Cheap Eats | The Penny Pincher’s Guide To (Still) Eating Well In London
According to several recent studies conducted by some of the world’s most esteemed economists, London is actually not the cheapest city on earth.
You may need a moment to process that, it’s a shocker, we know.
But as it happens, London is one of the most plentiful & inexhaustibly varied cities on earth, and thus anyone who looks closely will find an abundance of excellent value food that’s not only not bad, but is frequently amazingly good.
The map is studded with great sandwich spots, food markets, local gems and greasy spoons – but also restaurants that feel fancy enough for a bit of an occasion, without cleaning out your pockets. Covering them all would be a Herculean task. But here’s our take on restaurants, cafés and food stalls that, pound-for-pound, serve some of the best-value food in the city. From fresh pasta, to Caribbean feasts, to regional Chinese specialities, here are the best cheap eats in London…
Padella | London Bridge, Shoreditch
Padella and its sequel Padella Shoreditch serve arguably the best pasta in London, and somehow also the cheapest. Their tagliarini with dried chili, garlic & pangrattato is a mere £9.50, with a number of other favourites (like the pici cacio & pepe, pictured above) not far over the £10 mark.
What to get? The tagliarini because you’re here to save money, but if there’s a bit of spare change under the couch get the pici cacio & pepe, no question (it’s £12).
Borough: 6 Southwark Street, South London, SE1 1TQ | Shoreditch: 1 Phipp Street, London, EC2A 4PS | Shoreditch does limited bookings and Borough is just straight-up walk-ins (but you can queue remotely).
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Le Bab | Spitalfields
The founding members of Le Bab all met while working at the three Michelin starred Le Gavroche. So yes, these are kebabs… but not as you know them. As well as proper restaurants across the city, they also have a stall in Spitalfields market – and by virtue of it being a grab-and-go affair, Le Bab’s famed gourmet pork shawarma, fried chicken shish and legendary paneer kebabs are all a tenner or less, whilst their vegan sabich sandwich (also shy of ten pounds) comes with the promise of planting a tree, so you can nourish your body and your soul.
What to get? The chargrilled lamb adana with cassava chips | £9.95
Address: Spitalfields Market, 16 Horner Square, E1 6EW
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Baban’s Naan | Finsbury Park
Anyone that’s been broke and lived around the Arsenal area before knows all about this Kurdish takeaway shop and its famed naans. They’re up there with tastiest cheap eats London has to offer and you can get three of them, classic-style, for £1. Big, freshly-baked, chewy naans heated up to perfect levels of warmth before your now very large eyes in a tandoor oven. We could stop it right there and live happily ever after, but if you’ve got the luxury of a £5 budget it’s definitely worth digging deeper into your pockets for the falafel wrap (£3.50) or, dun dun, even deeper for the Kurdish Kebab (£4.50) that’s fitted with mince.
What to get? Three Pakistani Naans | £1
Address: 51a Blackstock Rd, Finsbury Park, London N4 2JJ
Xi’an Impression | Highbury
An unassuming little spot in Highbury known for dishing up some of the finest, fieriest, Chinese food in London. Specifically, Xi’an street food, including big bowls of thick, chewy, hand-pulled noodles doused in chilli oil, topped with everything from pak choi to pork. The bonus? It’s also a BYOB restaurant (with pretty low corkage).
What to get? Hand-pulled noodles | £12.80
Address: 117 Benwell Road, London, N7 7BW | No bookings
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Netil Market | London Fields
Despite the name, Netil Market actually manages to take the sting out of your lunch order in two ways: 1) the sheer, vast variety of goods on offer, which seem to cover half of the world map, and 2) the not-so-vast prices. See more great street food markets in London
What to get? A slow, ale-braised beef pie from Willy’s Pies
Address: 11-25 Westgate Street, Dalston, E8 3RL | Find more info here
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Fish, Wings & Tings | Brixton
One of the most affordable restaurants in Brixton, Fish, Wings & Tings is the work of Trinidadian-born Brian Danclair, who labels his ambitious culinary style ‘Nouvelle Caribbean cuisine’. What does that mean? Well, it’s essentially a mix of Caribbean flavours and ingredients, all put together using high-end French techniques. And then sold for not-high-end prices.
What to get? The signature cod fish fritters with ginger & lime aioli which are, in his words, like “getting a high five from Jesus”
Address: Granville Arcade, Brixton Village, Coldharbour Lane, Brixton, SW9 8PR | Book Fish, Wings & Tings
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Roti King | Euston, Battersea, Waterloo
Roti King has been a stalwart of any cheap eats list since opening in 2014, and it still draws queues around the block for its buttery soft, flaky roti and warming Malaysian curries, noodle and rice dishes. However the latest branch in Waterloo gets extra credit for its location – it’s an ideal spot for a quick, affordable dinner with a mate before the theatre.
