St. Kilda Cheap Eats

Another way to stretch that Australian dollar is to take advantage of daily and happy hour specials. As I explained in my post My City, St. Kilda has plenty of bars and restaurants with daily specials. Thanks to some friends who’ve pointed me in the right direction I’ve been able to come across some amazing cheap eats in my neighborhood. There’s two particular cheap eats I want to focus on in this post, parmas and steak. Both make fantastic meals and are a great treat to have for cheap on certain days of the week. When on the noodle diet these two meals are a luxury you can treat yourself to as it won’t break the bank.

Village Belle Hotel - 202 Barkly St. Saint Kilda, VIC, 3182

Lets start off with parmas. What’s a parma you ask? Don’t be embarassed as I had to ask my friends when they first brought me out. Parma is short for chicken parmigiana, but unlike back home they don’t serve it with pasta. Here parmas are more of a pub meal with many offering specials of $10 pot and a parma. The best so far has to be at the Village Belle Hotel located at Barkly & Acland. On Thursday nights the special of the day is $13 parmas which seems like a rip off compared to the $10 pot and parma specials, but boy oh boy you get your meals worth! Upon entering you go to the kitchen counter and you have the choice of 5 different parmas: Traditional, Hawaiian, Bolognese, Hot Mexican, and Aussie. I’ve had the chance to enjoy 2 of these, the Hot Mexican (topped with ham, mild chili sauce, jalapenos and cheese) - pictured above, and the Aussie parma (topped with bacon, grilled egg, cheese and gravy. The parmas themselves are gigantic, but that’s not all you get! Your meal is complete with two sides, fries and salad. It’s definitely a massive meal so only come if you’re hungry. Regular prices on these range from $19-$21 so at $13 a pop you’re saving a bundle!

The St. Kilda Branch - 204 Barkly St., Saint Kilda, VIC, 3182

Steak is a meal that’s usually reserved for a fancy night out. Back home a steak dinner is average $25. Here in St. Kilda there are plenty of places that offer $12 steak night on different nights of the week. Of these, the best I’ve had so far is at The St. Kilda Branch which funny enough is located across the street from the Village Belle Hotel. Now you’d think that you’d be getting some sort of cheap bottom-of-the-barrel steak but no, you’re getting a porterhouse which here in Oz is a Striploin for you North Americans. You also get your choice of 3 sauces to go with the steak: garlic butter, peppercorn, and mushroom. Your meal comes complete once again with both fries and a salad. Now drinks are a little pricier considering they’ve hooked you in with the cheap steaks, but $16 jugs aren’t so bad, there are worse prices in the neighborhood. With this deal, despite the more expensive drinks you can have a steak dinner and be travelling on a shoestring budget. I highly recommend you give this steak a shot!

Thanks to these deals you can enjoy great meals at low prices. These were a godsend when I was running out of money not too long ago. I hate the noodle diet so thankfully I was able to take a break and have a decent feed with meat, veggies and beer. Even though the meals are at low prices, you’re definitely getting a high quality plate. Whether you’re craving for a parma or a steak, while in St. Kilda be sure to drop by either of these bars for a fantastic meal.