an extra $10 I always get the dessert. Usually a sweet dessert for wife and cheese for me.
They use to have more options for their express menu, but for $50 for 3 course, it's a bargain and a half.
God dammit, I feel hungry just thinking about Steer.
You didn't go the Koo Wee Rup asparagus for a main?
Steer is delicious! Used to go there as end of exam celebration after every semester.
Full price menu?
@JimB: We did pre-theatre most of the time.
I would only do full price menu using their birthday voucher or when paired with entertainment book voucher.
@Banana: I was going to ask you to hand back your OZB membership if you did.
The price difference between pre-theatre and regular menu is starking!
Hmmm, I've never been offered a birthday voucher.
Great tips! Thanks mate! I went once when I was 20, I was a poor uni student back then though!
Have a great trip.
I'm not so poor now but can't resist getting an otherwise expensive meal a little cheaper because you have to out the door by 7:30pm. This usually suits us fine if we are going out afterwards and it fills up the early session at the restaurant.
Having said that, I'm not adverse to a $200 meal but Bottega and Steer do a great pre theatre dinner for a great price.
Yea, I've got exactly the same mentality - when I was a poor uni student I didn't have the option to really do what I want financially, now, with both my wife and I working full time we do have more options, but I also want to maximise value and take advantage of deals etc! It's the ozbargain way!
+1 to red spice road and its pork belly!
Especially when you can get the pork belly and 5 other dishes for $36!
I've paid more for an entree.
Wow, that's a bargain, the pork belly usually costs around that much itself, doesn't it?
Hit up MUJI and get a bunch of their simple but incredible pens, they're a joy to write with, I prefer the 0.5 myself.
lol. I'll check it out!
Well I can tell you what we did. How could I forget that day? Yeah, how we walked along the Yarra, to the MCG, and then on to the tennis centre. Through the Bourke Street Mall, and down the Block Arcade. Caught the 96 tram to St Kilda Esplanade, saw the Westgate Bridge from the top of Flinders Street clocks, saw the You Yangs real clear, from the foot of Mt Dandenong!
So we went along, to the Victorian Tourist Bureau, got heaps of ideas for places we'd never even been to - like Sovereign Hill and Healesville Sanctuary! The Brighton Sea Baths and some kiosk at the end of a pier. We went down to a place, I think it was Captain Cook's cabin (we're not all that sure, but at least it rhymes with Moorabbin).
This shows up in google search results.. is it a song?
We just run out of Melbourne cliches….OH NO!!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ap-t46_Sy3A
Truly, some champagne comedy right there…
This is the single greatest post on Ozbargain ever.
The Espy has improved a lot since that video was made! You can checkout the Fairy Penguins around sunset along Saint Kilda Pier rocks, if you don't have time to visit Phillip Island.
My wife and I stayed in the city on the weekend and went to a great place called Hochi Mama on Liverpool St. Really yummy food, paid $60 each and it was 3 courses and a bit more and we couldn't eat all the food they brought out. Nice area too, you can then head out down into town and catch a band or a pub after dinner.
Oh awesome :) Sounds great!
Gingerboy also good around the corner from Liverpool St, Grand Trailer Park Taverna does great burgers, Muriels Wedding musical is on, Chinatown lots of great options for food, Hofbräuhaus market lane does massive german schnitzels and great beers, and for drinks after Garden State Hotel is pretty cool also. Good luck!
I would recommend Oscar's Table at the Docklands. You can even pick up a Groupon.
I think it's about ~$59 (gone up sad face) for three course meal and wine.
I've been a few times and have never been disappointed, I always get the Paella though.
Docklands is sometimes under rated as noone goes there. Some of the waterfront restaurant has sign board specials which is with looking at as well.
Plenty of shows on, you might be able to get a last min ticket. If you're lucky and want to spend a bit of coin there's always the tramcar restaurant but good luck getting a booking. If you can tolerate walking around in the cold you can just walk along the river or up and down Swanston St… it will still be buzzing at 10pm so plenty of bars, clubs, restaurants open late. Dessert houses will be open late too, bowling, darts, karaoke, escape rooms… Chapel St is ok but more the Windsor end!! I would recommend Borsch Vodka and Tears if you want a little Eastern European cuisine. There are arcade bars around if you play games (both board and arcade). There could be some festivals or exhibitions on this weekend, and shopping of course!
Make use of FREE tram to travel around the city https://www.onlymelbourne.com.au/city-circle-tram-free-touri…
Essendon v Hawthorn on Friday night would be a very good game @ Marvel.
Good food - not hard to find in Melbourne. Chapel St has a tonne of food which is a quick tram away. I'm not from there so don't know bargain central but there is a DFO megastore you pass on the Skybus coming into flinders street station.
Enjoy!