walkinaround

if you are on this tight a budget, i would not go to harrods for tea. i am not an expert on afternoon tea but there are many places recommended on this board that are cheaper. The Orangery in kensington is one that comes to mind.

besides being a waste of money (IMO, of course), i don't think that it is a good strategy to do the kind of sacrificing that you are talking about in order to splurge on one tea...the expectations are too high and it might not turn out to be what you expect ...for many reasons...the kid might misbehave, etc, etc.

£10 or so per meal without drink is the extreme bottom end cheap for a restaurant in london. to pay less than that, you must really search around, get creative with the ordering or be eating fast food or sandwiches. in other words, you are seriously sacrificing. one tea at harrods is not worth all of this.

walkinaround

Orangery at Kensington Palace

Afternoon tea - £8.95
Grand Tea - £13.95

chocolate2346

Ok, I guess we'll skip the tea experience.

Keeping in mind the hotel will give us breakfast, realistically, in American dollars for the entire day for 2 adults and one child, do you think that we should budget $100 per day for eating?

Lori

Skipping the tea experience sounds good to me. In my opinion it is rather an over-rated/over-priced tourist experience in many cases (not to say British people do no indulge in tea, but it does seem many tourists feel it is something they must do while in the UK).

Are you sure about the hotel "giving you breakfast". If breakfast is included be sure you know what you are getting. It could be Continental breakfast or full breakfast.

chocolate2346

Just to clarify, the tea was going into a different budget (for sightseeing) and we usually budget drinks separately.

It's not that we're not planning to have any drinks with any meals. I'm just working on the food end of it, right now, especially since the travel books seem to not include beverages in their price groupings!!

I'm not trying to be a total cheapskate, but had read in both Fodor's and Rick Steve's London travel books that there were quite a few places you can get by on 7 GBP per person per meal, excluding drinks & service. I wanted to run it past people who have been there or live there to see if it's true.

Yes $100 per day, is a bit beyond what I had envisioned budgeting and if it means cutting some things out of the budget like the afternoon tea (especially if it will be over $100 for the 3 of us, but will consider the Orangery and someone had recommended a tea museum), I will re-work our budget. It's just a matter of moving things around.

Thanks for all the input. I really want a realistic food budget for 2 adults and 1 child, who really don't plan to eat "high-end" meals on a daily basis.

fishee

One thing -- if you're American, the portions are considerably smaller than what you might be used to so take this into account too. I only ate in Indian places for the 2 nights I was there, and the entrees were maybe a 1/3 to 1/2 size smaller than what I normally get in the U.S. I'm used to curry and vindaloo coming out in a platter or serving bowl -- in London, the portions fit neatly into what I'd describe as a cereal bowl or large soup bowl. I thought maybe they did this since I was eating alone but I looked at other tables and it was the same.

It solved any potential problems with leftovers since I normally can't finish an entire entree (in any restaurant) by myself. This wasn't true in London -- I came to appreciate the smaller portions, being able to clean my plate, and not eating to the point of discomfort. But you might have to order more food than you're used to for your family.

I think 14 GBP/pp is do-able if you don't do any sit-down dinners (ethnic food to go) and if none of you are big eaters.

obxgirl

I think $100/day is much more realistic for the three of you. That won't be high end by any stretch but with give you a few more dining options.

The Orangery at Kensington Palace is a good compromise if you decide to go ahead with tea. It's a very pretty setting but a little less formal (stuffy?) than the big hotels. Besides you can combine it with a trip to the Diana Memorial Playground, a guaranteed hit with your son.

The afternoon tea thing is taking a lot of crap these days as an overpriced tourist only experience. So is a carriage ride in Central Park. So what. Both can be fun. Neither is a must do.

And though I typically agree with all of Lori's recommendations, I'd steer far clear of Garfunkels. Bad bad food, IMO.

Lovejoy

Chocolate,
On my last four trips to London I have eaten at a restaurant near Covent Garden called Belgo Centraal.
They have a really good early bird special from 5-6:30 called "Beat the Clock" where the price you pay for a meal is set by the time you order it.
Order your meal at 5:30 and it costs £5.30.There is also a glass of free bier included.
Its a limited menu with about 5 choices,but there should be something of interest for everyone.

http://www.belgo-restaurants.com/

noe847

I went to London with my husband and teen, and we ate very few sit down lunches (mostly grabbed something on the run). Our dinners were at a variety of price ranges.

One reasonable restaurant that has several locations is Pizza Express. We ate at the one near the Strand. We each had a pizza and there were one or two salads ordered. Our total was £35, but that included beer and wine.

We had a delicious curry lunch at the Indian YMCA in Fitzrovia (41 Fitzroy Square). We got 3 curries (cereal bowl size), 3 rices, 3 vegetable side dishes and 3 chapati for £20 (each is available a la carte). Water is the only drink available - free.

One evening we got takeout from the Marks & Spencer food hall. We had lots of different things; berries, salads, pasta salads, breads, pastries, drinks, and a few snacks for later. Our total was £24.

