Well, there are ethnic restaurants of every stripe that will not require a reservation and which will have both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food. Indian, of course, but we have had a lot of delicious Turkish food in London, none of it anywhere famous.

There are obviously 100's of places and different people will list different musts. If you are trying to keep cost down, many "musts" will probably be too pricey.

I will respond only to the idea of 1.maybe vegetarian included and 2.not horribly expensive

Mildred's is a great vegetarian restaurant that my husband, a devoted carnivore, found acceptable for one meal (as concession to vegan daughter!) http://www.mildreds.co.uk/

In London we've eaten a lot of meals from grocery stores (Marks and Spencer and Waitrose especially) which were tasty, usually fresh, and relatively inexpensive. There are lots of choices of types of food from such places, too.

We also tried several pubs, which are ubiquitous but often offer meals which are filling, tasty, and relatively inexpensive. Those would just be picked on the run, probably, depending on where you are. Might be a tad harder to expect veggie menu but probably often available.

I enjoyed Hummus Bros. last June, too. They have 3 locations I think. http://www.hbros.co.uk/ They have meat dishes.

Wagamama is a great value option with lots of vegetarian options

ASK Pizza chain which is much more than just pizza
Brown’s Restaurant on St. Martin's Lane
Delhi Brasserie on Cromwell Road

Thanks for the replies. I appreciate it.

We'd be willing to spend $$$ on a few meals but want to keep the overall cost down a bit.

Not looking to spend $150 on a meal but would be willing to spend $75 a few times.

Any suggestions?

I have avoided Wagamama for years on the principle of chain crap.

We were caught in a huge downpour outside The Tower last month. The nearest entrance with a door open was......

Had a reallly good reasonable meal, lots of fun and relaxed. Enjoyed it!

Time Out is a good resource for restaurants, you can browse by area.

http://www.timeout.com/london/restaurants/

If you go to the British Library, there is a Peyton and Byrne (sp?) in the building which had THE best chicken pie we had had. We will go back for more in June.

we also like the chicken tikka masala at Punjab, near Covent Garden and Neal's yard.

My son lives in London and is a vegetarian.There are so many ethnic restaurants along with the various pubs that always offer a non meat option. Eat where the locals eat and you will be surprised how tasty the options are!

By the way, places like Convent Garden are very touristy so expect high prices along with crowds.