Cheap Eats London
Dec 11th, 2003, 02:51 PM
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Cheap Eats London
Just returned from a 4 day stopover in London. Here?s a review of some inexpensive restaurants we tried. We stayed in Mayfair so most of these are located on the west end. We got our suggestions mostly from the Great Eats book and this board. We tried to pick places that were 40 pounds or less for dinner and 20 pounds or less for lunch. Overall we found that it was quite easy to find places to eat in this price range. We did not make any reservations for dinner and only had to wait once. Prices listed are for two people.
Wagamama ? this noodle place seems to be all over London and I have a difficult time understanding its popularity, we went to the one on Wigmore Street behind Selfridges for lunch arriving around 1:30pm, the place was packed but they were able to seat us right away, communal tables, I had the yaki udon and my husband tried the kai sen udon, we thought the food was very mediocre and a bit overpriced for what it was, cost including a beer and fresh juice about 20 pounds, I probably wouldn?t choose to eat here again
Sofra ? this is a Turkish restaurant with about 3 different locations, we went to the one on St. Christopher?s Place (above Oxford Street) twice for dinner, located on a pedestrian square with very nice atmosphere this was by far the best of the restaurants we tried in this price range, both indoor seating and outdoor tables with heaters, we arrived around 7:45pm the first evening and waited for about 20 minutes, complimentary house wine was poured while we waited, ordered the 11 hot and cold mezes (small appetizer size dishes, kind of like tapas) to share, everything was very tasty, my favorites were the grilled goat cheese and also the lamb with hummus, cost including ?discretionary? gratuity about 26 pounds, on our second trip here we arrived about 10:00pm and were seated immediately, I ordered the lamb shank and my husband ordered the Sofra special (grilled lamb), we split two appetizers, everything was delicious, total bill including a couple of glasses of wine and gratuity about 34 pounds
India Club ? stopped here for lunch as we had just come from the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, it?s located on the Strand upstairs of a dumpy looking hotel (look for the small sign that says Indian Restaurant Upstairs), very cheap Indian food, no alcohol served, no credit cards, we had the chicken korma, a lamb dish, rice, naan, and tea all for about 15 pounds, good value, decent food, I wouldn?t go out of my way to eat here but convenient if you?re in the area, the place was totally filled up by the time we left
The Windmill ? located on Mill Street in Mayfair, we had dinner here as we wanted to try some pub food and it was a quick walk from our hotel, I had the sausage and mash and my husband tried the cottage pie, tasty but we both decided pub food really wasn?t our thing, total including a couple of pints was less than 20 pounds
Belgo Centraal ? on Earlham Street in the Covent Garden area, we arrived for lunch around 1:00pm, a very busy place with a large communal seating area and a smaller restaurant area, we were seated right away at a communal table, we both had the lunch special of a ? kilo of mussels, frites, and a lager for about 12 pounds total, good mussels, excellent value, I think this is one of the best lunch deals around
Mela ? Indian restaurant on Shaftsbury Avenue very convenient to west end theaters, we arrived for an early dinner around 5:45pm, they have a pre-theatre menu with 3 courses for 11 pounds before 7:00pm, otherwise the regular menu doesn?t really qualify as a ?cheap eat?, I had the samosa appetizer and saag aloo and my husband had the whitebait appetizer and chicken tikka, main dishes are served with rice, naan, and dal, everything was very good, we skipped dessert as it was just too much food and we were running short on time, it does take a while for each course to be served so I would suggest allowing about 2 hours to dine here, the place starts to get really full after 6:00pm, total bill including a few glasses of wine and discretionary gratuity about 36 pounds, as we left I was given a small gift bag, I thought it was spices or something but turned out to be bracelets
The Patio ? inside Fortnum and Masons on the mezzanine level, we had lunch here on a Sunday afternoon around 2:00pm as we happened to be shopping here and were famished (this is the only restaurant inside F&M open on Sundays), waited in line for about 20 minutes, my husband had the quite yummy Welsh rarebit while I made the mistake of trying the Sunday afternoon tea, thoroughly disappointing, everything tasted dry and day old, I certainly hope the afternoon tea in the restaurant upstairs is better than this, everyone around us seemed to be ordering the Welsh rarebit so I should have known better, total including a half bottle of wine and service charge about 38 pounds
