A friend tipped me off to cheap lunches at the CIT Cafe and I have to admit it’s a bit of a hidden gem.

Every Wednesday the hospitality students at CIT practice what they’re learning (it should be noted they’re heavily supervised) and the public can come in and get a $10 meal.

Beers are a mere $5 [for Squires] and a desert brownie with raspberry coulis was just $3.

For my main I had the pictured thai beef salad, there is a menus to choose from.

It’s pretty simple stuff but does require getting the beef medium rare and then slicing it thin which was admirably achieved and the rice was perfect.

An after meal show was provided by Blade the day-walking possum attempting to break into the building.

To round things off one can marvel at the vast array of “no smoking on campus” signage and the serried ranks of CIT students heroically ignoring said signage to puff away, like rows of iguanas spitting sea water in the Galapagos.

The cafe is on the ground floor, under the restaurant, on Constitution Avenue.

[This article is the twenty fourth in a series on cheap lunches to be found in and around the city. If you have any suggestions leave them in the comments or email them to john@citynews.com.au . The complete series can be found on our cheap lunches tag]