Budget eating in London
May 22nd, 2004, 05:26 PM
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Budget eating in London
We are planning a church youth trip for teens next June. How much should we plan for meals? We will be staying at a YHA hostel with breakfast included. Also, for day trips is it best to rent a motor coach/bus? If so does anyone know rates?
May 23rd, 2004, 03:44 AM
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The cheapest way to eat in London is to picnic. Many, many places sell pre-made sandwiches which are much much better than you could get in this country. They are really fresh and there's lots of variety. Marks and Spencer's as well as grocery stores and small corner stores sell them for about 3-5 pounds. Also salads with meat and veggies. You just need to find someplace to eat them but in June that shouldn't be much of a problem. Also some ethnic restaurants are less expensive. You'll be hard pressed to find any sit down restaurant where you can get a meal and a beverage for less than 10 pounds. If you allow 25 pounds per person per day you should do OK and you can get by for less if you really want to.
May 23rd, 2004, 10:45 AM
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There have been good posts on this topc here, I suggest searching for London food budget etc.
A favorite place of mine is the cafe in the crypt at St Martin's in the Field very centrally located, Trafalgar Sq I think. Whole plate of hot food 7 GBP or less. Other things even cheaper.
Not too far from most West End theatre.
I'd happily eat there every night.
Also all Wagamama places are cheap and reliably good for noodles with this & that on top of them.
A favorite place of mine is the cafe in the crypt at St Martin's in the Field very centrally located, Trafalgar Sq I think. Whole plate of hot food 7 GBP or less. Other things even cheaper.
Not too far from most West End theatre.
I'd happily eat there every night.
Also all Wagamama places are cheap and reliably good for noodles with this & that on top of them.
May 23rd, 2004, 11:39 AM
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It's im[osible to tell if you should rent a bus for day trips without more info:
How many people are there?
What do you mean by day trips? Outside London - are your alterntes train? Or ordinary group tours?
Inside London you should just use feet or the tube - assuming your kids are not very young and can manage to organize themselves reasonably - ie they don;t wander off and are capable of getting themselves around on public transport - assume they can if they are at least 13 or 14.
How many people are there?
What do you mean by day trips? Outside London - are your alterntes train? Or ordinary group tours?
Inside London you should just use feet or the tube - assuming your kids are not very young and can manage to organize themselves reasonably - ie they don;t wander off and are capable of getting themselves around on public transport - assume they can if they are at least 13 or 14.
May 23rd, 2004, 03:01 PM
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As far as food, tell them to fill up at breakfast, that way they are less hungry at lunch. Plan on picnics for most lunches and tell them to lose their affinity for soda and bottled water. Have them take a water bottle and fill it whenever they get a chance. (Take extra bottles since some will invariably get lost or break.)
Since you will probably be at the more touristed sites, cheap food will be hard to find, plus if you have a large group, it's too hard to trek around looking for the right price range. Have sandwiches delivered to the hotel, or have someone pick them up each day along with some snacks, and plan on only one sit-down meal each day. After paying a fortune to feed my son on his class trip, I wish someone had addressed this issue beforehand. Kids don't realize how much 2-3 pounds adds up each time they need a little snack or drink. Even doing all this, I think it could still end up averaging around 25 pounds per day.
Another food idea, pick one somewhat more expensive place to go for the kids to remember. Prepare them for the cost beforehand so that there are no suprises. Three years later my son's group still talks about eating escargot at the "fancy" French restaurant. That was money well spent for a lifelong memory. Good luck, brave soul.
Since you will probably be at the more touristed sites, cheap food will be hard to find, plus if you have a large group, it's too hard to trek around looking for the right price range. Have sandwiches delivered to the hotel, or have someone pick them up each day along with some snacks, and plan on only one sit-down meal each day. After paying a fortune to feed my son on his class trip, I wish someone had addressed this issue beforehand. Kids don't realize how much 2-3 pounds adds up each time they need a little snack or drink. Even doing all this, I think it could still end up averaging around 25 pounds per day.
