Why Is BYO The Best?

West End Garden, Vietnamese and Chinese Restaurant, Brisbane, Australia

One of the perceived downsides to living frugally is that you have to sacrifice fun or never get to treat yourself. But life is for living, so reward your frugal lifestyle by taking your partner out to do something you both enjoy.

For Ruqayya and I this usually means going to a new restaurant and sharing a bottle of wine over a good meal. We both love to cook, but who likes washing dishes?
We found a neat little Vietnamese restaurant near our flat in Brisbane in West End called West End Garden. They have an alcohol license but they also allow a ‘bring your own’ wine policy with $1.50 per person corkage.

With a BYO restaurant it’s a win-win situation

We went to the local wine store before heading to West End Garden. This meant we could share a decent bottle of vino and save on the usual restaurant prices.

We were seated in the tranquil covered patio area and surrounded by bamboo, fairy lights and water features. The food at West End Garden was all expertly presented with intricate garnishes and everything we ordered tasted fantastic. We shared a starter and a soup, and then two main dishes.

Starters – Coconut Prawns (3) $6.90, Spicy Beef Soup $8.90
Main – Mongolian King Prawn $20.90, Vietnamese Grilled Chicken $15.90, Coconut Rice (2) $5.00
Wine – Mount Riley 2011 Sauvignon Blanc $15.90, plus corkage (2) $3.00

Total: $76.50, which is $38.25 a head for a huge feast with wine included.

We both left feeling stuffed after our meal and were impressed with most of the wait staff.

So celebrate. Go out to a local BYO restaurant and take a good bottle of wine. You’ll feel like you’re living like kings for a fraction of a princely sum.