(Surry Hills, Syd) $20 for $40 worth of Food and Drinks at The Dolphin Hotel Bistro

Half price food at a place in Surry Hills not far from Central Station with a pretty cheap menu already.

You’re out at the pub with some friends, and a great big chalk board catches your eye. “$10 dinner? Oh yeah, I’m getting steak!” The excitement lasts as long as the wait for your food, and then? Bitter disappointment. Your $10 dinner is really just a tough slab of meat with some salty fries on the side, and it leaves you feeling a bit ordinary. You also can’t get your mother’s voice out of your head: “Five servings of vegetables a day, or no dessert for you!”

For some decent pub grub, head to The Dolphin Hotel Bistro, Surry Hills. $20 will buy you $40 worth of food and drinks with this Ouffer, and you will be served only the freshest fare with the finest flavour.

With chef Sarah Robbins, The Dolphin Hotel is slowly reforming the culture of pub dining. Long gone are the days of grotty carpets, sticky table tops and wedges as a staple meal. If you love good food but are a fan of the relaxed, community-building atmosphere of the pub, The Dolphin Hotel Bistro is a new kind of establishment, designed just for you. Sydney specialises in such hybrids of the restaurant world, and The Dolphin Hotel is the paragon of this new breed of pubs. Its kitchen revolves around fresh, seasonal produce, and its spaces are light, modern and versatile.

So pop into The Dolphin Hotel Bistro for lunch and a beer with mates, or book a large group for a fun and stylish celebration. Sample the many flavours the Bistro has to offer with a few grazing plates: try a combination of fetta filled crumbed olives ($6), meatballs with tomato and basil ($7), and crispy squid with sesame soy dipping sauce ($9). Perhaps you’re a salad person? Try and find another pub that will serve you such a scrumptious pumpkin salad with pine nuts, spinach, sundried tomato and fetta ($14)! For more hearty fare, try the succulent chicken breast with truffle mash, asparagus and mushroom ragout ($20), or the refined seared salmon with exotic tea noodles, asian greens and soy mirin dressing ($24).

If you’re a traditionalist, however, and go to the pub for steak, and steak only, rest easy. The Dolphin Hotel Bistro offers these standards as well, with the added bonus of being able to quiet your mother’s voice in your head – all steaks are served with chips and salad. You won’t be deprived of your daily vegetable intake here!