Ever embarked on what you thought would be a wallet-friendly meal, only to over-order and inadvertently blow your budget? Bill shock is real, folks, but the latest edition of Specials Board is here to help combat it. We’ve rounded up 10 set menus across Melbourne that cost no more than $50, so you can settle in and know exactly what you’re spending.

$40 two-course express lunch, Manze, North Melbourne

Making a reservation at the one-hatted Manze – North Melbourne’s trailblazing Mauritian wine bar – now means committing to dine on a set menu. The most accessible option is the $40 lunch offered Thursday to Saturday, which includes a snack such as the Wattle Bank Farm mushroom fritter with house-made hot sauce, and a main that could be eggplant in a rich rougaille (a popular Mauritian tomato and thyme-based sauce).

Shop 2, 1/5 Errol Street, North Melbourne, manze.com.au /

$20 express lunch, Lah Bros, Windsor

Twenty bucks is a certified bargain for the lunch chef Rajeev Chakradhar is serving at Lah Bros, his modern Nepalese restaurant on the south side. On offer from noon to 2.30pm Thursday to Sunday, the set menu includes a small starter and daily rotating sides with a choice of curry and rice, or masala chicken with hand-pulled noodles.

119 Chapel Street, Windsor, lahbros.com.au

$49 two-course lunch, Omnia, South Yarra

Another lunch at a hatted restaurant for under $50? It’s true. Omnia makes the improbable possible. Thursday to Saturday from noon to 2.30pm, the elegant European bistro does two seasonal courses for just $49. So, you could start with king prawns in shellfish sauce, finish with a McIvor Farm pork cotoletta and get out of there with change from a fifty.

625 Chapel Street, South Yarra, omniabistro.com.au

$45 for shared pasta, meatball sub, soft serve and wine, Rocco’s Bologna Discoteca, Fitzroy

Wednesday is date night at Rocco’s Bologna Discoteca. From 5pm, romantic (or platonic) partners can descend on Gertrude Street’s suave Italian diner for a special $45-a-head set menu that includes a bowl of pasta, the signature-for-a-reason meatball sub and a half-litre of vino, all to split between two. Dessert is the soft serve of the day.

15 Gertrude Street, Fitzroy, roccosbologna.com

$45 two-course lunch, Elio’s Place, CBD

Flinders Lane newcomer Elio’s Place is “open early, up late” seven days a week. But the bistro has a new lunchtime lure, running daily from noon to 3pm. For $45, choose from focaccia or a briny gilda skewer to start, then a main course that might be spaghetti alla chitarra with green tomatoes and gouda, or flank steak with potatoes and hollandaise.

1/238 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, eliosplace.com.au

$49 two-course express lunch, Bistro Gitan, South Yarra

Across the road from the lush Fawkner Park, this charming corner bistro gets even more charming at lunchtime on weekdays, when its dedicated Formule Express menu offers daytime diners an entree and a plat principal for $49 (or $59 with a glass of wine). That could mean horseradish-spiked steak tartare followed by mustard-crusted spatchcock.

52 Toorak Road West, South Yarra, bistrogitan.com.au

$42 for four plates and a drink, Juni, CBD

Yet to get to Juni, influential chef Michael Lambie’s newly opened South-east Asian spot in Exhibition Street? Let this deal be your inspiration. Groups as big as seven people can lunch for less on weekdays (from noon to 3pm) with the Lucky Cat Express menu. $42 gets you four small plates, plus a beer or glass of wine.

136 Exhibition Street, Melbourne, junimelbourne.com.au

$45 three-course set-menu lunch, Marama, Carlton North

A long Sunday lunch on Rathdowne Street doesn’t get much more affordable than at Marama. Every week, the corner wine bar serves a different, seasonally charged menu that’s $45 for three savoury courses (dessert is extra). Check Instagram a few days before to see the handwritten menu, then book a table to make sure you don’t miss out.

793 Rathdowne Street, Carlton North, maramawine.com.au

$43 set-menu lunch, Casa Chino, Brunswick

A bold fusion of Peruvian and Chinese cuisines, called chifa, is what sets Brunswick’s Casa Chino apart. See what it’s all about by booking its $43-a-head Mi Casa Weekend sharing menu. It includes a pork- and prawn-loaded fried rice, guava cheesecake, and the option to add $15 cocktails to the bill.

Shop 1, 212-214 Albion Street, Brunswick, casachino.com.au

$45 set-menu vegetarian dinner, Waygood, Richmond

At Richmond wine bar Waygood, Tuesdays are all about the Neighbourhood Nights menu: a multi-course affair that’s entirely determined by what vegies are in season. Recent highlights have included romano beans and zucchini with goat’s cheese and salsa verde, taleggio-studded pumpkin-and-corn croquettes, and zaatar-spiced focaccia to eat it all with.

Keen for more seafood and protein? Add rock oysters, or a roasted half-chook.

213 Swan Street, Richmond, waygood.com.au