Another food idea, pick one somewhat more expensive place to go for the kids to remember. Prepare them for the cost beforehand so that there are no suprises. Three years later my son's group still talks about eating escargot at the "fancy" French restaurant. That was money well spent for a lifelong memory. Good luck, brave soul.
May 23rd, 2004, 11:12 PM
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I agree with posters who tell you to stock up on calories at breakfast. After that, avail yourself of the very good selection of sandwiches at Boots, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Marks and Spencer, Benjys (yes, I know there should be an apostropher they, but they 'dont') etc. Buy a bunch bananas from a supermarket and nuts and raisins too. McD and Burger King are - sadly - everywhere if you really must eat rubbish. If you get peckish, newsagents stock crisps and chocolate galore.
Try also places around Covent Garden for £10 menus before theatre sittings. Scrimp by avoiding alcohol and bottled water. Most restaurants will give you iced, tap water if you ask, and some even offer it as standard, which is a good US import.
Other posters are correct in saying that your query over buses etc was too vague to get proper responses.
Try also places around Covent Garden for £10 menus before theatre sittings. Scrimp by avoiding alcohol and bottled water. Most restaurants will give you iced, tap water if you ask, and some even offer it as standard, which is a good US import.
Other posters are correct in saying that your query over buses etc was too vague to get proper responses.
May 24th, 2004, 01:23 AM
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I phoned a favourite coach company, Lewis Travel of Greenwich, and they say they run no half-day hires. A full day hire of a coach for 28 people for a day is 395 pounds. This means that public transport, train or bus, is the better buy. I phoned the Train Operating Companies for fares from Waterloo to Hampton Court. Party rates start with ten people. They said the day return fare for a party of 20 adults is 76 pounds 50 pence. Their child fare runs tom the age of 15 only.
As to cheap food, you want fast service, which usually means self service. I suggest the self-service restaurant at MacMillans, ground floor, Senate House, on the south west side of Russell Square, near the British Museum. I also suggest pubs with outdoor meals, since these accept teenagers. Here are some selected from my longer list which includes adult-only pubs.
MEALS IN LONDON PUBS
One or two people have asked for a note on meals in pubs in London. There are books on this topic, and all I'm doing here is listing pubs where I've had good lunches in the last year or two.
Children are welcome in the restaurant of each pub I list with the exceptions of time and place that I note pub by pub. Most of these pubs serve big portions, and all either accept an order for one meal and an empty plate, to allow adults to share with children, or of coyurse offer starters big enough for a youngish child. Main courses are about six pounds, starters about two, and hot puddings about two. In the first four pubs, in Chelsea and Belgravia, you should add a pound to each figure: you are lunching among the comfortably off. A pint is two pounds or just over, and each pub will happily serve tap water, fizzy lemonade, or a cola. Pubs I list serve Mondays to Friday lunches only, unless I say they serve evenings or weekends too. The list starts in the west and swings east. Each place I name has its own cook in the kitchens, who prepares the meals, rather than a system of factory-made ready frozen meals heated by microwave and served.
The Anglesea Arms, 15 Sellwood Terrace, Chelsea, SW7. Phone 7373 7960. South Kensington tube. Thai lunches Tuesday and Wednesday, English lunches other five days and English suppers daily. Children welcome throughout. Good for visits to South Kensington Museums -- though in fact there are plenty of fairly cheap ethnic restaurants beside and opposite South Kensington station.
The Coopers Arms, 87 Flood Street, Chelsea, SW3. Phone 7376 3120. Full lunches daily and evening bar snacks daily. From October there will be full suppers too. Children welcome to full meals, but not sat at bar snacks. Tube to Sloane Square and bus along the Kings Road. Good for visits to the National Army Museum.
The Nags Head, 53 Kinnerton Street, and the Wilton Arms, 71 Kinnerton Street. Both of these Belgravia pubs have evening meals. Knightsbridge tube station. Children are welcome in summer only outdoors at a street table. Better for groups of under a dozen people.
