How much to budget for food in London?
Mar 7th, 2002, 01:10 PM
#1
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How much to budget for food in London?
I know eating out in the UK is more expensive than here, and i'm trying to figure out what I realistically need to allow for.<BR><BR>Info to help: 2 people, our hotel includes breakfast. We like to eat at fairly nice restaurants (but not stunningly expensive) for dinner, lunch can be quick bite to go, salad or whatever. We rarely drink wine with dinner, if we do maybe just by the glass.<BR><BR>I was thinking $80-$100 US per day. Does that sound like enough?<BR><BR>Thanks<BR>
Mar 7th, 2002, 01:21 PM
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I might not be the best person to answer; haven't been to London for a coupla years now. The issue is how to avoid TWO expensive meals each day. the notion of quick bite for lunch - - salad whatever - - can be harder than it sounds. Playing tourist gets you hungrier than you expect, and the fast $3 lunch is an elusive find all over Europe. so, if you spend $10-15 or even more for lunch, your dinner budget has to be careful.<BR><BR>Or did you mean $80-100 per person? - - well, then that's princely.<BR><BR>Best wishes,<BR><BR>Rex<BR>
Mar 7th, 2002, 01:26 PM
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Hi, <BR><BR>80 bucks per person might be manageable.<BR><BR>figure that is 60 pounds or so. you can get away with 10-20-30 pounds per person on the meals, although I wouldn't go out of my way to budget for that or anything.<BR><BR>or another way to figure it - whatever you would think you would spend at home on going out - add another 40-50% on top of that, per meal. (if you are used to spending 30 bucks a person on a dinner, add 40-50% to that per person, or 45 bucks per person for dinner.)<BR><BR>hope this helps.<BR><BR>Beth
Mar 7th, 2002, 01:29 PM
#4
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Thanks Rex.<BR><BR>Well, I was saying 80-100 for two people where lunch is like, a sandwich or something from a foodhall. That's what we did in Paris, and with the exception of one very splurgy meal, we got by on less than 100 US. Also in Hawaii, same thing. And those are both pretty expensive places.<BR><BR>I've been looking on the web at restaurants and they seem more expensive than comparable places here, but not by too terribly much. Looks like lots of places have fixed price menus that are reasonable.<BR><BR>And again, we rarely drink. <BR>I'll be interested to see what others say.<BR><BR><BR>
Mar 7th, 2002, 01:32 PM
#6
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cheap ideas - Pret a Manger for lunches, and Belgo is a good place to eat. <BR><BR>you can get a dinner at Belgo which will fill you RIGHT up, including scrumptious Belgian beer, for 21 pounds. I should know, I go out of my way to eat there at least once a visit - YUMMY! (maybe it's da beer though, ha ha)<BR><BR>Pret has great sandwiches - a pot o' pudding, sandwich, and juice to go shouldn't set you back more than 8 pounds or so.<BR><BR>that brings you closer to your goal of 80-100 per day, assuming it's a TOTAL for two people.<BR><BR>beth
Mar 7th, 2002, 01:38 PM
#8
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London is MORE expensive than Paris? Yikes...<BR><BR>I haven't been to UK in ten years.<BR><BR>Okay, looks like I'll have to up the budget to $125 or even $150. <BR><BR>How about other areas of the UK? We'll be moving around a bit. Maybe we can make up the difference there.
