$4 pizza, free gelato, ramen happy hour: 12 top dining deals to stop you overspending in October

Think of this edition of Specials Board as a smorgasbord. From cheaper-than-usual pizza and pasta to curry and ramen offers and prix fixe menus worth crossing town for, we’ve done the rounds to find some of Melbourne’s best dining-out deals to try this October.

$15 pastas at Maha East, Windsor

Maha East – the Chapel Street spin-off of Middle Eastern restaurant Maha – is dishing up $15 pastas every week until November 6 for its “Arab’iata” collab series. From Monday to Wednesday, a different Melbourne chef’s special pasta dish will be on offer, from Navi’s Julian Hills (October 14-16) to Rumi’s Joseph Abboud (October 21-23), and more.

36 Chapel Street, Windsor, mahaeast.com.au

$15 vodka-sauce cotoletta sandwich at Marameo, CBD

“Saucy” is an understatement when it comes to describing this sandwich special at CBD Italian diner Marameo. Available to eat in or take away at lunchtimes throughout October, it’s all about crisp chicken cotoletta that’s been drowned in a velvety vodka-spiked sugo, then topped with a generous amount of stracciatella and spicy salsa verde.

6 Russell Place, Melbourne, marameo.com.au

$40 prix-fixe menu at Riserva, Malvern East

Most main courses at Riserva hover around the $40 mark. But if you visit the Malvern East wine-diner for lunch from Wednesday to Sunday, a prix-fixe option lets you order a main (pasta, burger, fish’n’chips) with a European red or white and a coffee for just $40.

395 Wattletree Road, Malvern East, riservawine.com.au

$25 ramen, side and drink at Hakata Gensuke QV, CBD

Love a late lunch? Or an early dinner? One of Melbourne’s favourite ramen joints, Hakata Gensuke, has a mid-afternoon happy hour worth handling your hunger for. On weekdays from 3pm to 5pm, at its QV location only, $25 is all you need to get a select bowl of ramen (perhaps the spicy, numbing tan tan men), a side and a drink.

QV Centre, 200 Lonsdale Street, Melbourne, gensuke.com.au

$30 pizza and wine at Bar Romantica, Brunswick

These days, it’s not unusual for pizza prices to hit $30. But on Wednesday nights in spring, Brunswick’s most romantic pizza joint is turning back the clock. That $30 will buy you not only any pizza from the menu, but also a glass of red or white.

52-54 Lygon Street, Brunswick East, barromantica.com.au

Free gelato-topped bougatsa at Pidapipo Laboratorio, Fitzroy

Good Food and Good Weekend columnist Julia Busuttil Nishimura is celebrating the launch of her new cookbook by teaming up with Pidapipo Laboratorio on a limited-edition gelato flavour: bougatsa, or Greek custard pie. You can try it – for free – on Wednesday, October 2, from 5pm to 7pm, on top of a slice of actual bougatsa.

429-431 Brunswick Street, Fitzroy, pidapipo.com/pidapipo-laboratorio

$18 for six/$26 for12 wings at JollyGood Diner, Collingwood

Following the success of its $25 steak frites Thursdays – with bottomless fries and condiments – Collingwood’s American-style diner JollyGood has just introduced wings Wednesdays. From 5pm every hump day, roll your sleeves up for classic buffalo or garlic-and-parmesan wings; they’re $18 for six or $26 for 12, alongside drinks specials.

27 Johnston Street, Collingwood, jollygoodmelbourne.com

$35 unlimited pizza slices and sides at Louey’s, St Kilda

Tucked inside St Kilda pub stalwart The Espy, Italo-American eatery Louey’s is “cheesy in every sense”, according to The Age’s chief restaurant critic Besha Rodell. That’s particularly true on Wednesdays from 5.30pm, when pizza slices are all you can eat for 90 minutes; as are sides like parmesan fries and wedge salads with anchovy dressing.

11 The Esplanade, St Kilda, loueys.com.au

$25 lunch special at the Daughters Arms, CBD

Daughter in Law’s newish sibling – a British-Indian gastropub called the Daughters Arms – serves playful dishes such as butter-chicken parmas and pork-vindaloo sausage rolls. The best value, however, is at lunchtime during the week, when $25 buys your choice of curry (beef madras, chana masala, chicken tikka masala) with dhal, rice and pappadums.

25 Little Bourke Street, Melbourne, daughtersarms.com.au

$75 bottomless brunch at Hotel Nacional, CBD

Recently opened on Hardware Lane, this five-level gluten-free Mexican joint, from some of the team behind Repeat Offender and Rufio, has plenty of lures. The latest? Weekend bottomless brunches, where the Mexican-inspired bar snacks are plentiful and the margaritas (regular, spicy or frozen) are unlimited for 90 minutes, for $75 a head.

23-25 Hardware Lane, Melbourne, hotelnacional.co

$4 pizzas (when you buy a drink) at Naked for Satan, Fitzroy

It can be hard to resist the rooftop view at Brunswick Street’s multilevel bar and diner Naked for Satan. But perhaps by touching your hip-pocket nerve, they encourage you to settle in downstairs, where, all day Monday to Thursday, you can get a $4 pizza with any drink purchased (except soda water).

285 Brunswick Street, Melbourne, nakedforsatan.com.au