Eating in London for 30 pounds a day pp
 

Is it possible? We plan on going mostly to sandwich shops, but we don't want to starve :) Thanks all!

Another great resource for "cheap" meals is to visit stores like Marks and Spencer. The food halls have grocery-store type aisles with all kinds of food. I highly recommend visiting their bakeries! Another store is Tesco (I think) with the same types of food halls. You can find ready-to-eat meals there too (sandwiches, salads, etc.).

I highly recommend you check out Pret a Manger for sandwiches. They're all over town and quite good! Their website is http://www.pret.co.uk/flash.html

Not a problem. Is breakfast included in your hotel rate? If not, locate your nearest cafe which should be able to do a sandwich and coffee, maybe even an 'all day breakfast' for about 4 pounds. Pret a Manger sandwich shops are fairly common too, as someone has said.

Lunch and dinner: Check out Pierre Victoire and Bistro 1 ( a chain). Also Stockpot (2 branches in central London) and West End Kitchen. All of those can do a 3 course meal for around ten pounds. Numerous Indian restaurants will have special set menus for under ten pounds too. Only warning is, remember set menus almost always exclude drinks.

And you will *love* Chinatown. A really good meal for about 5 pounds and dozens of places to choose from!

I believe the magazine 'Time Out' has a special book for cheap eating. Probably worth investing in it :)

I highly recommend Belgo Centraal. They have a "beat the clock" deal: arrive between 5:00 and 6:30pm and you pay what the time is (eg. 5.15 GBP) for a meal special. You can get mussels, fries and a beer for that price. Great deal!

...and if you want to blow your budget and treat yourself at some point, check out www.lastminute.com for their dinner offers.

Two of my favorites in addition to the ones already mentioned are Strada (great pizza from a woodfired oven) and Nando Chickenland (portuguese grilled chicken with a spicy flavor). Both are in the budget category. And you'll never come close to starving if you enjoy Indian and Chinese cuisines.

In March, my wife and I averaged $59 for dinner including tip and a full bottle of house wine. We take advantage of the restaurants which have an early, before 7:00, fixed price dinner of 2 or 3 courses. In multiple trips to London and staying at various times near Russell Square, Lancaster Gate, Holland Park and High Street Kensington, we have never failed to find a reasonably priced restaurant that we wouldn't return to. Most of the time these are off the main drag and away from the tourist areas - look at the clientele and if they are the type you'd invite to dinner you probably can't go wrong.

That's per person? I ate on way less, and I didn't starve, and I enjoyed every meal. I did rely a lot on takeout and supermarkets, but there are some cheap cafes around too.

Hi Heather,

Easy to do. In addition to the above, check out the ethnic restaurants near your hotel.

hi heather,

Just got back from a october london trip (oct15-24). Eating in London on 30 pds a day per person is very reasonable. (I am assuming you are saying per person).

We blew our budget on the dinners, but with a little bit more planning, we could have done better.

As to just general information, I 2nd the recommendation of finding you a good local diner. We found Dino's on gloucester and would have been lost without it. they served breakfast, lunch and dinner and closed very late.

They had a wonderful cont. breakfast for 3.95 pds and a full english breakfast for around 5 pds. That same diner offered lunch specials around 6 and 7 pds. And our dinner ran us well less than 20 pds, 2 courses and a to die for dessert. the point is that these local diners are not only just serving the tourists, but the locals also, so they need to be affordable.

another suggestion is that pub lunches can be extremely affordable. Many offer a soup and sandwich special for around 6-10 pds.

Dinner will be the challenge. Finding restaurants that offer a couple of courses and a drink for less than say 15-20 pds. But there are many to be had in london, especially with all the pre-theatre special set menus.

I would also like to recommend that you save for one last night grand meal. Finishing london on the Hispaniola did not break our bank, but was a little more expensive than the rest of our meals. It was worth it though, to have that last night celebration!

If you are trying to really budget, allow the following:

breakfast 6 pds
lunch 9 pds
dinner 15 pds
total 30 pds

this gives you plenty for lunch and dinner and the ability to swap out a few here and there on those 2 meals. You should have no problem with the 6 pds for breakfast.

