Callout: Best $15 (and under) lunch in Canberra

Mess said :

TwentyOne – New Acton
Anyone in the Hamlet
London Burgers – Belco or Tuggers
Milk Crate Cafe – City

a burger + good chips + a beer. The sort of food pubs & clubs used to serve before they went a-la-carte and prices skyrocketed.

Bit heavy for lunch though. But reasonable food – occasionally.

Valley Tavern in Wanniassa does counter lunch for $14 and under, T-bone is the best.

I didn’t read all the comments but don’t think I’ve seen you visit the Hamlet, iPho or Double Drummer. Also, you should probably go back and try a Noodle Dish (inside, on a plate) at Noodle Cafe. And if you’re ever out our way, Cafe Okrich at Kippax is pretty good too.

the Sushi shop in the Churches centre in Belconnen though they are out of the good stuff by 12:30.

We get free eggs from my mum regularly so we make a fritta for lunches – usually get 6 meals (3 days- 2 people) from a large pan.

rubaiyat said :

This is such a regular line in the RiotACT it does need addressing, are we really that incapable of either making our own lunch or finding a suitable place?

Particularly (how can anyone fail to notice) the mostly fried food that the correspondents seek out.

I know this is all because we are “time poor”, “need” convenience and are seemingly too incompetent to slap something between two pieces of bread without expert assistance or heat up a meal cooked at home.

We do cook at home right?

I worked for 13 years in an Architectural office in Sydney. In all that time my boss only ever had a ham and cheese sandwich every lunch. I was notorious for my baguette stuffed with all sorts of “weird ingredients”, made, and mostly eaten, before my boss returned from buying his cheese and ham sandwich.

Of course I missed out on the social interaction of queuing at the sandwich bar, asking for “the usual” and walking back to the office. But I was great buddies with the local Italian Deli and ate everything of their huge, interesting selection over the years.

Now I know how white bread and Anglo Canberra can be, but wouldn’t it be better to ask where you can get good healthy fresh food and how you put that together in interesting ways for lunch?

I make my own lunch probably 9 times out of 10, and the one time I don’t is when I am doing a cheap eats article (or occasionally, when I leave my lunch at home by accident).

I think the type of food I’ve reviewed is probably 50/50 in terms of healthiness. I’ve done sandwich bars and things like Vietnamese rice paper rolls before. A lot of places that offer lunch specials or meals under $15 don’t always have healthy options, because if they did, I would choose them.

The reason I requested we do a call out for recommendations is because I feel like I have done a billion places in Civic, and I know not everyone works in Civic and it’d be good to branch out. Also, I am super busy with my regular job plus a whole bunch of other stuff so it’s quite difficult to find new and interesting places across Canberra that also have affordable options – sometimes it pays to ask people for help or suggestions.

TwentyOne – New Acton
Anyone in the Hamlet
London Burgers – Belco or Tuggers
Milk Crate Cafe – City

$12 lunch at the Old Canberra Inn.

rubaiyat said :

This is such a regular line in the RiotACT it does need addressing, are we really that incapable of either making our own lunch or finding a suitable place?

Particularly (how can anyone fail to notice) the mostly fried food that the correspondents seek out.

I know this is all because we are “time poor”, “need” convenience and are seemingly too incompetent to slap something between two pieces of bread without expert assistance or heat up a meal cooked at home.

We do cook at home right?

I worked for 13 years in an Architectural office in Sydney. In all that time my boss only ever had a ham and cheese sandwich every lunch. I was notorious for my baguette stuffed with all sorts of “weird ingredients”, made, and mostly eaten, before my boss returned from buying his cheese and ham sandwich.

Of course I missed out on the social interaction of queuing at the sandwich bar, asking for “the usual” and walking back to the office. But I was great buddies with the local Italian Deli and ate everything of their huge, interesting selection over the years.

Now I know how white bread and Anglo Canberra can be, but wouldn’t it be better to ask where you can get good healthy fresh food and how you put that together in interesting ways for lunch?

Bread and deli products are healthy now?

Thips Thai in Belconnen
Grill’d – multiple
Malaysian Chapter, Belconnen
Ginger & Spice, Gungahlin
Neighbourhood Food in Gungahlin does lunch specials now too I think.

I go to Happys in Garema once a week and get curried chicken on rice. $12.50 and is very nice. Add that to a bottle of green tea from the Korean/Asian grocers near Maccas. Otherwise, a meat roll from TreeEighty3 in Baileys arcade for $10.50 plus the green tea is also a nice lunch.

Eastlakes Football club on Oxley St. Rip into that monster Schnitty & then let us know what you make of it …

Just remembered, White Lotus, W’gong St, two doors along from Cba Toyota.

Seems to me this Cheap Eats thing is a phenomena peculiar to Gen Y, Z, whatever … Is it considered necessary to patronise a foodery every day, to get a different food hit each day?

Maybe it’s something born of the tsunami of eminently forgettable foodie shows saturating the tube nowadays (thus drastically reducing my viewing times). How much of it is to do with a psychological cry for help or attention.

Any Shrink will tell you a major part of our psychology calls for the consumption of food to relieve anxiety, “… feelings of self worthlessness ….”

Sometimes my lunch consists of nothing more than some Sao’s with tomato and cheese, perfectly satisfactory compared to the presentation in the photo at the head of this article.

This is such a regular line in the RiotACT it does need addressing, are we really that incapable of either making our own lunch or finding a suitable place?

Particularly (how can anyone fail to notice) the mostly fried food that the correspondents seek out.

I know this is all because we are “time poor”, “need” convenience and are seemingly too incompetent to slap something between two pieces of bread without expert assistance or heat up a meal cooked at home.

We do cook at home right?

I worked for 13 years in an Architectural office in Sydney. In all that time my boss only ever had a ham and cheese sandwich every lunch. I was notorious for my baguette stuffed with all sorts of “weird ingredients”, made, and mostly eaten, before my boss returned from buying his cheese and ham sandwich.

Of course I missed out on the social interaction of queuing at the sandwich bar, asking for “the usual” and walking back to the office. But I was great buddies with the local Italian Deli and ate everything of their huge, interesting selection over the years.

Now I know how white bread and Anglo Canberra can be, but wouldn’t it be better to ask where you can get good healthy fresh food and how you put that together in interesting ways for lunch?

Xin’s in Civic. Across from the Industry Department building and upstairs. A hidden gem of Chinese cooking. Do a proper dish of garlic shoots cooked with a little pork too. $9 and $10 takeaway lunchboxes, or you can eat there.

This one is a little hidden – but it is fairly popular.

Mountain Creek in Griffith has a beautiful kitchen at the back of the store serving up healthy, vegetarian goods. The ever popular veggie wrap with cheese and chilli can be had for $10.50. They have a good selection of freshly prepared salads and always a few interesting quiches on offer.

I hope this is not the usual junk food.

Rice Tapas Bar & Restaurant upstairs off Garema Place, Civic does an excellent $8 Thai lunch.

The Canberra Labor Club near the merry-go-round has cheap lunch specials, and the Burmese Curry Place near the bus ranks is always good value.

$15 is really just about everyone except for full restaurant meals.

$10 lunch at Baitong Coolamon Court. Good food and service.
$12.50 lunch at Lemon Grass Tuggeranong Hyperdome.

No loud music in either of these, so people can talk without shouting. Please post if they have noise levels and then I will not visit them!