Nowadays you need to scout just a little bit harder for good food at 10-bucks-and-under because quite a few of the tried-and-true $10 meal deals have inched up to the $12 mark. EWAN SARGENT discovers some Christchurch cheap eats still hitting the spot.

Mixed sushi pack at Hachi Hachi, 177 Victoria St, Christchurch Central



The wasabi is legit – just a dab will make your eyes sting. Photo: Ewan Sargent

The mixed sushi pack ($9.90) shows off all the Hachi Hachi quality touches that lifts this place above many of the rest. You get two salmon. two crispy chicken, two teriyaki chicken, a tuna and a vegetable roll. Let's be honest, the vege one is pretty lame, but if you eat it last, you can walk away feeling healthy, so it's more a mindset roll. But you also get two tiny bottles of soy when most places give one, the ginger is quality and the wasabi is proper stuff where just a dab will sting the back of your eyeballs if you don't watch out. You get a tiny blob of Japanese mayo on the tuna and sesame seeds sprinkled on that lame vege one. It comes in a classy presentation container which confirms this is above mall quality – still for under $10.

Tom yum soup at The Nook Thai Eatery, 24 New Regent St, Christchurch Central



A great midday lift. Photo: Ewan Sargent

Just $10 for a bowl of some of the freshest, richest, most fragrant Tom Yum Soup you can imagine is a great lunchtime special that can be found in New Regent St. The Nook Thai Eatery features $10 lunchtime specials during the week and chef Wilasinee Kusirisilakul puts out Thai food as good as it comes. You can eat downstairs among the bustle or head upstairs for some peace and quiet. A huge fragrance comes off the soup and the broth is rich with coconut cream, lime, lemongrass, chilli – it's such a great midday lift. At the end your nose will be just slightly running, exactly how it should be.

Pea and potato samosa at Guruji Indian Supermarket, 103 Gasson St, Sydenham



Wash these down with some mango lassi. Photo: Ewan Sargent

The secret's out. If you want a no-holds-barred Indian samosa, head for the Guruji Indian Supermarket outlets in Gasson St or Bath St. In the pie warmer you'll find a pile of homemade samosas that are crunchy, hot and full of spice. There's a pizza flavoured one, but skip that and go for the traditional pea and potato. You get three for $5 and seriously that's all the flavour and food you'd probably want. But get $10 worth and you can share with friends. These are real-deal samosas and the best plan is to get three and also get one of the ridiculously low-priced $2 mango lassi drinks to wash them down.

Fresh prawn spring rolls at Thai Container, 151 Bealey Ave, Christchurch Central



Healthy goodness under $10. Photo: Ewan Sargent

Get your healthy eating plans back on track with fresh spring rolls from the Thai Container on Bealey Ave at the Caledonian Rd intersection. For $9 you get three big ones full of lettuce, cucumber, prawns, glass noodles, carrot, egg and a sweet, nutty dipping sauce. Lunching on this makes sense with all those sobering medical buildings surrounding the odd mural-covered complex, which includes a shipping container and a caravan.

No Meat Burger at Lower 9th Diner, 89 Lichfield St, Christchurch Central



The seasoning in this one is spot on. Photo: Ewan Sargent

The $10 No Meat Burger at Lower 9th Diner makes you realise why burgers don't need meat. This place loves to rev up its burgers and standard on the menu is a decent cheeseburger for $8 and a crazy waffle burger for $12. But the sweet spot $10 gets you a burger that's the best of the lot. The pattie is a falafel-type mix of black-eye beans, peanuts and thyme. That comes at you with ranch dressing, feta, beet and fennel slaw and some pickled chillis to keep the full attack going. It works. The bun is soft and the seasoning is spot on.

Kampua at Shirley's Kitchen, 72 Waimairi Rd, Ilam



This is what we call comfort food. Photo: Ewan Sargent

Shirley's Kitchen is another secret spot that cranks out fantastic cheap dishes. It caters for university students, but skip the usual chips and pizza options and go for the Malaysian specialties. There are plenty of Malaysian dishes for under $10 but the kampua must be the richest and most indulgent of the lot. It's a plain dish of noodles, some crispy onions and BBQ pork strips on top. The rich savoury pork fat and soy sauce soaked noodles are the star. This is comfort food and no-one walks away from a $8.90 bowl of kampua and says they are still hungry.

Pork cup-bop at Steampunk Laboratory, 270 St Asaph St, Christchurch Central



This cup-bop offers a bowl full of flavours. Photo: Ewan Sargent

Cup-bops are a Korean takeaway that layer rice, fresh slaw, egg, meat and sauces in a cup like a trifle. You dig down and get hit by all sorts of flavours and textures and hot and cold from the meat and veges in one forkful. You can get premium ones, but they cost $12. The $10 standard pork option (No 23) is excellent. The meat is pan fried on the spot and goes on top, and is then topped by sauce. You can add your own extra sauces at the counter like squirting a flavour into a carton of icecream. Do that and choose the hot gochujang. It's the charring on the meat and the spiky sauces that really make this sing.

Salmon eggs benedict at 3 Cows Cafe, Bar and Restaurant, 71 Victoria St, Christchurch Central



Enjoy some Shania Twain music as you tuck in. Photo: Ewan Sargent

Unbelievable, but yes you can get a great eggs benedict with big pile of smoked salmon here for $10 between 11am and 4pm. In fact there are nine dishes on the $10 brunch special menu. The eggs benne comes as two perfectly poached eggs on thin slices of bread, a good lime hollandaise, big pile of salmon, spinach leaves and a drizzle of balsamic reduction to add tang. Oh, and you also get cow pelt hides as decoration and Shania Twain on the radio.

Pulled pork, tomatillo and drunken salsa torta at Mexicanos, 131 Victoria St, Christchurch Central



Make this as spicy as you like. Photo: Ewan Sargent

It's a distinctive twist on a pulled pork bun. You get the lovely tart tomatillo flavours, a dense deep-flavoured pork and some slaw to make it all work for $10. The sandwich buns are toasted and the table condiments mean you can make it as spicy as you like. With a backdrop of wall mural death motifs and loud music, the torta is a great Mexican lunch bite and has heaps more going for it than simply lamely bingeing on corn chips and guacamole.

Rogan josh lamb curry at Chanakya South East Indian Cuisine Takeaway and Dine In, New Brighton



The Rogan Josh lamb lunchtime special costs $7.90. Photo: Ewan Sargent

Chanakya is a tiny outlet in New Brighton Shopping centre and it's here you can get a whole menu of curries plus a vegetable biriyani for under $10. The Rogan Josh lamb lunchtime special costs $7.90. For just about the cheapest Indian meal price you'll find anywhere, you get a big bowl of basmati rice, another bowl of the rich reddish gravy and tender lamb chunks, and a third plate to mix them on. I also got a bonus pappadum while the main meal cooked. Other pluses are racy Indian music, lots of free parking and the possibility of a seaside walk to build up the appetite. There's also a vindaloo available for the lunch special, but the rogan josh is plenty hot enough.