Eating out on a budget? In our latest Specials Board round-up we’ve scoured the city for the best value dining deals this spring, including everything from home-made yum cha at a family-owned supermarket, to a luxury-for-less dinner from a three-hatted fine dining restaurant.

Yum cha Saturday at Sunshine Supermarket, Riverwood

Every Saturday at 10am, the family-owned Sunshine Supermarket pulls up its roller door to serve homemade yum cha dishes such as prawn wontons, taro puffs and cheung fun for takeaway. Fried items are $3.50 each or $10 for three (maximum six per person), steamed items start from $7 and desserts are $6 each or two for $10.

Good to know: Arrive early to beat the queues.

54 Thurlow Street, Riverwood, instagram.com/sunshine_sydney

Pasta and Wine Wednesdays at Berkelo Kitchen, Terrey Hills

Berkelo Kitchen serves house-made pasta (and pizza) in the cosy firelit dining room of a weatherboard cottage in lush Terrey Hills, and from 5-9pm every Wednesday night it’s just $30, which includes a glass of wine or beer. Diners are offered a selection of Australian and European wines, and the pasta dish changes weekly.

Good to know: This is a child-friendly venue, and there’s a large outdoor area for when the weather warms up.

205 Mona Vale Road, Terrey Hills, berkelo.com.au

Weekday set menu at C.C. Babcoq, Cronulla

This popular rotisserie-turned-cocktail bar offers a seasonal four-course set menu for $45 a head every Wednesday and Thursday night from 5pm. The menu changes fortnightly, but has included dishes such as wood-fired sourdough bread with beetroot relish; garlic king prawns with curry butter, lemon and herbs; and Atlantic salmon with seasonal greens.

Good to know: Arrive between 5 and 6pm to take advantage of $15 margaritas during happy hour.

Shop 5, 66-70 Cronulla Street, Cronulla, ccbabcoq.co

Callejero Tuesdays at Nu’u by Nativo, Glebe

A weekly rotation of tacos (including beef birria, pork belly carnitas and papa con chorizo) are available for $5 each between 5pm and 7pm every Tuesday night at Nu’u, the mezcal bar and Oaxacan restaurant from husband-and-wife team Manuel Diaz and Diana Farrera. Drinks are also discounted to $7 for a glass of rosé or Mexican beer, and $14 for a margarita.

Good to know: Farrera is a mezcologist, trained to guide you through their range of small-batch, imported agave spirits.

29 Glebe Point Road, Glebe, nubynativo.com.au

Half-price Thursdays at Taste of Canton, Ultimo

Taste of Canton is known for serving the silky Cantonese rice noodle rolls known as cheung fun, and on Thursdays from 9.30am-10.30pm diners can score their second plate for half price. The noodles can be served plain or with ingredients such as prawn and egg, beef brisket, and barbecue pork, priced between $10.90 and $16.90, with the lowest-priced dish subject to the discount.

Good to know: Chef-founder Lingqi Yang aimed to recreate the cheung fun she grew up eating in Guangzhou, China, where the dish is a staple.

139 Broadway, Ultimo, instagram.com/tasteofcanton

Mini tasting menu at The Bar at Oncore by Clare Smyth

Sure, $150 a head isn’t exactly cheap. But when consider you’re taking in the sweeping views across Sydney Harbour, exceptional service, and eating four of the same dishes you’ll find in the dining room at Crown’s three-hatted restaurant Oncore by Clare Smyth (only smaller), this tasting menu is excellent value. It’s a potted summary of the restaurant’s seven-course tasting menus (which start at $350 a head), and includes a mini “Core-teser”, the chocolate, malt and hazelnut dessert that was a pressure test on MasterChef.

Good to know: For another $80 you can add a mini cocktail pairing with special concoctions like The Miles & Milo (Valrhona chocolate-washed cognac, Pedro Ximenez, Creme de banane).

Level 26, 1 Barangaroo Avenue, Barangaroo, crownsydney.com.au/restaurants/oncore-by-clare-smyth

Date packs at Ullo, Dee Why

Date night is sorted at Italian restaurant Ullo, where the kitchen has put together a $45-a-head sharing menu for two. It includes your choice of salumi (sliced to order), beef cheek arancini, and a pasta dish or pizza (made using their 48-hour cold-fermented dough). Plus dessert, a glass of minimal-intervention wine and a killer beach view.

Good to know: Rather take your mates to brunch? Ullo has a weekend bottomless brunch package for $48 a head.

23 The Strand, Dee Why, ullopizzawine.com

Monday Buryani Night at Lankan Filling Station, Darlinghurst

Head to this Sri Lankan diner on Monday nights to try an ever-changing variety of buryani (an oven-baked curried rice dish, usually including meat and vegetables), served with sambol, raita and papadums. The $75 meal, which usually serves two or three people, most recently included a lamb shoulder curry with tempered samba rice, bitter gourd sambol and Brussels sprouts mallung.

Good to know: Once a month another Sydney restaurant takes over the kitchen to prepare their version of biryani.

Ground floor, 58 Riley Street, Darlinghurst, lankanfillingstation.com.au

Wednesday steak night at Yana, Coogee

Farm-to-table restaurant Yana serves 250g porterhouse steak, flame-grilled over ironbark, every Wednesday night from 5pm. The $30-a-head price tag includes a side of fries and your choice of mushroom, gravy or peppercorn sauce. Bonus: select wine and beers are also discounted to $10.

Good to know: Yana also does a classic Sunday roast for $35.

244 Coogee Bay Road, Coogee, yanacoogee.com.au

Seven-course banquet at Don Fred’s, Newtown

Owner-chef Lorenzo Petrachi (ex-Gigi’s Pizzeria) draws on his North Italian heritage to create a delicious plant-based menu. The $39-a-head seven-course feast is always available, and includes a varying selection of popular menu items like carbonara, meatballs, zucchini chips and focaccia sandwiches (made on house-baked bread).

Good to know: Don Fred’s serves Aperol spritz by the jug for $70.

28 King Street, Newtown, donfred.com.au