The best cheap eats in Brisbane

A craft beer, wine and liquor bar that does great food, Zero Fox is the kind of place you take a date when you want to look sophisticated without spending much money. Their Japanese/Korean fusion menu comes in tapas-style portions that are priced between $9 and $18. Special mention goes to the katsu sando, which are neat little sandwiches filled with richly crumbed pork and crunchy ’slaw. There are also heaps of vegetarian options, along with a considered drinks menu that features an exhaustive list of Australian gins. So come along for the food, but stay so you can drink your way through a gin from every state and territory in the nation.

The appeal of Taro’s is simple. It’s $16.80 (at the time of writing) for any variety of really, really good ramen. The Tonkotsu Ramen has a rich, silky texture and free-range egg atop. (Taro’s takes its eggs seriously, and it only buys from certified organic suppliers). For those of you who like your ramen a little lighter, try the Shio Ramen, which is made with a vegetarian umami base prepared in a pressure cooker for maximum flavour. The ambiance at Taro’s is equally tasty, staffed with friendly, smiling staff who are happy to help guide you through your choices. In our humble opinion, nothing quite washes a ramen down like an ice-cold frothy, and at Taro's you'll find Suntory Premium Malts and Orion on tap, served in chilled pint glasses with a handle.

Set in one of the old Teneriffe woolstores along the river, Streetcorner Jimmy has gone with a kind of antique aesthetic that involves Chesterfield lounges and Caribbean cocktails. They also do all your favourite bar foods including nachos, schnitzels, burgers, wings and pizzas, mostly all priced under $20. We're fans of their cheeseburgers, which feature thick Wagyu patties covered in melted American red cheddar. There’s also a drinks happy hour every day from 5-7pm (except Fri, Sat) and food specials that start Mondays with $15 pizza and end on Sundays with $15 burgers. This is just a great place to meet friends or go solo with a book.

You know how Reuben sandwiches often look better in movies than they do in real life? Well that’s not the case at Reuben's Deli. Here, they’re lush, cinematic masterpieces that make you involuntarily murmur “oh baby” while wiping Swiss cheese from your face. They’re basically packages of golden rye built around thick ribbons of pastrami, tangy sauerkraut, and molten cheese all doused in Russian dressing. The harmony between fat and acid is something approaching transcendental. Just don’t order the Reuben and the Philly Cheesesteak like we did, because then you’ll need to lie on the floor.

Tucked into a little old garage on a side street, Ruen Phae feels somewhat out of place among all the Crossfit gyms of Teneriffe, but its complete lack of pretence is what makes it so good. The chairs are plastic. Overhead fans stir the air. We got the jungle curry ($18.90), which was zesty and fresh with big prawns in generous numbers, all imbued with that delicate smokiness of a scolding hot wok. Their spring rolls ($7.90) are perfectly crunchy, while their papaya salad ($21.90) is sweet and fragrant. This is some of the best Thai food in Brisbane.

If you live outside Brisbane it’s likely you haven’t yet heard of Botanica, but you will soon. The appeal is that they’re kind of the Aesop of salads: cool little shops with a fairly permanent line outside each one, doing takeaway vegetarian salads to order ($12.60 for a small box with three flavours at the time of writing). Get the raw broccoli salad, which comes in thin slices drizzled in garlic cashew cream. Or the freekeh salad with roasted eggplant, prunes, mint, and almonds coated in turmeric cashew cream. There’s also baked cakes and brownies. Find Botanica in Red Hill, Hawthorne, Camp Hill, Albion and Teneriffe.

Betty is quickly claiming her territory along the east coast with new stores opening as fast as lightning. One of the freshest in the bunch is at the head of Westfield Chermside's eat street on the extremity of the shopping centre proper. Don't dismiss this chain as just another burger bar: Betty's burgers are good. They’re made with Angus beef or pork belly, fried chicken or 'shrooms', and you can fling on McClures American pickles or bacon for a few bucks extra. Finish on a sweet note with Betty's concretes – custard ice creams enriched even further with sauces, crumbles and toppings.

You may come to Bloodhound for the dive bar vibes and the rogue’s gallery of beers across ten taps, but you stay for the deals. The bargains start with Tequila and Taco Tuesdays, with three tacos for $10 and a Margarita for another $10. Then there are wings on Wednesdays for $10 and Nachos on Thursdays, also for $10. They’re also introducing a happy hour between 4-6pm. But you want a hot tip? Get the tacos. The Achy Breaky Heart taco is filled with grilled artichoke hearts and salsa and is exceptional.