What to get? Roti canai with dhal or chicken | £9.25/9.95
Address: 97 Lower Marsh, London SE1 7AB | Walk-ins only
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Mr Bao | Peckham
Mr Bao is one of those places that’s perpetually busy, from opening to closing. Because that’s just what happens when you’re serving South Londoners cheap eats like their filling, delicious bao buns for a fiver a pop…
What to get? Beef burnt ends bao with burnt onion sauce | £4.90
Address: 293 Rye Lane, Peckham, SE15 4UA | Book Mr Bao
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Ugly Dumpling | Fitzrovia & Carnaby
Nic Crilly-Hargrave
Say hello to the Ugly sisters: Ugly Dumpling in Carnaby, and Ugly Dumpling Fitzrovia. Trust us, they have a great personality. The food is inventive, reasonably priced, and perfect if you happen to be in Central London looking for lunch or a light supper. And yes, the cheeseburger dumpling actually does taste like cheeseburger.
What to get? Get five dumplings plus a side for £11.50 on weekdays, 12-5pm
Address: 30 Rathbone Place, Fitzrovia, W1T 1JG | Book Ugly Dumpling
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Andu Cafe | Dalston
With just two dishes on the menu, this no-frills Ethiopian cafe in Dalston makes it quite literally impossible to spend more than £13 on food. And it’s going to expand your culinary horizons somewhat too, served up in the traditional Ethiopian style, in the centre of an Injera flatbread.
What to get? The traditional sampler | £13
Address: 528 Kingsland Road, Dalston, E8 4AH | No bookings (unless group of 6+)
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Goddards | Greenwich
Pie, mash and liquor was a Cockney’s bread and butter a century ago, and the prices feel pretty old-school too. Only a handful of these institutions survive in London, and Manze’s rightly gets a lot of praise – but Goddard’s in Greenwich deserves some love too, set on a charming corner of London’s ye olde maritime village. A classic pie & mash combo will set you back just over £6, and doubling up only costs a tenner. And though their recipe hasn’t changed since opening in 1890, they still move with the times – there are veggie, vegan and gluten-free options on offer too.
What to get: For a real taste of history, get the pie & mash with jellied eels | £10
Address: 22 King William Walk, Greenwich, SE10 9HU
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Luk Bros | Hackney Wick
Luk Bros isn’t so much a restaurant as a teeny, tiny counter tucked into a corner of the brothers’ Asian convenience store in Hackney Wick. The shelves are crammed with frozen dumplings to enjoy at home later, but we defy anyone to resist picking up a bowl of those mouthwatering puckered pouches to go. They’ll be crisped up on the griddle before being lavished with chilli vinegar and shredded spring onions, and you can hoover them up on a smattering of tables outside if the weather’s nice.
What to get: The pork dumplings with chilli vinegar | £8.50
Address: East Wing Oslo House, 7 Prince Edward Road, London E9 5LX
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Taquiza | Peckham
Taco restaurants aren’t always great value, by the time you’ve ordered a couple of dishes (and totopos… and margaritas). But Peckham’s laid-back Taquiza is a great little spot to know about when you want to stick to budget. Their tacos (served in pairs for £6 or less) are enough for one, groaning with the likes of battered king prawns or fried shimeji mushrooms, and on Saturdays it’s all you can eat – alongside unlimited beers & margs – for £35.
What to get: The smoked beef suadero tacos with salsa roja | £5.50
Address: Arch 164, 115 Rye Lane, London, SE15 4ST | Book Taquiza
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Made Of Dough | Peckham
You don’t have to be made of dough to eat at this lauded Peckham pizzeria. Because their pizzas – which undergo a 60-hour fermentation process and were crowned champions at the London Pizza Festival – are pretty decently priced to begin with… and you can get them for half price every Monday.
What to get? The Artichoke | £12 (full price)
Address: 182 Bellenden Road, Peckham, SE15 4BW | Book Made of Dough (Mondays walk-in only)
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Kerb Seven Dials | Covent Garden
Kerb’s first permanent indoor food market is inside a former banana warehouse in Covent Garden. Peel back the cavernous dining area, and you’ll find a dozen of the city’s finest street food traders, from Jollof Mama’s jollof rice, to Oshpaz’s Uzbek dumplings, to the oozing delights of Dirty Bagels.
What to get? Twice-fried wings at Lucky’s Hot Chicken
Address: Seven Dials Market, Covent Garden, WC2H 9QW | See the traders at Seven Dials Market
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Tapas Hut Negril | Greenwich
You shouldn’t eat everything you find in car parks… but you should definitely eat one of Hut Negril’s mouthwatering Caribbean dishes next time you’re in Greenwich. Chef Gino rustles up Jamaican comforts like jerk chicken, goat curry, ackee & salt fish, and flaky roti, and serves them with boundless energy and enthusiasm from his kiosk outside a 175 year old church.
