20 cheap lunch eats for under $15 in Melbourne's CBD

French Fix offers a taste of Paris in Melbourne. It's not your average boulangerie, with the team baking fresh baguettes and loading them with all sorts of fillings. You might have to wait a few minutes, but hey – at least, it's fresh. Le Roast-beef comes with layers of roast beef, crisp pickles, a healthy smear of Dijon mustard, mixed lettuce, tomato and mayo, and might just be our top pick of the bunch.  All baguettes come in at around $13 each, leaving you $2 left to load on some extras. Heaven.

Craving a belly-warming bowl of fiery noods? BKK's new $15 winter special is serving up chilli-spiked Northeastern Thai-style chicken noodle soup with tamarind leaves and mushrooms; pork, egg and prawn noodles hot off the wok; and fish bomb tom yum noodle salad, with vege options also available. This could just be our new fave cheap eat in the CBD. Find it up the stairs from Her Bar.

It’s almost impossible to visit a market without smelling the fried goodness of a gözleme. The stuffed Turkish flatbread is best enveloped around a combo of cheese and spinach, but the legends at Göz City (whose humble origins started at South Melbourne Market) offer a variety including herbed chicken, minced meat or mushroom and veg, too. Everything's $14 or under. There's even sucuk sausage and egg pides or böreks for those looking for something doughier, and some pretty phenom salads too if you want something fresh. 

Bowltiful needs no introduction, but for the uninitiated, it is one of the city's most popular noodle purveyors. Chewy hand-pulled noodles find their perfect home inside a bowl of rich broth topped with fresh, tingling chilli oil and herbs. And the hot chilli oil dry spill bowl goes for just $13.80! All Bowltiful chefs train for at least six months to become experts in crafting the noodles, and each serve of noodles is hand-pulled to order. The Lanzhou-style lamb burger is stuffed with spicy three-hour braised beef brisket and makes the perfect side dish, and for only $8.80 is a real steal. 

What with its high-end fashion boutiques and corporate crowds, the Paris End of the CBD isn't exactly known for frugal spending. That's what makes Butchers Diner such a stand-out revelation on Bourke Street when you're timorously making your way towards Parliament House. Step into the fuss-free diner on your lunch hour and you'll find a generous array of carnivorous cheap eats to satisfy your belly – and, thankfully, leave your wallet relatively unscathed. But if you're really saving your hard-earned pennies, you can't go wrong with the $12 classic hamburger, which comes with a succulent 120g beef patty, tomato sauce, pickles and mayo. You'll be tempted to go back for it again and again. 

This burger joint's known for its classic chip shop-style burgers, and there's plenty here that will catch your eye. But if you're in savings mode, opt for the Betty's classic, which is adorned with nothing more than your usual Angus beef, cheese, lettuce, onion, tomato and special sauce. At only $11.90, it's a budget-friendly feed a bit more decadent than sushi but just as kind on the wallet. Score!

Lulu’s has taken the city by storm with a char kway teow that tastes as if it were made on the streets of Penang. At Lulu's, thin flat noodles are stir-fried over a hot wok lending it that beautifully charred and smoky flavour vital to any char kway teow. These are tossed with prawns, lap cheong, scrambled egg, bean sprouts, pork lard, chives and chilli (which you can tailor according to your tolerance). While Lulu's signature char kway teow comes in at just over $15, there are still several items on the menu that come in under budget, such as the duck egg vegetarian char kway teow for just $14.30. We're sold.

There’s a lot to love about an Italian sanga for lunch, whether it be a porchetta roll or a cotoletta panina. At Saluministi, you can get a panini stuffed with mortadella, stracciatella, proper balsamic vinegar from Modena and salad for just $14.50. If you're prepared to pay a few more dollars more, the world of Italian lunches in your oyster. Opt for a pollo panina filled with crumbed chicken, roasted peppers, provolone chilli and rocket, a prosciutto sandwich with fior di latte and rocket or a fried calamari sanga with salsa verde and lemon tartare. Even though it won't cost you an arm and a leg, this is a lunch that will get you through the afternoon.

Udon Yasan is a little Japanese eatery specialising in, you guessed it, udon noodles. It's a humble ode to the thick, springy noodle we all know and love, and you can get yours swimming in a broth with sukiyaki beef, bean curd, teriyaki chicken or even kimchi. There are also rice options for those looking for an alternative. Most noodle soups hover around the $10 mark but if you're really hungry and have a few extra dollars to spare, you can aslo grab two pieces of fried karaage chicken for just $4.80.