If you want really good Chinese on a budget, go to this place where the chef, Richard Li, specialises in Shandong cuisine. His sweet and sour pork is a perfect medley of crisp meat and vegetables in sweet glaze. Their special fried rice has more fun bits (fun meaning egg, bacon, prawns) than actual rice. And they do a big piquant curry laksa that’s pretty hard to beat. We like to come here for a Friday lunch and get a $13 meal and a $7 glass of wine. Also, its corner position on two Teneriffe streets makes it an excellent place to perch and people watch. 

The second best thing about Remy’s is the beer garden, which sits beneath a shady tree and overlooks one of Paddington’s many palm-lined valleys. But the first best thing is that Remy’s does two-for-one burgers on Sundays. And we’re talking burgers like god intended: big, fat, thick patties festooned with bacon, cheese, salad and loads of sauce. And then you get yourself an adjacent serving of cheese fries and a jug of ice-cold beer, you’ll start to feel like some kind of god yourself.

Located in the old Palmdale shopping centre, opposite Garden City, Watany is a morning walk through Beirut with its fresh bread, classic olive oil, sumac and za’tar trio, and rare Arabic produce. The underwhelming view of the carpark completely contrasts with what you're getting here: a wholesome Lebanese breakfast representing various regions in Lebanon and the Middle East, served with tea and stories. The Fatte plate combines a tanginess with tahini and fried pine nuts ($8.99) while the za’tar pastry rolled up into a wrap with tomato, cucumber olives and mint is freshness that fills you right up ($6.50). My favourite though is the spinach and fetta pastry ($6.80). The cheesy warmth and flavour coupled with the sweet tea reminds me of eating by a woodfire in the elevated mountains of Sawfar, Lebanon.

Shoulder to shoulder with Charlie’s fruit and veg and neighbour to Body Fit Training is sweet- and-savoury bakery Veganyumm. Whether you sit in for a snack or take home a pack, be prepared to pick and choose more than you thought you would. This place has the best vegan chicken pesto toasties, with a perfect crisp and creamy texture. For an ideal experience, sit with your back to the Gym entrance, close your eyes (save your gaze for the desert display later) and listen to the crunch of your toastie. The best part? This place closes 10pm most nights. Don’t forget to grab a chunky brownie or savoury pie on your way out!

The Fish Factory supplies to top Brisbane restaurants including Rick Shores, Otto and the Howard Smith Wharves group. The kitchen up the back does a roaring trade in some of the freshest fish and chips you'll find – restaurant quality eats at takeaway prices. You can find a superb piece of grilled snapper for $15, while mullet, cod or flake is only $9 and chips start at $5.50. Our piece of salmon ($15) was cooked a perfect medium rare, pink and meltingly soft; the skin on top was crisped to perfection and the seasoning was spot on. Beer battered chips are crunchy and moreish. The sushi bar, meanwhile, is well above the average in freshness, quality and price, and worth every cent.

Loving Hut is an international vegan fast food franchise and your one-stop-shop for a quality feed made with good intentions. Above a freezer filled with various take-home vegan produce sits a busy takeaway-style menu. From Singaporean and Vietnamese noodles and curries to nuggets and pastries, to lasagne and fettucine, the cuisine offered is both eclectic and exciting. At first, you’re not sure what to expect, there’s no specific vibe to the place, and the dishes share no theme other than being vegan. But it’s love at first sight when your meal arrives – we had the Singapore Noodles ($13.99), the Loving Hut Laksa ($13.90) and shared the heavenly salad ($10.90). 

It was a great day back in 2007 when buddies Ritesh and Sandip arrived in Australia from India with a mere $1,000 in their back pockets. They began selling spices, opened Mirchh Masala grocery store, and hatched a plan to bring authentic Indian street food to Brisbane. House specialities are puffed and stuffed semolina pani puri (ten pieces), flat, spicy potato topped sev puri/papdi chaat sprinkled with crunchy chickpea flour sev, and chole bhatura – a warming feast of chickpeas with airy, whoopee cushion-like pillows of house-made bread. All pastries, doughs and curry pastes are made in the tiny Mirchh kitchen. Every one of the estimated 300-400 samosas served daily is housemade as is the ice cream on display in the dining room freezer. A cone or cup of raj bogh (saffron and almond) is a cooling end to a spiced-up night of feasting at Mirchh.