So I’m here in London as a student right now, and being an American, I’m totally scandalized by the prices of everything, especially food. Of course. So every night, we don’t have a plan for dinner, and we end up wandering aimlessly trying to find a few good places to eat that won’t break us poor American students. I remember seeing a thread where someone mentioned a really good and cheap place to eat in the city, and now I can’t find it. Damn! So Londoners, help out me and my fellow poor starving students. We’re between the Glouster and South Kensington stations, but we have unlimited Oyster passes in Zones 1 and 2. We’re hungry and not very picky! I promise I’ll bear in mind that your idea of cheap and mine might be different.
I was just in London in April, and we found (via my Lonely Planet guide) a restaurant called Leon that wasn’t terribly expensive, and had some neat menu items:
http://www.leonrestaurants.co.uk/locations.htm
That site has PDF versions of their menus with prices.
When I was in London on a holiday, I found myself eating lots of “portable” foods : Pret a Manger was decent for yummy sandwiches and salads that you could eat there, or on a park bench. Also, if you haven’t already, check out the supermarkets (esp. Marks and Spencer). They had a vast array of ready to eat sandwiches, salads, etc. that were much cheaper and better tasting than most restaurants.
Oh my God, we ate at Pret a Manger all the time. Good call!
I’ve definitely been eating at Pret A Manger (and what kind of weird name is that?!), and the local Tesco Express certainly has our business. For the most part, we’re set for breakfast and lunch. We have a flat, including a kitchen, so even if it’s ready-made meals, we can still take it back and nuke them. I’m definitely looking for advice like this too, so please keep it coming.
Scout1222, we are right the street down a Leon, so we’ll definitely try that over the next couple of days. Thanks!
You’ve landed yourself in one of the most expensive parts of an expensive city, there! The good thing about London, though, is that because it’s so big, there are plenty of good, cheap(er) restaurants. The trouble is, finding them. There’s a few recommendations here (link stolen from other London thread in IMHO). You might have to travel further out than Zones 1 and 2 to find them, though.
BTW, Marks & Spencer is very pricy compared to normal supermarkets! And “Prêt à Manger” just means “ready to eat” in French. What’s strange about that?
Timeout does a Cheap Eats guide (google cheap eats london will get you to the relevant section on the website). Another website is London Eats which allows you to search according to your budget, but I’d be surprised to find anything ‘budget’ in Kensington.
Try travelling to somewhere less expensive and more ethnic for a better deal. Edgware Road is full of Middle Eastern restaurants and cafes. Mostly call Maroush as far as I recall, all part of the same chain but not all the same price. I’ve eaten in one of the fancier pnes (very good) and have heard good things about the lower end ones (good kebabs).
Further afield, Hammersmith has enough cheap restaurants and takeaways to eats at a different one everynight I should think. Mostly concentrated on Kings Road. Even further afield, the same applies to Southall - you can get excellent Indian food there.
Ready to eat?
The Prince of Wales at Kensington is quite reasonable. Asis the Goats Head Tavern- huge meals.
I really liked Wagamama in London - is that considered pricey?
By london standards, no. It’s good tasty reasonably healthy food at a decent price, but maybe not so good for a social meal if they’re busy. Time Out will give you a decent list of student-priced eateries. It’s been a while since I was price-focused, so I can’t help much other than to say that if you are looking to spend less than £20 per head you’re really pretty limited in central london.
Most pubs will do you a decent feed for about £5-£10 though. Fullers Pie & Ale houses are exactly as described, and Samuel Smiths are also pretty decent IMO.
For a real taste of home, head over to Spitalfields and check out the Arkansas Rib Shack. But wear your eating pants. And if you are in South Ken, go to Bospherous by the station and eat some of their kebab immediately. My greek colleague swears they are some of the best in London.
If you don’t mind a slightly “chain-y” feel, Wetherspoons pubs do passable and very cheap meals, and good and very cheap beer. Beer and a burger for £4.95 at any time of day, last time I went in one a few weeks ago at least.
