Cheap Eats in Brisbane

My family ate together almost every night when growing up.  Dinner time is an important opportunity for the sharing of daily experiences and fostering relationships. As modern daily lives continue to become more hectic, often the sharing of a meal is one such valuable ritual that is left behind.  Whether you’re cooking for yourself, your partner, a family or friends, designing affordable and tempting meals is also a constant challenge, even for the best home cooks.

When I first came to Brisbane I was particularly shocked at the price of eating out here.  Having lived in Melbourne for the last 11 years I was a bit spoilt.  I was used to beautiful food being available at a reasonable price.  I found you could still have quality meals in Brisbane; you just had to pay top restaurant prices for them.  Dining out together must be an impossibly expensive alternative for many families. I marvel at how much others enjoy creating culinary delights in the kitchen.  It is a wonderful expression of creativity for many.  I never caught on to the cooking bug but I love food, love people cooking for me and I love eating out.  I would like to say that I am not on my own with inept cooking abilities- but I find most women and many men really do enjoy cooking. This is why I was so pleased when I met Mei Yen Chua recently at a lunch.  It seems now there is an opportunity for all of us to start devouring reasonably priced meals and discover the plethora of affordable dining options Brisbane has to offer.  There are eateries 120 listed.  You can also to start expanding your repertoire of home meals by bringing tantalising and exotic ingredients right into your own home using the 30 cheap ethnic providores recommended.  I’m working on my next dinner party already. Brisbane’s first independent cheap food guide was launched last week .  Brisbane’s Budget Bites reveals the city and suburbs great value food spots with these two things in mind: good value (in this case, under $20 for a meal), and a consistently high standard of food for the price.   The venues needed to be clean and inviting and the service of a high standard.  Eateries are broken up into geographic location within the book and there is also an alphabetical index at the back for quick reference. Mei Yen previously worked years ago as a reviewer for The Sydney Cheap Eats Guide in Sydney.  She also found it very frustrating after moving to Brisbane and finding herself continually paying high prices for meals that were not great in quality.  Mei Yen knew there must be other alternatives in Brisbane and the idea for Brisbane’s Budget Bites was born.   The end result has taken 12 months to formalise with nine months of that being dedicated to research and reviews.  A team of six reviewers anonymously explored our streets and ate themselves silly for the cause! To decide on the eateries to review Mei Yen spoke to many people within the food industry here in Brisbane and acted on their recommendations, read the local Brisbane food blogs and simply got in her car and looked for places throughout Brisbane.  “It was a wonderful way to learn my way about Brisbane as I literally drove from one side to the other and back again for nine months.”   Mei Yen commenced initially focusing on multicultural restaurants but soon realised this needed to be broader.  She took onboard the feedback from customers that they were also interested in cost effective smorgus-boards for example, not only multicultural options. "Lots of us would love to eat out more, if only we knew where to go for good quality and good value meals.  There are many great, affordable places here and the best way to embrace culture in Brisbane is to eat it,” ’says Mei Yen. Brisbane’s image is slowly transforming.  For a long time there has been the impression that we are backwards and uncultured, especially when it comes to the dining out.  Anyone who has moved back in the last few years will be marvelling (like I am) at all the fabulous changes and how unfair this post-dated stereotype is.  It is great to see publications like this showcasing some of what Brisbane does have to offer. Many Brisbane women are taking massive entrepreneurial steps at the moment and here I think is another example of a sassy woman using her passion to creating something that we can all benefit from.  For more information go to www.brisbanebudgetbites.com.au.  The book retails for only $14.95.

This blog is designed for Brisbane women, about Brisbane women. Have your say here.

How have you turned your passion into profit?  How do you find Brisbane culturally?  What are some of your favourite places to eat out?  How much time do you spend cooking at home as opposed to eating out?

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