Mar 7th, 2002, 01:41 PM
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Belgo also has "Beat the Clock" daily from 5:00 - 6:30, where you pay for your meal, whatever the time was when you were seated. This includes 1 kilo of mussels, fries, and a Belgian beer. If you are seated at 5:15, your bill is 5.15GBP. It is a great deal!<BR>
Mar 7th, 2002, 01:41 PM
#10
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I think if you are not drinking wine with dinner you can make it in that price, but I'm not sure I paid that much attention. The good news is that beer is cheaper than cola (ounce for ounce), so stick with a budget and go with the beer!!<BR><BR>Bill
Mar 7th, 2002, 01:44 PM
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try to eat at Indian restaurants. GREAT food, fairly cheap. 3 of us pigged OUT once for less than 30 pounds for dinner. on the other hand you can go to Cafe Spice Namaste (another favorite of mine) and easily spend 30+_ pounds just for yourself for lunch. but it is SO good. <BR><BR>also, if you like Chinese food, go to Soho. Wong Key - again, 3 of us ate for FIFTEEN pounds.<BR><BR>you may gain 15 pounds if you eat like that all the time though (fried food)<BR><BR>Old Compton Street has a number of Thai places on/nearby which were reasonable.<BR><BR>have fun~!!<BR><BR>Beth<BR><BR>
Mar 7th, 2002, 01:47 PM
#12
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Shayne is right on! great value. but you MUST try the Thai mussels, which are rarely on the beat the clock menu. also, Chimay Rouge - YUM - try it!<BR><BR>Bel-go, Bel-go, Bel-go!!<BR><BR>Kavey knows, and she is sick of me always suggesting it I bet!!<BR><BR
<BR><BR>beth
<BR><BR>beth
Mar 7th, 2002, 01:55 PM
#13
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Hi Louise, I will try to help you as my husband and I were just in London 2/15-2/25. We also eat a relatively cheap lunch and fairly nice dinner (neither of us drink, so beverage is usually tap water or sometimes mineral water. We generally had an afternoon or early eveing snack or tea too at about $6 for two. <BR>Lunch - ex. fish and chips at Ben Haines recommended shop near Victoria bus station, for two, approx. $12 with sodas<BR>Lunch - Motcombs in Knightsbridge, bistro-like nice cafe, lots of business types, big caesar salads/mineral water,$25<BR>Dinner at Tas, on Southbank, Turkish food, nice place, tablecloths, flowers, etc. set meal and water, $22<BR>Dinner at Luigi's , theater district, italian dinners with dessert and appetizers/mineral water, $62 <BR>This includes a tip or service charge of 10-12%. I would say our average per day came out to around $65-68. P.S. I highly recommend Tas at 33 The Cut on the Southbank just down from Old Vic.
Mar 8th, 2002, 06:34 AM
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If I were being a tourist in London I would budget about UK£8 per person per day for lunch and UK£25-30 per person per day for dinner.<BR><BR>So that's UK£8 for lunch - some days will be cheaper - a sandwich, crisps and soft drink from boots or M&S will be arounf £5 but some days when you want to have a sit down lunch will be more than that. <BR><BR>For dinner that price should allow you to eat well. You could do it for less easily but UK£25-20 each gives you lots of room to play with. Some nights will be far less than that, if you hit Belgo's or Wagamamas as suggested above (Beth, we really shoulde shared those Thai mussels shouldn't we but they were delicious), or China Town or other inexpensive options, for example Silk and Spice, a Thai-Malay restaurant with 2 or 3 locations. Some nights will be about that much (I often take advantage of the pre theatre dinner menus at many of London's nicer but not TOP end restaurants such as L'Escargot, Criterion, Circus etc and with one soft drink or bottled water and maybe a glass of wine you'll be within UK£25 per person) and occasionally you might want to go above that, for example hitting the same classy restaurants but eating off their main menus.<BR>
Mar 8th, 2002, 07:02 AM
#20
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I find London more expensive but not nearly 1.5 times more. Besides whwt has already been said, some ideas to stretch the budget: <BR><BR>Go to lunch when you want a posh upscale restaurant - it will be cheaper than dinner for almost the same menu. (or some offer discounts before 7PM)<BR><BR>Often I have a late biggish lunch and then just a light supper late - Indian or Spanish Tapas or Chinese all tend to serve late.<BR><BR>The cafes in many of the museums are wonderful - not fast food but real "home cooking". <BR><BR>And don't faint when you see some of the prices on the posted menues - they include 17+% VAT as opposed to the US where the tax is added on afterwards.
