Lunch is the new dinner. Or it should be when you consider the opportunities to try some of the city’s best restaurants at prices that are close to daylight robbery. Here are some picks for lunch at a steal.

Flower Drum

Don’t automatically assume the legendary and highly revered two-hatted Flower Drum is way beyond your budget. When you realise there’s a two-course lunch for $55, it starts to seem more approachable. The famous Peking duck is on the carte and you can follow it up with dishes such as John Dory with spicy salt or perhaps chestnut sago crumble.

Mon-Sat noon-3pm
17 Market Lane, Melbourne, 03 9662 3655, flowerdrum.melbourne

Maha

A $165 tasting menu is the only dinner option at this Middle Eastern fine diner, but at lunch, you can order a la carte. That means you can build a midday meal of, say, whipped hummus with baharat and foraged mushrooms ($18) with flatbread ($5), and Tunisian pastries with halloumi and anchovy ($15). The hatted restaurant’s famous and eminently shareable lamb shoulder is $48, and you can seal the deal with Turkish-delight-stuffed doughnuts ($16).

Daily noon-3pm
21 Bond Street, Melbourne, 03 9629 5900, maharestaurant.com.au

Lillian

Hatted brasserie restaurant Lillian, part of the glitzy Society set-up, does unlimited oysters for $44 a head at lunchtime – it’s peak season in southern New South Wales and the Sydney rock oysters are at their salty-sweet best right now. There’s also a selection of lunch mains for $29.50, including smoked trout salad and a sirloin steak sandwich layered with smoked cheddar and beetroot slaw. Flagship big brother Society has just launched a $77 autumn lunch with a $22 supplement for a dessert trolley triple-play.

Tues-Sun noon-3pm
80 Collins Street, Melbourne, societyrestaurant.com

Taxi Kitchen

It’s hard to beat the views over the Yarra River and Flinders Street Station while enjoying a great-value meal. The Feed Me Lunch at one-hatted Taxi Kitchen allows diners to select three small dishes and one main from the regular menu for $45 a head. Come with a friend and the two of you could feast on baked scallops, candied pork belly, crispy potato bao and Chinese chopped chicken, and you’ll save $26 off the menu price.

Wed-Sun noon-3pm
Federation Square, Melbourne, 03 9654 8808, transporthotel.com.au

Omnia

You might as well come to two-hatted Omnia by day, because time ceases to matter once you’re sitting in the front conservatory area or ensconced in a horseshoe-shaped booth in the cellar-like back room. The Lunch Express Menu offers two courses for $65, or three courses for $80 with a mini wine pairing starting at $25. Exquisite Corner Inlet rock flathead is one of the larger dishes included.

Thu-Sat noon-2.30pm,
617 Chapel Street, South Yarra, 03 8080 8080, omniabistro.com.au

Al Dente Enoteca

Pasta specialists Andrea Vignali and Davide Bonadiman offer a $50 lunch that includes a starter, pasta and a glass of wine. You might begin with burrata with fig and follow up with boar ragu pappardelle seasoned with dark chocolate and a glass of red. Order a la carte at this convivial Italian and the same meal would cost closer to $80.

Tue-Fri noon-3pm
161-163 Nicholson Street, Carlton, aldenteenoteca.com

Pipis Kiosk

Situated bang on the foreshore at Albert Park, there’s no better place to watch the weather and the wavelets than hatted seafood specialist Pipis. The two-course Winter Warmers menu ($49) begins with a clam chowder made with Goolwa pipis and kicks on with a rotating cool-weather braise.

Thu-Sun noon-2.30pm
129A Beaconsfield Parade, 03 9041 2814, pipiskiosk.com.au

Freyja

Relative newcomer Freyja, the city’s only Nordic hatted restaurant, is a lovely escape from CBD bustle, especially when there’s a sweet lunch deal: $59 gets you main, dessert, a beverage and a tea or coffee. Our pick: the chicken with wild herbs and the Swiss roll with oolong, pumpkin seed and kumquat.

Tue-Fri noon-3pm
477 Collins Street, Melbourne, 03 8688 7141, freyjarestaurant.com

Entrecote

Any French restaurant worth its sel has a lunch-only Menu Rapide. One-hat darling Entrecote presents two courses for $59.90. You might begin with classic French onion soup and continue with pomegranate-glazed confit duck. A third course is an extra $10, so it seems only right to finish with chocolate mousse or a morsel of cheese.

Daily noon-4pm
142-144 Greville Street, Prahran, 03 9804 5468, entrecote.com.au

Chancery Lane

In the legal district but much cheaper than hiring a lawyer, hatted Chancery Lane’s $50 two-course lunch appeals. Start with charcuterie, perhaps, then move onto steak frites or ricotta gnocchi with cauliflower. If you choose dessert, there’s vanilla bavarois with rhubarb or an intense chocolate mousse.

Tue-Fri noon-3pm
430 Little Collins Street, Melbourne, 03 9089 7598, chancerylane.com.au