The Two Chairmen. Corner of Queen Anne's Gate and Dartmouth Street, 100 yards from St James' Park tube station. Useful for visits to Parliament, Westminster, the Cabinet War Rooms, and St James' Park. Some Members of Parliament use it. Children are welcome for lunch but not supper. Better for groups of under a dozen people.
The Albert. Corner of Buckingham Gate and Victoria Street. Nearest tube St James Park. Downstairs good hot food, with spices well used, served also in the evening. Upstairs for lunches only a carvery, three courses at 15 pounds. The house beer is Courage, but other and better draught is also served. Children are welcome at lunch but not supper.
The Three Stags. Corner of Kennington Road and Lambeth Road, 300 yards west of the Imperial War Museum, nearest tube Lambeth North. Lunch and supper daily till 8.30 pm. Outside tables take children (of course). Sunday roast for lunch. Real fish and chips.
The Founders Arms. At the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge, downstairs to the Jubilee walk which runs along the river, and a hundred yards downstream. Nearest tube Blackfriars. Lunch and supper seven days a week: last orders 8pm. Good for visits to St Paul's, the South Bank, the Tate Modern, the Globe, and next year the new Tate Gallery building. Used by all sorts of people. Ordering meals in high summer involves a five minute queue and a ten minute wait for your food. No problem: you can spend your time quaffing London's best beer and admiring St Paul's. The beer and food are impeccable. Children are welcome in summer only outdoors on the terrace by the Thames.
The Market Porter, on the southern side of Borough Market, nearest tube London Bridge. Good for visits to Southwark Cathedral (older and better looking than St Paul's), the Globe, the Old Operating Theatre, Hay's Galleria, HMS Belfast, and the George Inn (fine for a pint, but pricey for meals). Good cheese shop next door and cake shop round the corner. On the third Saturday of each month the market is well used by stalls offering gourmet food (venison, real pork pies, Portugese fish, and so on), and the pub offers a Saturday lunch that day. Used by Southwark dealers, traders, and financiers. Better for groups of under a dozen people.
The Anchor Tap half way along the eastern side of Horselydown, just east of the Tower Bridge Road, which runs south from the Bridge. Marked in summer by fine hanging baskets of flowers. The landlord is American. Open twelve to nine Mondays to Saturdays. It doesn't reach the level of other pubs in this note, but is useful for visitors to the Tower, Bridge, Design Museum, and Tea and Coffee Museum. Better for groups of under a dozen people.
The Mitre, next to the great church of St Alphege, Greenwich. I'm not sure whether they admit children. If not, no matter. Nearly as good are the two pubs that have outside tables in old Greenwich Market, a hundred yards away. No tube: nearest station Greenwich, 15 minutes by train from Charing Cross main line station - or an hour by boat from Embankment. Good for all the pleasures of Greenwich.
Please write if I can help further. Welcome to London.
[email protected]
As to cheap food, you want fast service, which usually means self service. I suggest the self-service restaurant at MacMillans, ground floor, Senate House, on the south west side of Russell Square, near the British Museum. I also suggest pubs with outdoor meals, since these accept teenagers. Here are some selected from my longer list which includes adult-only pubs.
MEALS IN LONDON PUBS
One or two people have asked for a note on meals in pubs in London. There are books on this topic, and all I'm doing here is listing pubs where I've had good lunches in the last year or two.
Children are welcome in the restaurant of each pub I list with the exceptions of time and place that I note pub by pub. Most of these pubs serve big portions, and all either accept an order for one meal and an empty plate, to allow adults to share with children, or of coyurse offer starters big enough for a youngish child. Main courses are about six pounds, starters about two, and hot puddings about two. In the first four pubs, in Chelsea and Belgravia, you should add a pound to each figure: you are lunching among the comfortably off. A pint is two pounds or just over, and each pub will happily serve tap water, fizzy lemonade, or a cola. Pubs I list serve Mondays to Friday lunches only, unless I say they serve evenings or weekends too. The list starts in the west and swings east. Each place I name has its own cook in the kitchens, who prepares the meals, rather than a system of factory-made ready frozen meals heated by microwave and served.
