To eat in London on a budget

[mummyof2boys30]

We are heading to London in August for almost a week for 2 adults and 2 kids( who eat adult meals). So need some budget places to eat for dinner. Will get sandwich meal deals for lunch. No cooking facilities in hotel.

If you are in the Trafalgar Square area then the restaurant in the crypt of St Martin’s is good value, and huge portions. They are also a social enterprise so your money is feeding you and doing good things at the same time.

Tas Turkish restaurants are very good and not too expensive.

Tas

Wow so many responses already. Will have to do some research. Ive never heard of a taste card either so will definitely look into that as well. Budget is not really tight but just thinking with so many meals to cover dont want to be paying loads for them all. I've never been to any of the markets or china town so will definitely look into those as well

Download the toogoodtogo app, great for evening snacks of you have lunch out. Also do you use compare the market? Their meerkat meals is great, lots of London cafe and restaurants take part.
Street food around southland and Camden is excellent and great value too.

London is great for cheap eats OP, enjoy! Here are loads of ideas for different areas depending what you’re up to: www.timeout.com/london/food-drink/londons-best-cheap-eats
Agree with previous posters that food markets can be a good idea, as well as fun - Mercato Metropolitano in Elephant and Castle, Eataly near Liverpool Street (quite snazzy but a range of options), Brixton Village, Brick Lane on a Sunday for the market or anytime for the restaurants. Have a lovely time!

Vouchers from www.buyagift.co.uk/food-and-drink/dining-out/london

You can usually get a 20% off code .

Padella is in London Bridge. Cheapest plate of pasta there is £8 and something Londoners actively queue for rather than a chain.

Franco Manca for good, inexpensive pizza

Where are you staying - if bfast included I would take a bag and pocket fruit, croissants and whatever you can for during the day. And obvs eat as massive a bfast as you can!!!

There's a massive Tesco in London Bridge you can get bread and cheese etc for lunches, crisps etc.

Take water bottles to avoid paying for water all day.

Cafe Seder near Piccadilly is reasonably priced for london.
Gelupo ice cream is round the corner and delicious!!

Cafe zedel. Sorry

Fill your boots with Hotel breakfast then go street food as late in the day as possible. Spitalfields, Borough Market, Leather Lane, Camden - almost any corner you turn you will be inundated with hot cooked food to eat.

So have meals 2 x a day, rather than 3 meals a day. Buy fruit which you can wash and eat in your hotel for snacks.

If you want to go out for a dinner then head to Brick Lane for a curry. Go to one of the cafes that have been there for decades rather than a newer blow-in.

Sandwich meal deal still expensive in London.

Head to Tesco express. Buy multi-pack of crisps. Buy pack of bread buns (pre-sliced in half if possible). Buy sliced meat or smoked salmon or any sandwich filling. Put filling in buns. Take refillable bottle for water.

Save those pennies for all the delicious desserts London has to offer

Prix Fixe in Soho does brilliant cheap set menus, particularly at lunchtime. Doesn’t feel like a budget option at all

www.prixfixe.net/pdf/Prix%20Fixe%20Set%20Menu.pdf

I was going to suggest Toogoodtogo too if your kids aren't picky. You can often get breakfast foods at lunch and then lunch stuff at dinner. You'll probably have too much food from that.

Take a look at street food options in the markets though and visit China Town.

Don't spend every night in 'spoons!

www.timeout.com/london/food-drink/londons-best-cheap-eats

www.londoncheapeats.com

www.squaremeal.co.uk/restaurants/best-for/cheap-eats-london_9918

We go to London every year with our two kids. We usually book a hotel with breakfast. If we don't then my H goes out early to bring us back fresh milk, croissants etc for breakfast. This year we also paid for a Pret unlimited drinks subscription for 20 quid (first month free) so that kept us in drinks while out and about.

We quite often combined that with lunch at Pret as we can all eat for £18. We saved up tesco vouchers for some nights, pre theatre menus on others. A couple of nights we couldn't be bothered to go out so we got Deliveroo using a money off code to the hotel. Kids loved sitting on the bed eating takeaway and watching telly as we don't have tellies in our bedrooms at home. Definitely take your own water bottles too.

Second the suggestion to have a big breakfast, late lunch and something light in the evening, plus take refillable water bottles.

I prefer to eat this way anyway and really can't follow the 'eat hardly anything all day in anticipation of a big dinner' way that most people seem to prefer.

@About10thusername

- go to a market for nice bread and cheese for sandwiches (probably the same price as supermarket pre made sandwiches but much nicer)

• some of the old school falafel shops on leather lane are cheap as chips
• get vouchers for meals out if you're there mid week
• some of the studenty cafes / restaurants up past kings cross on the way to Islington are really cheap (there is a great Indian up there)
• there are loads of cheap dumpling places

...Its a massive place. It obviously depends which area you're in

Have you seen the prices at Borough market 😂

Download too good to go. If you are flexible (and maybe do main meal at lunch) you can get all sorts for £3-l£5

Loads of cafes / restaurants are on it. My girls see it as a potluck adventure!

We had one from 'Paul' that has a roll a baguette a salad and a couple
Of cake bite things for £5. We have had sushi.

I'd maybe avoid pret / costa as you may end up with toasties you cannot toast though!

Street food definitely the way to go. If you’re in the Kings across area then it’s quite fun to hang out round granary square.

Also the Whitechapel kebab houses- Lahore kebab is great and pistachio kulfi for desert! Agree with Mercato in Elephant. Franco Manca do a super cheap kids menu as well.

And definitely Brasserie Zedel if you're in the west end. Brixton market has some reasonably cheap eats as well (mama lam dumplings). Silk Road in Camberwell also great, if a bit spicy. If you hop on the bus from London bridge for less than 10 minutes you can hit the Vietnamese places in Hoxton, go further up to Dalston and there are loads of Turkish mangal grills.

Avoid Borough Market, even bog standard fruit and veg is twice the normal price. As you're going to be in Southwark, take a trip to Peckham and have pie & mash at Manze's.
There also cheap eats to be had in Camberwell, cheap Chinese buffets, Turkish, Falafels etc.

You can get pretty much anything in London at every price level and at every level of quality. If you want to eat well but are on a tight budget, a lot of BYOB places are good value and have good food.

As you're staying in Southwark there's loads of yummy food stalls with tables on Lower Marsh, cheaper than Borough Market, although I'd visit Borough Market too probably.

www.lowermarshmarket.com
It also has a graffiti tunnel kind of thing. Love this part of London.