Tips for eating cheaply in London?

[JacknDiane]

We are visiting next month and im looking for ways to eat within a tight budget. Just dh one dc (teenager) and myself. No allergies or particular needs. Love pub grub and Italian. Would like a sit in meal at night.
We haven't got a particular agenda, just planning on going with the flow.
Any ideas appreciated. We are in a hotel without breakfast so can't sneak the croissants!

Eat early as many places have pre theatre set meals. Look online for coupons but most of all look on back streets, outside of tourist hotspots etc

Definitely check out groupon, that works well for us. Especially when trying out new cuisines and places, but could well work for you if you do a search for Italian and the area.

I just did London on £15 pp per day for food - meal deals for lunch, restaurant vouchers or supermarket bits for dinner, too good to go for breakfast the next day and one PM! There’s some great cheap eats around though if you search. I downloaded First Table but haven’t used it yet - has some good offers. There’s an awful lot of temptation though to spend lots on lots of lovely food everywhere!

We still have Cafs, Wetherspoons and Greggs in London.

Spend one evening at a cooking class taught by a refugee. It’s £50 per head but includes dinner as well as the experience of cooking a different kind of food. It’s a good experience for teens. I have just done one with my daughter.

https://www.migrateful.org/events/list/page/2/

One of my first dates with DH, 24 years ago, was at Pollo, we might have to go back!

Pret A Manger sells filter coffee for 99p.

Pizza Union - several branches over town.
Hare and Tortoise at Bloomsbury (other branches too).Japanese, freshly cooked nice menu and watch the chefs.
Farmer J - several branches, not all open at the weekends. Good for filling, healthy lunches.
Any Spoons
Theres a scenic Nando’s overlooking the river on the South Bank - great at dusk.
Borough market on Fridays and Saturdays great for street eats. Your teen might enjoy Brick Lane or Camden - both have lots of cheap eats with added atmosphere.
Look out for any special offers for chains - 2 for 1 mains etc. Cote have a £10 menu deal at the moment.

I’d try and fit in a picnic, now the weather’s getting nice. You can pick up whatever food you like from M&S (or similar), and go to one of the many amazing public parks, squares and gardens that London has. Just find somewhere that has benches and you’re sorted. St James Park is particularly nice (very tame birds and squirrels), or Hyde Park / Kensington Gardens, but also smaller spaces like Mount Street gardens in Mayfair. It’s a fun thing to do with kids or teenagers.
For cheaper restaurant eats, you could consider a visit to one of the amazing Vietnamese places on Kingsland Rd E2, also worth considering markets where you can pick up amazing street food like Borough Market, Whitecross St market (Barbican), or Spitalfields Market.

Same here! You will both find it unchanged!

Awww I can’t believe Pollo is back and I missed it! We used to go all the time in the 90s, if I had known I would have called in on my visit to London last year ( live on other side of the world now). We did go to Flatiron though and loved it. Is the Wong Kei still cheap? I assume the writers are still rude.😁 Another meal we enjoyed was all you can eat cheese at the conveyor belt restaurant in Covent Garden, every Wednesday IIRC.

DH has talked about Wong Keis for years (he'd been and i hadnt) and we went last year.i have to say i was underwhelmed. The food was nice but the restaurant itself was really daggy (imo). And its cash only , no cards , dont know if thats always been the case

Wong Kei - Wonky?

It wont take bookings of less than 6 people, I wonder if its worth turning up at 6 ish

Flatiron is the same, no bookings between 5.30 and 9pm

Flat Iron do take booking for any time and any table number. Did you try a specific date? I’ve just tried and could easily book.

That said, they do keep tables for walk ins, and if they are full, they send you away with a little buzzer that lets you know when your table is ready

BYO Indian/Pakistani restaurants in the Whitechapel area. One is called Lahore. They do good tandoori meats and lovely bread. And plenty of different curries.

My MIL does lunch out in the middle of the day when she takes the kids away - it breaks up the day, fuels everyone for the afternoon and keeps the hangry away.
Then it's a "bedroom" picnic from M&S in the hotel room for supper in front of TV

Given your child is older and it will be May and hopefully good weather I'd suggest London park picnics at lunch or early dinner time and mix it up. If you have a plan for the few days people can suggest nearby locations?

One tip is that places like the Natural History Museum and Science Museum have huge queues to get in, once in you are stuck there and the cafes are pricey if you are feeding an empty teenager so definitely bring a packed lunch and a water bottle that will keep stuff chilled as the air con is pathetic.

So lunch is usually cheaper than dinner so a three course lunch feels special but good value - especially in soho / theatre areas / Covent Garden - and also look at pre theatre set meals - £20 ish per head, King's Cross Waitrose is lovely on a warm evening - their wine selection is superb and they do cheese plates etc or you can get nibbles from the supermarket and sit in the grass outside with everyone else people
watching. Spoons is cheap and filling.
lots of unusual food places in the church crypts - st Martin's and the one in smith square , sandwich shops are usually good value especially Italian deli ones and there are lots of places to refill water bottles

Flatiron is good - and you can book! The one on southbank is massive

The Food Hall on the lower ground floor of Fortnum’s is incredible value - sort of a posher borough market - huge great takeaway portions and right next to The Mall / St James Park for a picnic. The pasta bar is amazing.

The Salvation Army in Oxford Street have a very reasonable cafe money goes to them. Central Methodist Hall at Westminster has a nice cafe in the basement. Talking of cheap meals who remembers Stockpot so reasonable.

Second or third Flat Iron. Great food at good prices. Definitely get the creamed spinach!

None of this is "tight budget" though is it?

Same for the poster who recommended the 50pp meal.

Are you budgeting per day or per meal @JacknDiane ?

Either way I'd go as cheap as possible for breakfast and lunch to allow all the wriggle room for dinner.

I don't even bother with meal deals anymore. I buy a pack of rolls, something to fill them with (ham and coleslaw works well) and a pack of berries, bunch of bananas, large pack Kettle Chips and a large fruit juice to share (use own plastic cups) and maybe a pack of biscuits. Although there are 5 of us so maybe meal deals are cheaper?

Breakfast would be porridge / cereal - but depends if you can prep and keep this at your hotel I guess?

Evening meals have already been covered by the sensible recommendations.

Brixton Market is brilliant for cheap eats and often byob. To be honest, unless I’m planning something super special/spenny I find eating out in London to be really cheap, certainly cheaper than where I live.

Looking for pre-theatre deals is always a good tip too.