Melbourne is the most expensive city to enjoy a cheap meal out, according to mobile payment and deals app Clipp, with Sydney coming in as the second cheapest.
The findings are based on the average total price of a glass of house wine, a schooner of Carlton Draught, a burger and a small pizza. Clipp used data from its 650-odd merchants across Australia, compiled throughout January and February of this year.
Melbourne is the most expensive capital city, with a casual meal costing an average of $61. Next was Perth, was an average cost of $57.50, followed by Brisbane ($55.50) and Sydney ($51.60). Adelaide came in as the cheapest, with an average meal cost of $51.60.
Despite being the second cheapest city analysed, Sydney has the most expensive beer, with an average price of $6.60. Brisbane has the cheapest brew, at $5.50.
Wine is most expensive in Brisbane, topping the nation at $9. Adelaide was cheapest at $6.50.
A burger was most expensive in Melbourne at $23.50 and cheapest in Sydney at $19, while Perth and Melbourne tied with most expensive pizza at $23, and Sydney again came in cheapest at $19.
Greg Taylor, CEO and co-founder of Clipp, said “Fifty to 70 dollars is too costly for a casual meal out, especially since we are cooking less than ever before. If we eat out three times a week, our spend is close to $200 a week.”
A look at the suburbs
The data was further analysed to establish which suburbs in each city were the cheapest and most expensive.
“It was really interesting to analyse this data as there wasn’t one city which was uniformly the most expensive for each item, with quite a big price difference between the cheapest and most expensive cities,” said Taylor. “There is an overall difference of almost 20 percent in the cost of street prices across the board, which is huge.”
The most expensive suburb to have a night out in Sydney is Double Bay, with a casual meal costing $68.50. Sydney’s cheapest meal can be found in St Marys for $46.25.
In Melbourne, the inner-city suburb of Southbank costs the most at $71 while the commuter town Werribee will set a couple back $48.
Brisbane’s CBD was the most expensive at $63.50 with Strathpine coming in cheapest at $44. In Perth, Subiaco will set you back $69, with beachside city Rockingham coming in cheapest at $51.20.
For Adelaide residents, a casual meal out could cost $55.20 in North Adelaide or $43.70 in Kilburn.
