Cheap wine and 550 budget eats

Have we found the cheapest wine in Sydney? When our food sleuths were checking the details for Cafe Sopra in Waterloo, the winner of the Best Restaurant award in the Herald's Good Food Under $30 this week, they noticed house wine for $3.50 a glass.

Phoning to check Sopra did in fact sell the cheapest wine they'd seen in years, owner Barry McDonald shot back: ''Yes, we do. Cheaper than an RSL!''

The $3.50 price tag compares favourably with many restaurants around town that offer glasses for $12-$16, and is a steal lined up against Steve Manfredi's Balla restaurant at The Star, which leaves a bitter aftertaste for diners not expecting a $42 bill for one - yes, one - glass of white wine.

The guide book for frugal foodies features more than 550 restaurants offering two courses for less than $30. At this week's launch of the book, 65 restaurants across Sydney were announced as three star winners, making for the longest continuous applause we'd ever witnessed.

We heard more than one chef saying their food is all about what they'd eat at their grandmother's table - which perhaps go some way to explaining the unpretentious pricing at the ruling Sopra.

What are the cheapest and most expensive wines by the glass you've come across in Sydney? Jump on the comments and let us know.

The Sydney Morning Herald Good Food Under $30 will be sold for $5 with the paper this Saturday. It's also available in bookshops and at The Sydney Morning Herald online shop (smhshop.com.au) for $10.

-Daisy Dumas