Rachele - a favourite of mine is the Chop House Bar - a Conran venture. There is a set menu of 2-3 courses usually for about £11-12. On Sunday they do a brunch which includes a free cocktail. The location is fantastic - right by Tower Bridge, with fab views of the Thames - it's in 'Butlers Wharf' on the South Bank. Nearest tube, 'Tower Hill', then a 5-10 min walk straight across the bridge.

You need to be careful to make sure you are in the bar though, and not the adjoining restaurant which is v. pricy. Also, best to arrive by about 6:00 - 6:30pm in the week if you want a table as it can get crowded with suits! Obviously extras like good wine can hike the price up but service is included. The varying set menu is limited but tasty, eg scottish salmon, sausage and mash, sticky toffee pudding. If you want to pay a little more there are options such as oysters, steak and kidney pie etc all the time. Being Conran the standard of food is high.

I also like Tiger Lil's in Islington - a sort of oriental BBQ where you pick fresh raw food and the chef cooks it to order for you - it's as much as you can eat for a set price, and again good quality with expensive seafood as well as chicken, pork, beef, veg etc

For fast food I like Pret-a-Manger - very good fresh sandwiches and wraps with organic, free range ingredients, home-made chocolate mousse, carrot cake etc. It even has an Egon Ronay star which is proudly displayed on the cups, napkins etc. A sandwich and drink would come in at around a fiver - not dirt cheap, I know but still not bad for central London .The food is good quality and filling.

I would also advise any visitors to get a Good Pub Guide and NEVER just walk into an unknown pub, where you may be presented with awful microwave fodder - when you could be having a great meal for half the price.

The comment about Starbucks in London costing the same "number" of pounds as dollars at home seems so odd. Apparently prices vary widely then between different Starbucks in London and different Starbucks in the US. Here in Naples, Florida I was paying $2.90 for a Venti Latte. I usually go to Pret and Manger in London, but when I did go to Starbucks, my Venti Latte was 1.50 pounds. I remember remarking at the time that it was the same price as at home AFTER conversion. Unless Starbuck's London has doubled their prices in the past 8 months, their lattes were virtually the same cost as at home (after the currency conversion).

Thanks RM -- The Chop House Bar sounds great, and I happen to love having a good drink and then having small plates at the bar! It think I know where you are talking about on the South Bank.

Tiger Lil's sounds really good too -- it sounds the Korean & Mongolian BBQ you can get here in NYC. We have friends who live in Islington so I'll probably be in that nabe when there.

I've been to Pret before in London, and, believe it or not, we have them in NYC now -- one is 2 blocks from my office on Madison Avenue in midtown. The offerings tend to be a little different here, and, unfortunately, no smoked salmon sandwich here which is my favorite at Pret in London.

Thanks so much for the suggestions -- hearing the real deal from locals is always the best! Let me know if you by chance need any NYC suggestions.

Thanks Rachele - Tiger Lil's is very like The Mongolian BBQ (which I've visited in Ealing and Brighton) in style terms, but I thought the quality of food was a lot better and more varied - there were quite upmarket things on the counter like lobster and scallops. There's also a nice pub called the Medicine Bar (I think?!) in the Islington area - very intresting decor, bohemian meets retro!

Didn't know you had Pret in the US too. My favourite is the Ham and Greve!

I live in Islington and Tiger lils has recently closed down - it has been replaced by a chicken restaurant.

I'm currently saving up for a big rtw trip so my day to day budget is very tight. However I can still get out and about in London and see loads of stuff for free. With an oyster card you can take as many buses as you like, anywhere in London for £3.00 a day. Walking is free, most of the best museums and galleries are free. Pret sell half size sandwiches which are adequate for my appetite and I always take my own bottle of water, refilled from the tap at home. So for a day out I probably spend about £6.00 for transport, lunch and a cup of tea at starbucks.
Another good budget place to eat is Planet Earth just off Tott. Court road (Torrington Place, near the big waterstones on Goodge Street). Its an organic supermarket that has a vegetarian hot food buffet and salad bar. You pay for a container then they fill it up with whatever you want - stuff like lasagne, stirfry, dahl, bean casseroles. About £3-£5 depending on size.

For those of you puzzled about Pret's surprisingly long survival in New York (UK retailers usually last about three years in the US, unless they're called BP or Shell):

They're 33% owned by McDonald's. And Pret claim the nice chaps in Oakbrook taught them how to avoid the fate that usually awaits British shopkeepers when they get off the plane at Kennedy.

