So I got myself one of those Amex cards that gives you AUD$200 Credit in Australia to be used at restaurants. I was planning to use all of it in one go for an upcoming occasion with my partner. I assumed $200 would be more than enough to cover the cost of a not-too-extravagant lunch for two but after checking out reviews for most of the Victoria based restaurants from the list of applicable restaurants as shown here, it looks like a lunch of average portions for two would end up costing more than $300 in total at most of those venues. Many of the venues on the "cheaper side", have pretty poor customer reviews lately. These supposedly relatively cheaper fancy restaurants are crowded and have music so loud that people have to shout to converse.
I have only ever made use of discounts and deals to dine at semi-fancy places and have never paid more than $120 for a lunch for two where we would be stuffed to bursting. The Ozbargainer in me does not want to waste the $200 of dining credit but cant bring myself to pay anything more than $70 on top of the credit for a good lunch. Can anybody recommend a good option(s) from the eligible list of restaurants in VIC that can meet that criteria? Also, would appreciate any tips on how to further stack discount for any particular venue (eg: TheFork credit, entertainment book discounts etc)
TLDR: OP too cheap to pay for expensive lunch, seeking suggestion for venues/hacks to use Amex dining credit without having to pay more than $70ish on top
Maccas isn't on the list ???