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The best cheap eats in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs

A schmear and lox bagel from Bissel B in Richmond
Nicola Dowse

June 21, 2023

Join MasterChef semi-finalist, Elise Pulbrook, as she reveals where you can get a filled bagel for less than $10 in Melbourne’s east.

When Gabriel Kurban had the opportunity to open a hospitality business in Richmond he was adamant it wouldn’t be your run-of-the-mill café.

“Everyone is doing cafes, it’s boring. Melbourne needs something different,” he says.

Instead Kurban decided to open up Bissel B, a Richmond bagel shop (find them using the arervo journey planner app) offering a Melbourne take on New York’s famous bagels, plus excellent coffee. Grabbing a bite from Bissel B won’t break your bank either, with schmear-filled (cream cheese) bagels costing less than $10.

Discover the best cheap food in Melbourne's east with MasterChef Australia's Elise Pulbrook

When it comes to crafting the ring-shaped rolls, Kurban says Melbourne and New York produce different – but equally delicious – bagels.  

“If you go to New York and eat a bagel, then come to Melbourne and eat a bagel it’s completely different,” hey says. “[Its] the same ingredients, the same method, but ours are a little more light and fluffier.” 

Bissel B is just one of the cheap eats you can find throughout Melbourne’s east, with MasterChef semi-finalist, Elise Pulbrook, also revealing where you can get affordable bowls of phở, vegetarian bruschetta, authentic pork and soon dae soup, and hearty chicken kara-age don.  

*RACV is not affiliated with any of the restaurants featured in this series


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