Over the past few months, The Age Good Food Guide reviewing team has visited more restaurants, bars, cafes and pubs than ever before in search of Victoria’s best eating and drinking experiences.

When it hits newsstands in late October, the Guide will include a record 400-plus places − from sky-high fine-diners and hyperlocal country wine bars to hole-in-the-wall cake shops and corner pubs.

We’ve covered a more diverse set of cuisines and price points than ever before, too, and when scoring out of 10 for food, 5 for service, 3 for setting and 2 for value, we found that last criterion more important than ever.

A good-value dish isn’t just about spend. Not to be confused with a low-cost feed – delightful in its own right – these menu items will give you bang for buck when it comes to quality, provenance and technique. That could mean dishes featuring top-quality, ethically sourced ingredients from some of the country’s best producers, lunch by one of Melbourne’s most talented chefs for less than $20, or a multi-course, celebration-worthy duck dish that feeds three. These are not the cheapest dishes in the Good Food Guide, but they are more than the sum of their parts.

Ultimate bowl at Soi 38, $35 (for two)

Is there any plastic stool in Melbourne’s restaurant galaxy more coveted than one at Soi 38? The forever bustling Thai diner needs no introduction, but look beyond the signature boat noodles and find this behemoth of a dish that easily feeds two. A large stainless steel bowl holds a staggering half-litre of spicy-sour tom yum soup, which is topped with prawns, scallops, calamari, pork belly, minced pork, three egg yolks and a tangle of instant noodles. Arrive hungry, or don’t arrive at all.

38 McIlwraith Place, Melbourne, soi38.com

Bread at Carlton Wine Room, $3

No, there’s not a number missing. In an age of outstanding and creative restaurant-baked bread, it can still be hard to stomach paying double-digit prices. Here, you can get a humble serve for less than five bucks, now a rarity. It’s good bread, too, a chewy white roll from Baker Bleu, and just the right amount to dip into something salty and soft. There’s butter, the regular kind – not wattleseed or candied lemon, or churned with herbs plucked from the garden – nothing that will overshadow what else is on the table. And it’s definitely not going to make your eyes pop when you skim the bill later. It’s just bread, doing its thing, so that you, dear diner, can do yours.

172-174 Faraday Street, Carlton, thecarltonwineroom.com.au

Doro wat at Ras Dashen, $20

In Ethiopia, doro wat is a celebration dish traditionally served at holidays and weddings. At Footscray’s Ras Dashen, you can celebrate all year round. This spicy, rich chicken and whole-egg stew is fragrant with berbere, a mix of chilli, coriander, garlic, ginger, and nigella. Onion slow-simmered in clarified butter adds sweetness, and complimentary injera, Ethiopia’s signature spongy flatbread, ensures satisfaction. As coffees are paraded out after dinner, the scent of accompanying frankincense – said to bring positive thoughts – fills the room, making this one of the city’s richest dining experiences.

247 Barkly Street, Footscray, rasdashenethiopianrestaurant.com

Fried chicken sandwich at Don’s, $19

At a time when takeaway sandwich prices are so heightened you’re often lucky to escape with change from a twenty, the youthful crew at new wine bar Don’s appears with this stunning example – and you won’t have to eat it on the street. Crumbed chicken is deep-fried and bedded into a squishy potato bun with jalapeno jam, shredded cabbage and buttermilk dressing. Add a glass of something with fizz and funk and a seat at the wood-capped bar, and you’ve got yourself one very reasonably priced night on the town.

202 Commercial Road, Prahran, dons.place

Garlic knockout ramen at Mensho Tokyo Ramen, $24

There are cheaper bowls of ramen in this city – heck, on this block. But the creativity, attention to detail and provenance that goes into every slurp you’ll take at Mensho Tokyo Ramenwouldn’t be out of place at an elaborate fine diner. The Russell Street shop is part of a chain with outposts around the world (the San Francisco Mensho has a Michelin star), but the produce is sourced locally. This soup sees tori paitan broth loaded with house-made noodles, chashu pork, and garlic in various forms – including fried, roasted and infused into oil – rounding it out.

166 Russell Street, Melbourne, mensho.com

Nasi bungkus at Garam Merica, $19

Decision paralysis and Garam Merica go hand in hand, especially for first-time visitors. At the counter where you order, you have to face off with not just five or six different dishes that could fill your parcel of banana leaf-wrapped rice, but between 12 and 20 drawn from all over the Indonesian archipelago. Glossy eggplant is decorated with the tell-tale red flecks of a spicy sambal. Jackfruit rendang is every bit as rich as the original. Fried chicken will likely be in the mix. Thankfully, you only need to narrow it down to four. Imagine having to settle on just one of Garam Merica’s hits.

71 Queens Road, Melbourne, @garammericamelbourne

Cheeseburger at Gimlet, $28

To know you can eat a dish this satisfying at one of the world’s best restaurants for around the same price you’d pay at many Melbourne pubs feels like being let in on a state secret. That the burger in question is only available late at night on Friday and Saturday just adds to the allure. Sidle in off Flinders Lane any time after 10pm for a patty made from O’Connor beef brisket and chuck, stacked with dill pickles, onion, cheese, lettuce and house burger sauce on a potato bun that rivals the height of the soaring ceiling. Would you like one of the city’s best martinis with that?

33 Russell Street, Melbourne, gimlet.melbourne

Ochazuke at Chiaki, from $15

The first step is sourcing the rice. From Aomori, Japan, it’s selected to maintain bite when steaming broth is poured over this humble dish, which is lifted to luxurious levels by fine-dining chef Mo Zhou (also of Gaea) and team. By day, the izakaya-slash-cafe’s ochazuke bowl might come with shredded chicken and cured yolk, or tart ume with crunchy edamame and okra. At night, get firm squiggles of squid and an onsen egg under a blizzard of cheddar (it works!). House-made furikake is the magic dust you’ll keep coming back for as you work your way to the bottom of the bowl, feeling more nourished with every spoonful.

49 Peel Street, Collingwood, chiaki.com.au

Peking duck at Nihao Kitchen, $88 (feeds two+)

Value dining isn’t always a solo pursuit – sometimes it’s a numbers game. The wood-heavy interior of this popular Cantonese eatery is designed for convivial get-togethers, with roomy round tables, speedy service and generosity in spades, so it makes sense to enlist a couple of friends to help tackle this two-part feast, which you’ll need to order in advance. Phase one is a sweet duck-shaped platter of breast meat with glass-like skin, accompanied by paper-thin pancakes and hoisin. The rest of the bird is then repurposed into a glistening heap of special fried rice. Just add BYO pinot.

298-300 High Street, Kew, nihaokitchen.com.au

Thi nguoi (cold cut) banh mi from Ca Com Banh Mi Bar, $16

A cheeky access point to star chef Thi Le’s cooking for less than dinner at neighbouring Jeow, this labour-intensive beauty is a steal at $16. Just about every element is made in-house, from the rough country pate to the whole-egg mayo. A varying set of meaty loaves and terrines might include gio heo (Western Plains pork hock), gio thu (pork head) and cha bi (shredded pork skin). It’s as easy on the eyes as it is on the wallet, much like the other jam-packed banh mi on the menu.

336 Bridge Road, Richmond, cacom.net.au

The winners of The Age Good Food Guide 2024 Awards will be announced on October 30, presented by Vittoria Coffee and Oceania Cruises. The Age Good Food Guide 2024 will be on sale from October 31, featuring more than 450 Victorian venues, from three-hatted fine diners, to suburban wine bars, regional chicken shops and food-court icons.