All in all, if you compare the UK (and pound sterling) with continental Europe (and the euro), my observation is that what costs one euro in Europe costs one pound in the UK, and the rate is approx. 1 pound = 1.6 euro. I find London more expensive than Paris.

Just a little story:

I recently met a friend who is Zürich native. He told me that every visitor was complaining how expensive Switzerland is. And he asked them: "Where were you shopping?" And they answered: "In the Bahnhofstrasse." And he said: "We Swiss never shop in the Bahnhofstrasse. We cannot afford. We shop in the suburbs." The same with hotels: "St. Moritz is expensive." - "It is expensive for the Swiss, too."

I find prices in London pretty normal - at least if you avoid the tourist traps. Okay, if you must buy your sandwich in the food halls of Harrod's then you must not complain.

OK, I'm off to London tomorrow and I need to know which Starbucks sells a vente latte for 1.50 pounds!!
I paid more than that for a tall latte in August in London.
cantstayhome's price comparison is closer in my opinion but I hate diet coke!

That's a good example: Starbucks is a place for tourists (and YUPPIEs).

Hi there (in general)
With all the discussion of ROE between USDollars and GBPounds, it made me do a quick evaluation of SARands (as I live in South Africa). Our ROE is 1 Pound=SAR14,50.I was in London in November 2006 and a 7 Pound meal cost me SAR 101,50 and yet the same type of meal in South Africa would cost me about SAR 25,00. By the same token, 1 USDollar=SAR 8,00. I cannot comment on USA meal prices since I have never been there. An average airplane ticket from SA to London is about 500 Pounds and to New York about US$1250. Therefore, it makes it a little expensive for us to travel......but we do it anyway when and if we can!

For alternatives to Starbuck's - no idea if they're any cheaper - try http://www.delocator.org.uk

The UK, in general, is VERY EXPENSIVE and then you pay with nearly worthless dollars for a double whammy. I paid the equivalent of US $40 for Fish & Chips & a beer x two. But it's LONDON! Enjoy!

One more thing: someone has to pay for that "FREE" national health care. 150% import duty (we should start doing that in the USA).

Hmm, traveller1959
I'm too old to be a yuppie and I don't think 'tourist' is an accurate label but I think 1.50 for a vente latte is a great price for a Starbucks in London.
For cheap vegetarian food I recommend the Hari Krishna place just off Oxford St.(Tott. Ct Rd end).
Noted that Cassius from Islington gets tea from Starbucks on a limited budget while saving for a rtw trip ... must be another yuppie tourist.

"I paid the equivalent of US $40 for Fish & Chips & a beer x two. But it's LONDON!"
>>>>>>>>>>>>&g t;>>>>>>>>>>>> >>

And??? Today here in Florida we went to a "Crab Shack" for lunch. We both had fish and chips and iced tea -- no beers. Our bill including tip? $ 39.00. Sure there are Long John Silver places here for less. Is that the kind of fish and chips you had in London? Or was it good, like ours was today?

a pint of the best beer is no more than about £2.80 (including tax and tip) in a central london pub. where in manhattan can i get a pint of beer for $2.80 including tax and tip?

some things are double the cost in london and others are far from it. it's a different country and different things are expensive and cheap.

i don't see the value of picking a few items and comparing the cost. depending on what items i choose to compare, i could just as easily make a case for london being "frightfully expensive" (as someone so alarmingly said) or no more expensive than nyc.

I totally agree. I think it's so odd when someone goes out to a very fancy restaurant in London then compares it to the prices of a diner or coffee shop type place at home -- yet many seem to do that.
Most things that can fairly and directly be compared -- like the same show in the West End and on Broadway, or the London and New York branch of the SAME restaurant, I really find to be priced pretty much the same in both places.

I think it's also worth noting that comparing prices on a London menu to which tax will not be added and you'd rarely tip an additional 20% to prices on a New York menu which still needs to have the 9 percent or whatever current tax is added, plus 20% tip just isn't very fair either.

>>>>>
£2.80 (including tax and tip)
>>>>>

to clarify...i am not saying that we tip in pubs...but that's part of the 'value' that must be considered when comparing to nyc where tipping in a pub is required.

Walkinaround

What central London pub is offering a pint for 2.80, I'd like to find it next time I'm in London.