Borough Market ? this isn?t a restaurant but I wanted to throw it in, we visited this outdoor covered market on a Saturday morning, all sorts of food for sale here, we stocked up on snacks and breakfast supplies, there?s also a branch of the De Gustibus bakery here
Wagamama ? this noodle place seems to be all over London and I have a difficult time understanding its popularity, we went to the one on Wigmore Street behind Selfridges for lunch arriving around 1:30pm, the place was packed but they were able to seat us right away, communal tables, I had the yaki udon and my husband tried the kai sen udon, we thought the food was very mediocre and a bit overpriced for what it was, cost including a beer and fresh juice about 20 pounds, I probably wouldn?t choose to eat here again
Sofra ? this is a Turkish restaurant with about 3 different locations, we went to the one on St. Christopher?s Place (above Oxford Street) twice for dinner, located on a pedestrian square with very nice atmosphere this was by far the best of the restaurants we tried in this price range, both indoor seating and outdoor tables with heaters, we arrived around 7:45pm the first evening and waited for about 20 minutes, complimentary house wine was poured while we waited, ordered the 11 hot and cold mezes (small appetizer size dishes, kind of like tapas) to share, everything was very tasty, my favorites were the grilled goat cheese and also the lamb with hummus, cost including ?discretionary? gratuity about 26 pounds, on our second trip here we arrived about 10:00pm and were seated immediately, I ordered the lamb shank and my husband ordered the Sofra special (grilled lamb), we split two appetizers, everything was delicious, total bill including a couple of glasses of wine and gratuity about 34 pounds
India Club ? stopped here for lunch as we had just come from the Courtauld Gallery at Somerset House, it?s located on the Strand upstairs of a dumpy looking hotel (look for the small sign that says Indian Restaurant Upstairs), very cheap Indian food, no alcohol served, no credit cards, we had the chicken korma, a lamb dish, rice, naan, and tea all for about 15 pounds, good value, decent food, I wouldn?t go out of my way to eat here but convenient if you?re in the area, the place was totally filled up by the time we left
The Windmill ? located on Mill Street in Mayfair, we had dinner here as we wanted to try some pub food and it was a quick walk from our hotel, I had the sausage and mash and my husband tried the cottage pie, tasty but we both decided pub food really wasn?t our thing, total including a couple of pints was less than 20 pounds
Belgo Centraal ? on Earlham Street in the Covent Garden area, we arrived for lunch around 1:00pm, a very busy place with a large communal seating area and a smaller restaurant area, we were seated right away at a communal table, we both had the lunch special of a ? kilo of mussels, frites, and a lager for about 12 pounds total, good mussels, excellent value, I think this is one of the best lunch deals around
Mela ? Indian restaurant on Shaftsbury Avenue very convenient to west end theaters, we arrived for an early dinner around 5:45pm, they have a pre-theatre menu with 3 courses for 11 pounds before 7:00pm, otherwise the regular menu doesn?t really qualify as a ?cheap eat?, I had the samosa appetizer and saag aloo and my husband had the whitebait appetizer and chicken tikka, main dishes are served with rice, naan, and dal, everything was very good, we skipped dessert as it was just too much food and we were running short on time, it does take a while for each course to be served so I would suggest allowing about 2 hours to dine here, the place starts to get really full after 6:00pm, total bill including a few glasses of wine and discretionary gratuity about 36 pounds, as we left I was given a small gift bag, I thought it was spices or something but turned out to be bracelets
The Patio ? inside Fortnum and Masons on the mezzanine level, we had lunch here on a Sunday afternoon around 2:00pm as we happened to be shopping here and were famished (this is the only restaurant inside F&M open on Sundays), waited in line for about 20 minutes, my husband had the quite yummy Welsh rarebit while I made the mistake of trying the Sunday afternoon tea, thoroughly disappointing, everything tasted dry and day old, I certainly hope the afternoon tea in the restaurant upstairs is better than this, everyone around us seemed to be ordering the Welsh rarebit so I should have known better, total including a half bottle of wine and service charge about 38 pounds
Borough Market ? this isn?t a restaurant but I wanted to throw it in, we visited this outdoor covered market on a Saturday morning, all sorts of food for sale here, we stocked up on snacks and breakfast supplies, there?s also a branch of the De Gustibus bakery here
Dec 12th, 2003, 05:52 AM
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My only "quibble" with your comments is that a $65 lunch of a "tea", welsh rarebit and a half bottle of wine doesn't belong in a thread titled "Cheap Eats in London". I think that one shot the budget.
