London trip - cheap food ideas

[AgileEagle]

Going to London for 5 days, staying at premier inn at Bank
Looking for cheap food ideas for family of 5, kids are not very adventurous eaters unfortunately. Thinking the food costs will mount up so any cheap ideas?
Any suggestions of must see sights also welcome

Are you allowed to take that many items ?

How do the prices compare, are they subsidised?

@moonshine5 can you take food from breakfast or do you need to sneak it out!?

I was going to mention Leon too. I'm a Londoner and this is our go-to on days out.

I would avoid restaurants and stick to cafes.

There are plenty of Tesco metro/express, Sainsbury , m and s with take out meal deals. Greggs too.

'Spoons for breakfast.

Meal deal for picnic lunch (challenge everyone to max out the value and make sure you have relevant Clubcard/Nectar etc)

Pre-theatre dinner menus.

There are a whole load of food trucks on Berwick street each lunchtime. And Pret is OK for sandwiches and stuff, and they do good filter coffee for 99p.

I would say it’s kind of sneak- but say you get a cooked breakfast and you’ve picked up muffins and fruit too- then you are too full to eat the muffins or fruit, you can’t really put them back due to germs so you just put them in your bag.
We deffo eat plenty for the breakfasts at premiere inn. Then grab a meal deal or happy meal mid afternoon and eat out evenings. Have also found Tesco express type stores and get some rolls and cold meat there plus sauce sachets from when eating out- and make our own snack suppers if we eat a larger meal mid afternoon. We also bring snacks with us as have a very fussy eater and a limited by intolerances eater lol

Go on TikTok and search cheap food London- people are always finding cheap spots to share- lots of them a bit trendy too.

We've never sneaked out food. Just ensured deep pockets at breakfast! I always have a few sandwich bag with me!!

Thank you for these ideas. I'm not living in UK so any specific chain restaurants that do early evening or late lunch meal deal type offers?

I'm not a fan, but kids tend to love McDonald's. If you did it a couple of times, stipulating they stick to the cheap menu, you could take a sandwich in for yourself.

The St Martin's in the Fields Crypt cafe St Martin's in the Fields Crypt cafe opposite Trafalgar Square is a great inexpensive place for coffee, lunch & dinner.

They also have concerts which are worth checking out.

https://www.stmartin-in-the-fields.org/visit/cafe-in-the-crypt/

I find costs add up quickly in places like pizza express and Nando’s. Pizza Union is great for cheap but good pizzas - think there are 5 or 6 across london - about £6 for a 12 inch pizza and better than pizza express. The set menus at the Real Greek are good value too. We went to the one by St Paul’s but think there are others

You'd need to sneak out any food from breakfast. I'd do a meal deal for lunch or even make sandwiches. If there is a fridge in your room with a mini bar you can ask the staff to clear it so you can put you own things in.
The Swedish heat hotdogs by putting them in a flask of hot water!
You could also try the too good to go app. It's hit and miss to be fair.

https://www.pizzaunion.com/ King's Cross

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

https://www.timeout.com/london/fun-things-to-do-in-london-for-under-5-budget

I love all the London food markets but I would not say they are cheap. Especially if you are feeding 5 people.

someone also recommended the restaurant at the Indian YMCA in London - but I’ve never tried it https://www.indianymca.org/our-restaurant/

Borough Market is wonderful but not much of a suggestion for either fussy kids or families on a budget imo.

What kind of restaurants / meals do they like usually OP? Start that way for evening meals. Lunches I'd do as PP said and either go for Tesco/Sains meal deals or buy bread, ham, cheese, fruit and have picnics. I'd bring snacks and juice/water bottles from home if that removes some temptation.

@TheWayTheLightFalls they like plain think burgers, steak, chicken. One doesn't even like Pizza which is a real pain!

If you're near a cheap supermarket (aldi or lidl) stick up on snacks there - buy multipacks and fruit etc and take what you need with you for the day. Buy bakery stuff- rolls, bagels, baguettes, croissants etc and fillings and you can easily make cheap lunches.

Burrito places are good for filling meals as well but won't be mega cheap. You can always do the odd Dominoes as well. Wetherspoons pubs will probably cheapest for a sit down meal and a vast menu. There's the Moon Under Water near Leicester Square (haven't been there in years though!)

I'm out of date. When I worked in the NHS some had different prices for staff and public, some didn't.

The last time I recommended it was for Americans who wanted to know what would be open Xmas day, they didn't have time to book.

@sashh the hospital canteen general public prices are still cheaper than ordinary restaurants. St. Thomas' hospital, opposite parliament across the Thames, main canteen is called Shepheard's Hall and that serves cheap main meals.
@AgileEagle

Breakfast will be £13 at the premier inn per adult but kids eat free so you can get a decent meal that could keep you going through until evening meal, we just grab a coffee/muffin mid afternoon if we have breakfast there. If not I'm a fan of Greggs to keep the cost down.

Not sure if it’s already been suggested but download the too good to go app on your phone and each day reserve some bags to collect.

we got bags from Greggs etc and 2 bags fed me,dh and 2 kids plenty for dinner. We often had enough for a light lunch the next day too. Cheaper places like Greggs tend to have more in the too good to go bag than more fancy places!