Do you want to hear a secret? We’ll tell you – even though it pains us to share this absolute gem of a place – but we figured, if you are reading our blog, you are probably the kind of person who deserves to be let into the inner circle. We like to reward our loyal followers once in while.

So here goes – where can you find Melbourne’s best-value degustation menu? No, it’s not in the CBD, but the chef did spend four years at budget-busting fine dining restaurant Vue de Monde. And talking of value, a bottle of wine will set you back about $35, while glasses of vino in the next-door bar linger around the $4 mark. Intrigued?

It’s in Clayton, in fact, it’s in Clayton Bowls Club. That’s right – we have to thank the wonderful @NatStockly at this point, as much as we would love to take full credit. This man knows his food and where to hunt out the best spots – his reviews can be reliably found on Urbanspoon and it is always worth taking a look at where he recommends.

Anyway, as much as we respect Nathan’s restaurant radar, if he hadn’t put us onto Fat Bob’s a few months before the (melbourne) magazine blurted out the location of Victoria’s best burgers (yes, this place could beat Huxtaburger and Tuck Shop Take Away and Mr Burger in an artery-clogging heartbeat when it comes to taste and value, and random atmosphere – situated as it is in an old sign-writer’s garage on a Moorabbin industrial estate) we might not have made the half-hour scooter journey down the Nepean. But we are glad we did, because this weekly-changing menu was awaiting us at the end of it:

Saturday 14 September

Soft shell crab, shaved asparagus, buttermilk

Flinders Island lamb, nettle puree, peas and wild garlic

Dry-aged rib, smoked beetroot juice, bone marrow and charred onion jam

Cold-pressed apple, celery gel and ginger beer sorbet

Poached strawberry, parsnip ice cream

We loved every course, we loved the handpicked flowers on the tables, we loved how attentive and chatty the staff were, without ever being too much. And, as we mentioned before, we loved that this set five-course menu was $50. Is it that simple, you ask? Yes, you rock up, you tell them if you have any allergies or dietary requirements (ideally when you make the booking – although when we returned with a non-shellfish-eating friend they were quick to accommodate us) and then they feed you. See? Simple.

You can even play a spot of bowls before you eat – the pristine green beckons from the dining room window, and it’s a great way to work up an appetite. If you are lucky, one of the professional coaches might be around to explain how to play – we were very grateful to Graeme Archer whose patience and teaching meant we were only vaguely terrible.

And then there is the large bar area and pokies room – if that’s your thing. It might be lacking in creature comforts – head chef Clinton McIver is a long way from the posh Christofle cutlery of Vue, but the dining room is warm and welcoming, and the dim lighting and paper tablecloths almost conceal the conference centre-style tables and chairs.