What area are you staying in? (hotel etc). If you can give me that info, I can have you a good list of restaurants to choose from. email me at [email protected] if you are interested.

erinb

30 pounds per person per day is a lot of money. Unless you expect to dine at above average restaurants every meal, you shouldn't have any trouble at all. The quality of pub food has improved immensely over the past 10-15 years--I know people who have easily gotten by on 30 pounds a day for 2 without starving.

We enjoyed our meal at the ASK chain. It says it is a pizza chain but has lots more to offer than that.

ttt

Thanks for all the replies! I am just now able to post replies (after not being able to for about a week), but thanks to all! I will be staying at the Days Inn Westminster at 80-86 Belgrave Rd. It is near the Pimlico underground station and Victoria station. Any one know of any cheap, good places near here? Thanks!

We just returned from London and I posted some restaurant reviews. 60 pounds per day is about what we spent. If you plan to eat mostly in sandwich shops, you can easily get by on half that amount.

As another poster has mentioned, Belgo Centraal has some great deals for lunch and early weekday dinners. But the real gem that we found was Sofra, a Turkish restaurant. We ended up going there twice which is very unusual for us as we always like to try different places.

I know four pubs with good meals, including suppers, about a mile from Pimlico. They are from a list I keep of pubs with meals I like: please e mail me for a copy.

The Nags Head, 53 Kinnerton Street, and the Wilton Arms, 71 Kinnerton Street. Both of these Belgravia pubs have evening meals. Knightsbridge tube station.

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.
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.

Actually, you will find the same quality nearer the hotel, so these four are chiefly for use on the way home from sightseeing. As others have said, your funds are easily enough.

[email protected]

If you want a take -out try this: Harrods have an absolutely fabulous smoked salmon on a bun. They make up lots of them in the morning and they are available for purchase and are very reasonably priced.

Ebury St should be near your hotel. The Ebury Wine bar is open for lunch & dinner & is quite decent with entrees around 12-15 GBP, not cheap but not expensive. There's also a place called the Sundial I haven't tried. Here's a link with reviews & other listings.

http://www.viewlondon.co.uk/home_fea...burystreet.asp

I second the reco for the ASK chain of Italians. Very good food, value & nice atmosphere. Pizza Express is another good chain.

BTW, drinks is what will kill a budget quickly (it's the same at home, right?)

Hey Heather,

Why go to Italian or Chinese when they're much better/tastier/cheaper in the States than in London?

Besides Indian, the new ethnic trend is Lebanese. Vegetarians won't have a problem, and I love the bowls of fresh crudites just placed on tables free - miss my salad fix while traveling. Even the swankiest neighborhoods (Kensington, Knightsbridge, West End) have Beirut-style bistros with fair prices for lovely grilled meats and luscious salads . . .

HTH and follow your nose, not the guidebooks . . .

topping

If you like falafels or shwarmas, there are plenty of good quick-service Middle Eastern restaurants around the city with huge, cheap shwarma sandwiches and salads, about 3 gbps each. Plus there are lots of cheap fish and chips places.

London can be very expensive, but there are ways around the high prices. Nanoo's is excellent and cheap, ASK is also a very good buy and our favorite is the Turkish restaurant SAFA. But be careful at all these places. If you order a set price menu, do not make any changes. You can pay dearly. Also you can get tap water with ice rather than bottled water. Coffee or tea can cost the price of the meal. We love Safa and have eaten there many times...BUT we were once grossly overcharged. I think we were give the wrong bill, but we had had such a good meal that we paid the bill and did not notice the overcharge until much later. Take out from department store food halls is fun and saves money. Ice cream during intermission at the theatre is 2 pounds and is very small. Theatre programs cost between 4 and 6 pounds and have lots of ads and little info. TimeOut is very helpful. You won't starve.

Eating at ethnic restaurants, especially Indian and Chinese, will serve you very well. There are any number of places in the Westbourne Grove area; we especially like the Standard Indian Restaurant. Good Chinese restaurants abound near Leicester Square.