Belgo Centraal in Covent Garden is another very reasonable option. They offer an "express lunch" - several selections available for £5.95, which includes a drink (beer, wine or soft drink). Belgo have a "beat the clock" special on a selection of their dinners - the amount you pay is the time of day that you eat, in pounds (available 5-6:30 pm). So, if you go at 5:45pm you pay £5.45. They also have a different dinner deal, where kids eat free from the kids menu, if an accompanying adult orders a main course from the a la carte menu. You can look at the menu here:
http://www.belgo-restaurants.com/Centraal%20menu.pdf

You will certainly be able to eat at a wider variety of London restuarants for £15 per person, but it can be done for £10 or less.

noe847

Apologies for repeating the information that Lovejoy provided about Belgo. I did not have the most up to the minute version of this thread when I did my reply, so Lovejoy's post wasn't there!

hester

This is what we did in London a few years ago. Myself, daughter(12) and sister we ate the hotel breakfast which was included in the hotel price. We would find the nearest store and pick up food items we wanted. Somedays we ate when we were out the others we ate when we got back from the grocery store. My daughter has a sensitive stomach so it was good to get yogurt and things from the grocery.I also carried power bars from home in my purse for a quick protein snack. It was fun to go to Harrods and pick out food items from the food department, that's were we splurged! I can't tell you what we spent on food but it was very reasonable. But expensive food isn't a priority for me when I travel.

carolyn

The ASK Pizza chain is another place offering good food at cheaper prices, and not just pizza.

Try a Richoux restaurant for tea. The shops are attractive, and the prices are not so high.

Pret A Manger sandwiches are good, too.

Jim_Tardio

Is tipping required in London? Do they expect it?

Neopolitan

Yes, in regular restaurants 10% seems to be the norm.

nona1

Hi,

I think a lot of people were thinking you had to buy 3 meals a day, whereas you are getting breakfast and only looking for 2. That makes your budget a bit more 'doable'.

You want to spend £14 a day each to cover 2 meals. I think you can do this but you'll have to shop around a bit. Say £4 for lunch (sandwich - go to a supermarket or Boots chemist, they have a good selection and are a lot cheaper than many sandwich shops. 'Subway' also have a sandwich of the day special deal.) ...but depending on how active you are being you may need a midafternoon snack as well, a sandwich is not much if you are walking round all day.

Dinner - £10 a head should just about do it but you won't get a lot of choice. Some pubs may allow children into the eating area, but not many in London. And pub food is moving more 'gastro-pubby' and is becoming less of a bargain. Indian restaurants can be very expensive by the time you've added in all the breads and rice and veg etc. Some restaurants offer an all inclusive buffet price and that would help you. Otherwise, you could always buy and eat more cold stuff in your hotel some evenings every other day and then eat out better. For £15 you could put together a pretty good cold feast/picnic dinner for 3. Say a pre-cooked chicken (you can buy those hot too), bread,cheese, salad etc.

Your 7 year old will be able to share your meals. It is possible I suppose in an Indian but he would still need his own portion of rice/bread. We don't serve oversized portions here in the UK - a meal is for one person. It won't be popular with the restaurant either. A lot of places do kids meals though which come in at around £5-£8.

nona1

Of course, if you want to stick to places like MacDonalds then your budget will be fine. A MacDonalds meal (normal size) is around £5-£6 in London. (does that give you an idea of how far a £10 dinner budget will go?)

WillTravel

Another poster mentioned this place a while back, and my daughter and I visited in August. Less than 3 pounds for all-you-can-eat Indian vegan food. Not the very best Indian food I've had, but certainly adequate and filling.

92 Chapel Market, near the Angel tube

Cheese seemed to be quite inexpensive at grocery stores. You could buy a good portion of Camembert for 1 pound at Tesco, a price I couldn't imagine at home. Find a good spot to buy bread (although I don't know any offhand), and make your own picnic.

m_kingdom2

You aren't going to get much for that sort of money, but then let's view it as 21GBP per person per day.

I wouldn't bother with breakfast, I very rarely take it if I'm at home or if I'm away and it's not included (it's not a meal I particularly enjoy). So that's saved you some money (hard to quantify as the price range is large).

The let's assume you have a sandwich and accompaniment for lunch, that's 5GBP (the places like Pret, Eat, M&S will all charge 2-3GBP per sandwich, plus a drink and 5GBP is about right), so that leaves you with 16GBP for dinner. Now you can go to places with a set menu 12GBP for two courses, and they will be OK, tasty perhaps, certainly edible, but nothing special. Or you can go somewhere a little better and just enjoy one good course.

Or you can simply forget the budget and just eat at sensible places and you'll find that that is probably equally suitable. But if you want three proper meals a day then 7GBP per meal is very tight. Lots of places will charge well in excess of 7GBP for a starter, and I'm not even referring to starred or even recommended restaurants. You can always go to fast food chains and they will come within your budget.

Also, factor in a 12.5% service charge if it's added to your bill, that's increasingly common in London these days.

But, I can't tell you of a time when I've spent 7GBP on any meal recently. Even if I pick up a sandwich from a sandwich bar or chain sandwich bar, that's usually over five pounds with a drink and/or coffee. As for sitting in a restaurant and coming away with a bill for 7GBP, even if you go to a chain (such as ASK, Strada, Zizzi) for a simple pizza, that will cost about 10GBP with a drink and nothing else.

worldinabag

Hi

Have you thought about renting an apartment? For eg. http://www.london-house.com or http://www.cyberrentals.com/England/London/r482.htm. Probably cheaper than a hotel and you can cook your own meal. You can buy alcohol from the grocery store at a much cheaper rate as well.

Just a thought.

walkinaround

chains like ASK, pizza express, zizzi, strada, etc are very poor value for money IMO. a small pizza for one is about £8-10 and hardly enough food if you are hungry...even a modest eater would probably want a salad as well. i stay away from these places unless there are few other choices.

i have not been to belgo for a while but i did not find the early bird thing to be a good value, nor did i particularly like the place (despite my like for belgian food and beer). i think that special offer is a gimmick that a lot of tourists fall for.