Fellow hound visiting Australia for two weeks looking for food and pub rec's

[nickwin]

I'm going to be in Australia for a couple weeks and I am looking for some fun and not super expensive places to eat and get some drinks. I will probably get one or two more expensive meals (around $30 per person), but would like to keep the rest less expensive. The people I will be with are pretty adventures and like trying different ethnic foods. City's we will be in are Sydney, Melbourne, Carnes, and Brisbane.

So far I've been recommended the meat and pea pies at Harry's, and the Taphouse in Sydney. Any thoughts would be appreciated! Thanks.

[juniperberry]

In Cairns, if your a coffee lover, BANG espresso bar served up and delivered the only decent ristretto in town, great atmosphere, quite qirky, near the foreshore off the main street! Have fun

[PhilD]

It is a bit tricky to advise with your budget at $30 for a more expensive meal. To give you some indication a Pizza will cost $20+ a glass of wine can be $10+, and beers are $5+ (often $7 in a bar rather than a pub). Once you get into restaurant territory then a main course alone will be $30 to 40 with top restaurants pushing well past $50.

Your best bet will be to head to Chinatown and eat around there, or maybe head out to Newtown which is good for cheap eats as it has quite a large student population (obviously the further out you get the better value you find but I suspect you don't want a 45 minute train ride for dinner).

....and Harry's, a place loved by tourists, generally ignored by locals

[mr_gimlet]

I'm in Melbourne, so can't speak too much to the others. It depends where you are staying but here's some starters, if you are out of the city please post and tell us where and there may be local places that are good but not worth travelling to.

(BTW, AUD30 is not a lot - its enough but you are still less than a main at a good restaurant. There are some good lunch deals around though and your money would go further. Remember no service charge or tipping though. Sydney is more expensive than Melbourne in this regard)

Sichuan House on Corrs Lane - no compromise Sichuan food
Noodle Kingdom on Russell Street - vast quantities of fresh handmade noodles (Lanzhou noodle soup is their signature, feeds 2 people for $9)
take a tram to Victoria Street, Richmond and eat Vietnamese
have a poncey pizza at Ladro, Mr Wolf, i Carusi, Piazza 51 or DOC
Bratwurst roll at the Vic Market
Flora (an Indian) on Flinders Street
coffee at Seven Seeds or Brother Baba Budan

[nickwin]

Thanks for the rec's. I will have to talk to my brother to see where exactly our hotel is, but this gives of somewhere to start at least.