BTW Pret A Manger is renowned for being enormously expensive for sandwiches. I was going to suggest you try a Benjy’s instead, but they appear to have gone out of business. Ho hum, thought they were always very cheap!
Pubs. That’s where we ate quite a few meals while in London. Beer and pub food is reasonable in London. Restaurants are less so - at times very much less so.
I’ve not been living in London for a while now and on visits back I find the places I used to go have changed/disappeared (that’s London for you)
But here are two I have been back to recently (no guarantee they won’t be Polish delis by the time you get there tho)
The Sweet & Spicy
*very *basic decor - very good curry, pictures of sweaty wrestlers on the walls (IIRC the owner was a wrestler in Pakistan)
Great if you are visiting the Brick Lane/Spittlefields area (which you must do at some time) and wish to avoid the over priced restaurants pimped by the “curry barkers” on Brick Lane.
Seems to be always open
The Harp Cafe
(Probably less use to you as it’s in Shepherds Bush, I guess the Empire is the only reason to visit the Bush) It’s a greasy spoon, does Full English Breakfasts etc - but it also does really nice simple fresh Thai food cheap.
It was still a BYO last time I was there so you can buy alcohol in the Offie next door and take it in for super cheapness (better check with owner that’s still true)
Don’t know about times - was only open until about 3 in the day and had started opening in the evening from 6 IIRC
Stick to the pubs and cafes as mentioned above. Avoid any restaurants. And M & S sangers are okay- if you like mayo.
Forgot one:-
Sagar
In Hammersmith (Prob a bit nearer Ravenscourt Park Tube)
South Indian food (which you must try once then you’ll be hooked <Evil Villain laugh>) - so veggie, but that won’t stop non veggies loving it
(If you’ve not had South Indian food before, make sure at least one of you orders Massala Dosa and the Thalis are the best value so be prepared to do a lot of swapping (a Thali is a sort of everything at once deal, lots of little portions of tasty goodness plus one sweet for comic effect - make sure you identify the sweet and put it to one side if you don’t want an eek! moment)
Prob not as cheap as other two I suggested - but good IIRC for restaurant
Pronounced spittlefields, but spelt Spitalfields. Great area, home of Jack the Ripper, the Liberty Bell, and all sorts of other cool bits of history.
No excuses, you even spelt properly up thread - I even know that it’s a contraction of “hospital fields” - spelling’s not my strong point!
I’m certainly with you on this one! The general trend of the thread is in the direction of south Asia, which is not surprising. My recommendation is going into very ordinary-looking restaurants or takeaways when they’re not too busy, and talking to the staff and finding out what it good. They know which items are just there to please the drunkards, and what they cook properly.
And the best tip for the budget eater: if you see a ‘staff curry’ listed in a quiet corner of a menu, order it. By definition, it’s the one they prefer to eat themselves. Probably very spicy.
Thanks for all of the excellent suggestions, everyone. Unfortunately, I seem to have picked up a nasty bug somewhere along my travels (probably in that damn plane), so I haven’t been eating out much. Good for my budget, but I certainly don’t want to be holed up in my flat every night! I should be getting better soon, so I’ll start trying out your suggestions in a few days! Oh, I’m from Los Angeles, so if “Pret a Manger” had been in spanish, I probably would have gotten it!
That is definitely what I found. I’m very close to a Tesco Express, and I’m about a 10 minute walk from a Waitrose. So, I really, REALLY like the Waitrose and use it fr bigger shopping, but for little stuff, the Tesco is a bit closer.
We tried Wagamama when we were in Canterbury. Really tasty stuff and seemed quite reasonable!
I’ve been eyeballing that place since I first showed up. It’s a little hole in the wall and is always busy, which are both excellent indicators of a good place to eat, in my mind. It’s right by our flat (about a 3 minute walk), so I’ll definitely be going there sooner rather than later!
Thanks to everyone for all of the pub and southern asian food suggestions as well. Can’t wait until I’m feeling better and I can explore more!