The Anglesea Arms, 15 Sellwood Terrace, Chelsea, SW7. Phone 7373 7960. South Kensington tube. Thai lunches Tuesday and Wednesday, English lunches other five days and English suppers daily. Children welcome throughout. Good for visits to South Kensington Museums -- though in fact there are plenty of fairly cheap ethnic restaurants beside and opposite South Kensington station.
The Coopers Arms, 87 Flood Street, Chelsea, SW3. Phone 7376 3120. Full lunches daily and evening bar snacks daily. From October there will be full suppers too. Children welcome to full meals, but not sat at bar snacks. Tube to Sloane Square and bus along the Kings Road. Good for visits to the National Army Museum.
The Nags Head, 53 Kinnerton Street, and the Wilton Arms, 71 Kinnerton Street. Both of these Belgravia pubs have evening meals. Knightsbridge tube station. Children are welcome in summer only outdoors at a street table. Better for groups of under a dozen people.
The Two Chairmen. Corner of Queen Anne's Gate and Dartmouth Street, 100 yards from St James' Park tube station. Useful for visits to Parliament, Westminster, the Cabinet War Rooms, and St James' Park. Some Members of Parliament use it. Children are welcome for lunch but not supper. Better for groups of under a dozen people.
The Albert. Corner of Buckingham Gate and Victoria Street. Nearest tube St James Park. Downstairs good hot food, with spices well used, served also in the evening. Upstairs for lunches only a carvery, three courses at 15 pounds. The house beer is Courage, but other and better draught is also served. Children are welcome at lunch but not supper.
The Three Stags. Corner of Kennington Road and Lambeth Road, 300 yards west of the Imperial War Museum, nearest tube Lambeth North. Lunch and supper daily till 8.30 pm. Outside tables take children (of course). Sunday roast for lunch. Real fish and chips.
The Founders Arms. At the southern end of Blackfriars Bridge, downstairs to the Jubilee walk which runs along the river, and a hundred yards downstream. Nearest tube Blackfriars. Lunch and supper seven days a week: last orders 8pm. Good for visits to St Paul's, the South Bank, the Tate Modern, the Globe, and next year the new Tate Gallery building. Used by all sorts of people. Ordering meals in high summer involves a five minute queue and a ten minute wait for your food. No problem: you can spend your time quaffing London's best beer and admiring St Paul's. The beer and food are impeccable. Children are welcome in summer only outdoors on the terrace by the Thames.
The Market Porter, on the southern side of Borough Market, nearest tube London Bridge. Good for visits to Southwark Cathedral (older and better looking than St Paul's), the Globe, the Old Operating Theatre, Hay's Galleria, HMS Belfast, and the George Inn (fine for a pint, but pricey for meals). Good cheese shop next door and cake shop round the corner. On the third Saturday of each month the market is well used by stalls offering gourmet food (venison, real pork pies, Portugese fish, and so on), and the pub offers a Saturday lunch that day. Used by Southwark dealers, traders, and financiers. Better for groups of under a dozen people.
The Anchor Tap half way along the eastern side of Horselydown, just east of the Tower Bridge Road, which runs south from the Bridge. Marked in summer by fine hanging baskets of flowers. The landlord is American. Open twelve to nine Mondays to Saturdays. It doesn't reach the level of other pubs in this note, but is useful for visitors to the Tower, Bridge, Design Museum, and Tea and Coffee Museum. Better for groups of under a dozen people.
The Mitre, next to the great church of St Alphege, Greenwich. I'm not sure whether they admit children. If not, no matter. Nearly as good are the two pubs that have outside tables in old Greenwich Market, a hundred yards away. No tube: nearest station Greenwich, 15 minutes by train from Charing Cross main line station - or an hour by boat from Embankment. Good for all the pleasures of Greenwich.
Please write if I can help further. Welcome to London.
[email protected]
