London - Food Budget?

Old Mar 27th, 2006, 03:40 AM
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You may be right about Belgo attracting a lot of tourists, walkinaround, but the person who recommended it to me as his favorite for "cheap eats" is a London native.
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Old Mar 27th, 2006, 04:09 AM
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The simple answer to chocolate's question is that if you set £20 a day as a budget, you'll have no serious difficulty in sticking to it.

Apart from the Mayfair area, there's nowhere in town where it's impossible to get three full, healthy meals a day for a total of £20 without eating in McDonalds - though it does help if you lunch on sandwiches or other supermarket pre-prepared food. And you can do so without taking your child into a pub: in fact the pubs where a 7 yo would fit in central London tend to be pricier than average.

If you don't get enough suggestions by searching this board (and there are almost as many postings on cheap eats in London as there are on wearing trainers), an investment in Time Out's Cheap Eats in London will pay for itself on day 1.
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Old Mar 27th, 2006, 06:42 AM
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oops I meant a 7 year old will NOT be able to share your meals.
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Old Mar 27th, 2006, 07:56 AM
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If you're at Trafalgar Square or the National Gallery, check out the Cafe in the Crypt at St Martin's in the Fields where you can get a full meal for just 5-7.50 pounds (plus beverages). A few years ago, my dds and I spent a delightful 9 days in London on a very, very tight budget and enjoyed our experience there so much that we went back for a second meal.

We often grabbed sandwiches and milk at places like Pret a Manger and then stopped in a park for a low-cost picnic lunch.
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Old Mar 27th, 2006, 11:20 AM
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One of the places we ate at, but missed having tea at, was the Orangery at Kensington Palace. When we go back, will definately try to make it for tea...They were setting up while we ate lunch and the spread was breathtaking. For us, part of the experience was just to try new and different things. There was a Safeway down the street from our hotel in Edgeware and we bought breakfast items and sodas there. Much more budget friendly. Marks and Spencer and other places helped round out the budget. One place we didn't plan ahead for eating was at the Tower and it was very expensive. Have a great trip!
julie
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Old Mar 27th, 2006, 11:32 AM
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Yes....the Crypt as mentioned above has excellent food and we ate there several times during our stay. It always seemed to be right there when we needed it. You can do a meal or get soup and bread, their desserts are great! I need to go back to London! Soon!! The next time we go will be with kiddos (8/9) around your child's age, so it will be fun to hear what you ended up doing.
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Old Mar 28th, 2006, 10:39 AM
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Excellent suggestion repliers!

I'm looking through a copy of Time Out's Cheap Eats in London, as CotswoldScouser suggested.

I've set my food budget & we have lots of options, based on input here and in books I previously mentioned.

Regarding some previous questions people asked me:

Yes, I'm positive my hotel serves us free hot full "American-style" breakfast (it's guarenteed free for Hilton Diamond members & I checked with the Hilton forum of recent Diamond members who stayed at the same hotels as I am...in fact someone who just got back informed me he had the best free scrambled eggs of any Hilton at my hotel).

No, I won't consider an apartment, because my lodging at Hilton is free.

Again, thanks to all, I just wanted to get some basis for a flexible non-top end eating budget to see if what I read in those books was accurate.

London eating budget is set and we're moving on to other travel plans, but I will check back between now and when I leave in July to see if there's any new input that might still be helpful.

I'll try to keep track of some of what we spend at where, so I can file a trip report (however, seeing as how I'm an accountant/auditor, want to travel light, and hate to do work stuff on leisure trips...I may not keep track of all the specific expenses...it's too much like work!).
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Old Mar 28th, 2006, 12:45 PM
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If you are a diamond member at Hilton, they should also provide you with access to the Executive lounge from 5 to 7 p.m., which includes free drinks as well as hot and cold hors d'oeuvres. That could help you tame the food budget a bit.
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Old Mar 28th, 2006, 02:00 PM
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Especially traveling with a child, you might have your big meal of the day at lunch. Lunches are usually cheaper than dinners, and it's nice to take a long rest after several hours of sightseeing.

And if you have a big afternoon tea, you can skip dinner that night.

