Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To be surprised at London prices?

57 replies

Boynamedsue · 06/09/2017 17:42

Not for housing, I'm sure they're crazy but for food and drink. I'm a northerner and just spent a couple of days in London. Obviously I have been to London before but I think because I'm on my own this time I've noticed prices more than usual. And they're pretty much the same as any northern city.

I'm surprised because people always go on about how expensive London is but some places actually seem cheaper than my local big city. Maybe bars and restaurants in the north have just got really dear!

I also don't get the thing about London being unfriendly but that's probably a different thread!

OP posts:
Believeitornot · 06/09/2017 17:43

Yabu Grin

It's more expensive and always has been.

Mummyme87 · 06/09/2017 17:44

I'm from Newcastle but lived in London for last 12years... food is the same price, drinks are probably the only increase I see I london

millifiori · 06/09/2017 17:45

It's cheap, I agree. Because there's so much competition. You can get loads of really good 2 course meals in central London for around £10-12.

Gorgosparta · 06/09/2017 17:46

We have just been for the weekend.

We live in leeds but do go down a couple of times a year. I would say yanbu.

Obviously there are places that are expensive. Same as leeds. But family mrals out etc, were no more costly for us than they are here.

acornsandnuts · 06/09/2017 17:46

I think there are a lot more high end places to eat in London. But that only makes it more expensive than any other city if you choose to eat there. A Big Mac is the same price on Oxford street as it is in Middlesbrough. Grin

peachgreen · 06/09/2017 17:48

I moved from London to Belfast and meals out are not much cheaper (mostly - lunch / breakfast is a lot cheaper) BUT you get so much better quality for your money.

Our food bill is much cheaper here though! Butchers / grocers etc are all cheaper. In fact the only things that are more expensive are public transport and gas / electric bills!

Cherrymix · 06/09/2017 17:48

Food in restaurants is often cheaper than where i live but the drinks are unbelieveable - £8 for a glass of wine????

LaurieFairyCake · 06/09/2017 18:01

I've also found it cheaper, much more competition- you can get 3 course meals for £15/£17 in the centre as a pre theatre deal.

There's literally hundreds of places right next to each other so it's so easy to pick a good, cheap one.

LostInShoebiz · 06/09/2017 18:16

I think it's city prices more than London vs rest of the country prices.

When we go to family in Edinburgh it's much the same bar drinks being slightly cheaper. When we go to family 20 minutes from London in North Kent it is an absolute steal to eat and drink out.

SchnitzelVonKrumm · 06/09/2017 18:42

I live in London and don't find other cities much cheaper when I visit.

BlondeB83 · 06/09/2017 21:57

It's on a par with most major cities now, glass of wine £7 etc. You pay that in Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle...

NapQueen · 06/09/2017 21:58

Cocktails at 9 quid a pop in Newcastle Sad [sober]

LostInShoebiz · 06/09/2017 22:06

£9? Bargain!

ChampagneSocialist1 · 06/09/2017 22:30

Alcohol and even soft drinks in pubs and restaurants are much more expensive in London but food is much of a muchness

AuntieStella · 07/09/2017 07:35

This has been in BBC Breakfast this morning.

Most expensive place for a pint is currently Surrey

dollydaydream114 · 07/09/2017 07:57

I'm from the south and now live in the north. Drinks in central London are a bit more expensive I think, as are hotel rooms, but I don't find eating out cheaper in the north really. I live in Manchester which is by no means a cheap city for a night out. Property prices are the real difference!

5rivers7hills · 07/09/2017 08:04

I don't think eating and drinking is more expensive than other major cities really.

5rivers7hills · 07/09/2017 08:05

I was in Tokyo last year - everyone kept saying how expensive it was. Didn't find it expensive, just the same as if you were to eat out all the time in London. Some expensive and some cheap places.

ArcheryAnnie · 07/09/2017 08:09

I find the main thing that's so much cheaper outside of London are taxis. In London it's twenty quid easy as blinking. Elsewhere I have sometimes found, if more than one person is travelling, that it's almost as cheap to go by taxi than get the bus.

londonrach · 07/09/2017 08:10

Eating out in london in cheaper than anywhere else ive been as long you avoid thetourist ones. I always thought Its because the houses are so expensive theres not so much disposable income. Also found other bits cheaper too. Moving north i did notice it was more expensive but we were able to buy something i could only dream of in london.

TealStar · 07/09/2017 08:11

Don't go to Oslo then Shock

LoniceraJaponica · 07/09/2017 08:11

I agree. We were in London last weekend and paid pretty much what we would have paid at home for eating out. We ate some amazing food as well. We don't have the diversity of ethnic restaurants where we live and plumped for a middle Eastern restaurant one evening. We were not disappointed.

Slartybartfast · 07/09/2017 08:12

i lived there as teen/twenty, friends asked if i bought food up from home! No, it was fine.
There is a lot of temptation though

Slartybartfast · 07/09/2017 08:12

Also the temptation to buy not just food/drinks but clothes also when there are so many smartly dressed people

ssd · 07/09/2017 08:15

we found the people in london really friendly when we visited last year and we're from Glasgow which is the friendliest place in the UK (says me)