What to get: Goat curry with rice & peas and plantain | £9.95
Address: Christchurch Way, London SE10 9EQ
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Marugame Udon | Across London
Japan’s home-grown take on fast food is unctuous, warming ramen – and the country’s 800-strong udon chain, Marugame, has now opened several ramen restaurants in London, too. Noodles are made each morning in-house, dunked into steaming bowls of broth or tossed onto the grill, and topped with onsen egg, vegetable korokke or slices of pork in a kind of build-your-own bowl system that’s a bit like a school canteen. And they’re truly the cheapest of London’s cheap eats – they start at £4.95 a pop.
What to get? If you don’t fancy noodles, the curry rice is a comfort food classic | £7.45
Details: See the Marugame website
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Club Mexicana | Spitalfields, Carnaby & Mayfair
A former KERB trader, this Cali-Mexican joint now has a stall at Mercato Mayfair and two standalone restaurants, Club Mexicana Taqeria (in Kingly Court) and Club Mexicana Spitalfields – but you should probably make a beeline for the Spitalfields branch. Why? Because of Taco Tuesdays, of course, where you can snarf down as many tacos as you can humanly stomach for £20. While that may not scream cheap eats – by definition at least – it’s easily got to be some of the best value for money. And on top of that, it’s all completely vegan, too.
What to get? All of them. Twice. | £20
Address: Commercial St, London E1 6LT | Book Club Mexicana
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Kin + Deum | Bermondsey
Kin + Deum is a family-run Thai restaurant in Bermondsey, and it sticks to the very best of street food traditions by making things a) delicious, and b) cheap. Oh, and c) served in an elegant space, and therefore not like street food at all. Nothing on the lunch menu costs much more than a tenner (you’re looking at £13 max, for things like the Royal Pad Thai and Massaman curry) and the dinner menu isn’t a lot more either.
What to get? Their signature, Bangkok’s Gra Pow | £12.50
Address: 2 Crucifix Lane, Bermondsey, SE1 3JW | Book Kin + Deum
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Old Spitalfields Market | Spitalfields
The name Old Spitalfields Market doesn’t truly sell quite how ancient this place is (it first opened in 1638), but then neither does the market itself. With its gorgeous steel & glass roof, well-organised layout, and globe-spanning street food, it feels remarkably modern. And it’s absolutely loaded with cheap eats, including Chinese from Dumpling Shack, traditional Ethiopian food from Merkamo, and a generous portafoglio (Neapolitan folded pizza) for a mere fiver at the Sud Italia truck.
What to get? The portafoglio – hand-held and enormously filling | £5
Address: 16 Horner Square, Spitalfields, East London, E1 6EW | See the traders at Spitalfields Market
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Borough Market | London Bridge
There are worse places to find yourself when you’re hungry than Borough Market. It’s the oldest food market in London, an absolute foodie mecca that’s been around for over 1000 years now. It’s not a bad place to find yourself when you’re running low in the cash department either, with stalls like Juma Kitchen (Iraqi street food), Tacos Padre and The Black Pig (toasted ciabatta sandwiches) parading their fine goods for under a tenner.
What to get? The honey truffle parmesan sandwich at The Black Pig | £10
Address: 8 Southwark Street, SE1 1TL | See the traders at Borough Market
Beigel Bake | Brick Lane
The smoked salmon bagels at this Brick Lane institution are so good that you probably wouldn’t mind paying £10 for them. They’re less than a fiver though, so there’s no need to do that. The lines can be long, but when money’s tight and dirt cheap bagels are beckoning you from the window, you just have to roll with these things (it’s part of the experience). Another aspect that makes Beigel Bake even more appealing is the fact that it’s one of the few London restaurants open 24 hours. Especially when it’s 5am, you’ve just come out of a club and you don’t really fancy eating McDonald’s again…
What to get? The OG salt beef beigel | £8
Address: 159 Brick Lane, E1 6SB
Silk Road | Camberwell
All paths lead to the Silk Road, a Chinese restaurant woven into the fabric of Southeast London’s cheap eats scene. The menu spotlights Xinjiang, a vast region in China’s Northwest, through a smattering of well-spiced dishes like chicken gizzards seasoned with cumin, lamb shish roasted over charcoal and stir-fried, hand-pulled noodles. All of these, by the way, cost no more than about £7. It’s a real treasure of a place…
What to get? Besides what’s mentioned above, the big plate chicken (it’s exactly what it sounds like) can easily be shared between two | £15 to share
Address: 47 Camberwell Church St, SE5 8TR | Book Silk Road
Hungry for more? Here are the best sandwiches in London…