Sal's is known for slinging New York-style pizza slices bigger than your head. You could go for a couple of slices of your choosing, or take our advice and spend your $15 on the Sal's Famous special that comes with one giant slice of cheese pizza and one giant slice of pepperoni pizza, and will leave you with $3 change. Spend that on extra sauce or a drink and your afternoon's set.

N. Lee Bakery is known for one of the best portable lunches you can find: bánh mì. Our fair city's blessed with a vibrant Vietnamese community, and as a result, we’re lucky to have spots like N. Lee slinging Vietnamese baguettes in the heart of the CBD. Get yours filled to the brim with lashing of roast pork or mixed ham, and make sure to choose all the trimmings including pickled julienned carrot and ribbons of fresh cucumber. Most of 'em won't set you back more than $13.

Biang Biang Noodle House is home to springy, long and flat hand-pulled wheat noodles tossed in accompaniments like stewed pork, slow-cooked beef, and tomato and egg, as well as a ton of chilli oil. The fact that Biang Biang is perennially packed speaks to its appeal. The namesake biang biang noodles are the must-order, but if you’re feeling like something different or can’t process gluten, there are rice noodles served cold as well as vermicelli. If you're happy to have a meat-free Monday, Biang Biang's noodles with chilli oil will only set you back $14.50 and they're absolutely slurp-worthy levels of delicious. Better yet, most of the other dishes won't cost you more than two tenners.

Nana Thai might be making waves for its central Thai-style moojum (hotpot) and mookata (barbecue), but its lunch specials are well worth trying, too. Sample the likes of a mid-week pad thai with prawns or for a spicier option (because Nana Thai doesn't hold back on the sweltering Thai chilli) go the pad gra prow – Thai basil and chilli stir-fried with beef served atop a bed of rice. Everything, including the fresh, spicy salads, will only set you back about $13.

Chances are you’ve spotted Little Ramen Bar with a line snaking outside its door, comprising folks keen to sample its classic ramen. It's a creamy tonkotsu soup loaded with pork broth and topped with seaweed, bamboo shoots, spring onions and chashu pork. You can even choose to amp up your base with shoyu, miso or shio. 

At Sarawak Kitchen Express, you can get bak kut teh (herbal soup with pork spare ribs), protein-loaded laksa soup and fish fillet vermicelli soup – all for just $15.20 per serve. Okay, so you may need a 20c coin lying around, but when the food's this yum it's worth it. You can also get handmade stir-fried noodles for just $14 a serve, from mee goreng to pork ribs. If you haven't tried this joint yet, join the queue.  

Fans of Ottolenghi, look no further. Here, you can get a wild vegetable-packed pita for a flat $15. Pick from rataouille, cauliflower and tahini or hot chickpeas to stick to budget. If you're happy to spend a few dollars more, you can dig into the meatier lamb and steak pitas. All of it's delicious, and miraculously in this day and age, affordable.

Earl Canteen is a one-stop shop for sandwiches, salads, sweets and coffee. Think of it as your work mum that packs you nutritious and tasty lunches so you can be the envy of your colleagues. Go for the classic chicken sandwich with the Callebaut chocolate chip, walnut and sea salt cookie – one of the city's best cookies.

Stop by the Borek Bakehouse for snacky Turkish staples that will always leave you with change in your pocket. A trip to the Bakehouse is incomplete without a crisp, bready borek stuffed with punchy feta and spinach, aromatic lamb and veggies or spiced potatoes. If you feel like some other doughy goodness, opt for a pide stuffed with sucuk and egg or chicken and mushroom. You can even add on a couple of housemade dips and still stick within the budget. 

We have another baguette contender – one that offers petite and grande options. You could get two grande baguettes for $15, which makes them ridiculously affordable and equally delicious. The trimmings are of your standard deli variety, and if baguettes aren’t your thing, you can nab a croissant to go.

Fancy some Chinese street food for lunch? Pop into Melbourne Central and head down the escalators to the basement food court. Sure, it might not be the most resplendent setting for an afternoon meal but when big hunger hits, who cares? Here, you'll find Foodao, a purveyor of traditional authentic Chinese food, namely oven-baked goodies called 'fooshao'. These wheat pastries are hearty and filling, stuffed with ingredients like black pepper beef, pork, and kung bao chicken, and at just $7 each they're a steal. If you're craving a carb-licious feast, order the best-seller combo for just $15.