Children can eat in some pubs, especially where they have a separate dining room; you need to ask.

I think you can do okay on L7 per person per meal if you seek out inexpensive restaurants.
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Old Mar 28th, 2006, 02:13 PM
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http://budgettravelonline.com/bt-dyn...060400655.html
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Old Mar 28th, 2006, 02:16 PM
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Oops, posted above before I was done.

Article posted above and the following have some more budget eateries:

http://budgettravelonline.com/bt-dyn...060400870.html
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Old Mar 28th, 2006, 02:23 PM
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Thanks, chocolate, an excellent list that I can hardly wait to test out.
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Old Mar 28th, 2006, 02:47 PM
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i took a quick look at those articles and one is almost 3 years old and the other is almost 6 years old. they are priced in US$ and the dollar has dropped significantly since those days. prices have also gone up....and i think it is just overall misleading.

you can get an appetiser, main and glass of wine for just over £5 at the stockpot in soho? no way.

and at the shampan on brick lane, you can get two courses and desert for about £6? actually, just the curry (without rice bread or desert) will cost you at least that....and that is the cheap end of the menu.

besides, many of the recs are pretty dreadful. moon over water is a wetherspoons pub (chain)...perhaps ok if you are really in a cash bind but far from a proper meal...even by budget standards. i would only recommend it to people on a dirt poor budget.

"diehards" go to brick lane for curry???

"eat like a local" ....i don't think so.
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Old Mar 28th, 2006, 02:48 PM
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Sorry if someone else has already pointed this out - if you eat in a pub there is no service as you don't tip. It's certainly not impossible to eat for under £7 per person. Even today I had an 8oz Gammon and chips for £4 in a pub. Many places do steaks for a fiver or two for one etc at lunchtime (not as common in the evenings). There will be hundreds of pubs in backstreets that will be competing with each other. OK, so the food isn't exactly haute cuisine, but what do you expect for that money? Most pubs at lunchtime will allow children to eat (that may not be the case in the evenings).
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Old Mar 28th, 2006, 02:55 PM
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One thing to keep in mind - cheap kebabs can indeed cause food poisoning, as I found out this summer. I had read to avoid these in London, but had always gotten away with it before.
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Old Mar 31st, 2006, 01:15 AM
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I think it's been mentioned already, but the Indian YMCA hostel offers a fantastic curry menu - 3 of us ate very well there yesterday for less than 14 GBP.

It's at 41 Fitzroy Square, close to Warren Street tube, and the junction of Euston Road and Tottenham Court Road, if you are walking or using the buses.

More info and good multi-map at

www.indianymca.org
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Old Mar 31st, 2006, 09:45 AM
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I'm not trying to be a smart ass, but you're on vacation. Why not just eat what you want, put the meals on a credit card...and pay it off later?

I realize some folks are on very strict budgets, but don't you think you owe it to yourself to splurge a bit?

I'm not suggesting you eat high-end gourmet food everyday, but eating well at moderate prices isn't hard to do.

Have fun!
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Old Mar 31st, 2006, 09:54 AM
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If I recall correctly, the OP is an accountant or an auditor so I'm guessing the phrase "...put the meals on a credit card...and pay it off later?" is the sort of thing that would give her nightmares.
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Old Mar 31st, 2006, 10:20 AM
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Even if you can pay for expensive meals up front, lots of people will simply not want to do so. Particularly if there's a significant chance that the expensive meal will not be particularly wonderful, which is too common in London.

I know you can do very well if you research and use good judgment, but random splurges on expensive London meals are likely to be quite disappointing, and will mean you can't splurge on something else more important or enjoyable.

When in London, I tend to scrimp on food, although still eating palatable, nutritious meals, because I know I can have fabulous meals in lots of other places for a fraction of the London price.
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Old Apr 1st, 2006, 08:47 AM
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I absolutely agree, WillTravel. Many times when traveling we'll skip the formal dinner.

But I don't think one should stress about having a beer with dinner and breaking the budget. I'm just saying to enjoy yourself and deal with the budget when you return home. It's not going to be a huge sum of money anyway.
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