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, beside chunks of tender halal beef, which are topped with fresh, tingling chilli oil and herbs. And the beef noodle soup bowl goes for just $14.80! 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. There are also excellent vegetarian dishes available including dry noodles with stir-fried mixed vegetables or hot chilli oil spill dry noodles.
Sometimes a brown bag packed with last night’s leftovers or a peanut butter sandwich just isn't going to cut it for lunch. And in a city with so many options for reasonably priced, tasty and interesting food, you shouldn't have to settle. However, with the cost of living constantly rising, it would be remiss of us not to mention that scouring the city for dishes that come in strictly under $15 has never been harder. While some of your favourites may have slipped off the list, we empathise with the hospitality industry trying to keep up with costs while still trying to retain customers with fair prices.
We've stuck to our budget and rounded up a list of the best cheap lunches in the CBD for under $15, so you can take your next mundane workday up a notch. Keep your week interesting and go for a gözleme on Monday, a noodle soup on Tuesday, a tofu curry on Wednesday, a bánh mì on Thursday and dumplings on Friday.