Best things to eat and drink for under $15 Melbourne Royal Show 2024

Melbourne Royal Show is back with some value eats and treats that won’t whack the wallet these school holidays. Here are our favourite snacks costing no more than $15.

Melbourne Royal Show is back for another year — just look for the pie in the sky. Alyssa, 11, and Lola, 11, tuck into some Wonder Pies with chef Raymond Capaldi. Picture: Ian Currie

Step right up, it’s showtime!

Melbourne Royal Show is back with some value eats and treats that won’t whack the wallet these school holidays. Here are 10 smashworthy snacks costing no more than $15.

Tell me you went to the Melbourne Royal Show, without telling me you went to the Melbourne Royal Show. I’ll go first.

1. CWA Scones and Jam: $6.50 for one.

A show essential, made by some of the best in the biz. Expect lashings of strawberry jam and a splotch of double cream (in that order, mind you) on a rubbly, warm scone. The best part? The price hasn’t budged since last year.

Who eats full-sized doughnuts when these bite-sized balls will do?

2. Demochi Donuts mini doughnut balls: $10.95

Sydney pastry couple Denis and Monique’s left-of-field smushy snack is the love child of Japan’s favourite glutinous rice cake dessert shaped into doughnut rings. Pay $20 for four, $15 for two or $9 for a cup of squishy marble-sized balls to chomp at your leisure. Flavours include traditional cinnamon, black sesame, honey sprinkles, Biscoff, matcha and more.

Nachos, but in ‘healthy’ soft-serve form.

3. Dole King’s Dole Whip Nachos: $15

Low fat? Tick. Dairy and gluten free? You betcha. Dole Whip is a Hawaiian sweet treat storming Disneyland and the Aloha state in equal measure with fruity soft serve in a hollowed pineapple bowl. Try the OG, or scoop fluffy ice cream, whipped cream and all the trimmings with waffle cone chips for a sugary take on nachos. Available in pineapple, strawberry, mango and watermelon soft serve.

Introducing the food mash-up we never knew we needed — fairy floss burrito.

4. Fluffy crunch flurrito (fairy floss burrito): $15

When you thought we called time on obscene food mashups (see cronut, cruffin, crookie), the Fluffy Crunch founders Paola and Michael Karamallis conceived the flurrito, aka fairy floss burrito. Not a fan of munching whipped sugar on a stick? Now you can swaddle vanilla gelato, Fruit Loops and sprinkles snug in strawberry floss. This went gangbusters at the Sydney Royal Show, and no doubt will do the same in Melbourne.

Shandong Mama founder Meiyan Wang and a plate of her famous pan-fried dumplings. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

5. Shandong Mama’s pork and cabbage potstickers: $15

Mama’s cooking at the show this year, and she’s bringing her classics: fat-fingered potstickers in all your favourite flavours: mackerel, prawn and pork, pork and cabbage, wagyu or chill beef and zucchini vegan.

Pull apart for cheesy results.

6. Lucky Coin’s mozzarella gold pancake: $12

The viral Korean cheese coin pancake has been doing the rounds in social media scrollville. Crisp on the outside, ooey, gooey and cheesy within. Don’t forget to flex your cheesy stretch for the ultimate money shot by breaking the giant disc in two.

You can’t beat a meat pie and dead horse. Picture: Wayne Taylor

7. Wonder Pie’s beef and gravy pie: $10

Look for the pie in the sky, and follow your nose to chef Raymond Capaldi’s airstream van. Pies are the game here, with seven original and two loaded flavours to try. Classics include the classic beef and gravy, lamb and rosemary, chicken tandoori, mushroom and cheese (vegan) or lasagne pie. The kids haven’t been forgotten: they can pig out on a party platter which includes two party pies, sausage rolls and tommy sauce for a tenner.

Fancy corn dogs.

8. Nomi Katsu’s JapDog Cheesy Corn Dog: $10

This half-sausage, half-mozzerella on a stick creation is cornflour-battered, breadcrumbed and deep fried.

This doesn’t contain chicken.

9. Demochi Deep Fried Chicken ice cream: $15

Another entry by Demochi as these chicken drummies are deserving of their own spot. Spoiler alert — there’s no chicken in the Deep Fried Chicken (DFC) Ice Cream. Instead, the viral social media snack shapes caramelised cornflakes coated vanilla ice cream and shapes it into a drumstick.