Affordable/Cheap/Budget London Restaurants

[Jen Keenan]

brooklyncook! I got my Branston's at Myers of Keswick on Hudson Street but you can get it in your own borough – The Key Food on 5th Avenue has an entire UK section. I'm so proud

Thank you for starting this thread – I'll be taking full advantage of it in two weeks

[PoppySeedBagel]

I went to Leon (36 Gt. Marlborough Street London W1F 7JE ) the other day for lunch - considering it's just behind Liberty's, it's fantastic value. I had excellent felafel in garlic/yoghurt sauce, brown rice with various seeds, a pita bread and a red cabbage sad, all for £4.80, and I think the best brownie I've ever had - for only £1.50. You can eat in or take away. It's healthy fast food - they reach behind them for the food just like in MacDo's, but it's fresh and healthy - based on my one visit.

Edited April 15, 2005 by PoppySeedBagel (log)

[Overlordofpastry]

My girlfriend and I are going to spend a week in London next February at the end of the month. We plan on going to lots of pubs and trying fish and chips, curries and sunday brunch of roast beef with yorkshire pudding. But one night we would like to go to a nice restaurant that serves british/modern eurpean food that is not too expensive. Being from Canada, the exchange is terrible so we are looking at 30 to 35 pounds per person, not including wine for the meal. Does anybody have any recommendations? So far the one restaurant that sticks out for us is The Chancery. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks alot. Cheers.

mike.

[Matthew Grant]

For £35 you've got a whole myriad of restaurants you can try. You wouldn't go far wrong with Chez Bruce, Michelin starred and regularly voted one of the top restaurants in London.

[Jonathan Day]

Try The Food Room, on Queenstown Road in Battersea. This used to be an upmarket Aussie place called Stepping Stone; now it's French ("modern European") and they are doing some interesting work. I believe it's 3 courses for ₤25; you can also have a cheeseboard for a modest supplement.

Nearest tube would be something like Vauxhall, though that would be a hike. Better way to get there would be overland rail to Queenstown Road; it's not a long taxi ride, either.

[Jon Tseng]

It it doesn't have to be dinner, most of the mich star places have prixe fixe lunches in the £30-35 range. Order tap water (don't be ashamed!) and you can just about get away with it. Try The Capital or Tom Aikens for best execution.

ta

J

Edited December 16, 2005 by Jon Tseng (log)

[Andy Lynes]

For £35 you've got a whole myriad of restaurants you can try. You wouldn't go far wrong with Chez Bruce, Michelin starred and regularly voted one of the top restaurants in London.

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Now £37.50 I'm afraid. Still worth it on Wednesday night's showing though.

[Andy Lynes]

The food is not British, but if you find yourself hungry and in the Soho area, I can't recommend Leon highly enough. The menu is all over the place but the grilled chorizo, chicken with salsa verde, grilled flat breads, hummus, salads and even a bowl of green beans were all utterly delicious. Three of us ate there in the evening and ordered greedily and still ended up with a bill of only about £25.00. There's a larger branch in Ludgate Circus if you are venturing in to the city.

[PoppySeedBagel]

I agree about Leon - also I like Andrew Edmonds also in Soho for good, almost homely food, and very British in character (I had ham with piccalilli recently - smashing). I'd avoid their lemon tart though - bought-in and disgusting...

[Izabel_blue]

Lunch at The Belvedere in Holland Park....lovely food, lovely service, amazing atmosphere (with views over the park, etc). They seem to be doing quite a reasonably priced menu du jour at the moment...and the weekend lunch is splendid and only £22.50 for three courses...

Also, even though it is the source of some debate on these boards I'd also recommend Yauatcha for a glamourous though not bank-breaking experience. And the prawn and beancurd cheung fan is fantastic...

Hope you enjoy London!

- Elizabeth (a fellow Canuck-- but now a permanent Londoner too..)

[trsierra]

mike,

you shouldn't miss st. john's bread and wine by spitalfields market.

www.stjohnrestaurant.co.uk

when we visit london we usually go to the smithfields restaurant once for a splurge

and then go to bread and wine a couple of other times...

there is enough on the menu to enjoy a few times and the prices are great. (for london!)

creative, quality food.

tanya

[cachan]

I would suggest Yauatcha for a very affordable lunch, two can eat very well for less than 50 pounds.

[muichoi]

If you have 5 pounds, a bowl of ox tripe noodle soup at the Crispy duck in Wardour Street is pretty nice. Not modern British though.

[daw]

Mike

Slightly OT but take yourselves to Borough Market on a Saturday morning for a great foodie experience and grab any of the range of things available for lunch on the hoof.

David

[Overlordofpastry]

Thanks alot for all the replies, it helped us out alot. Most likely we will end up going to Andrew Edmonds, and jump in at Leon when we are in the area. We probably will also go to the Belvedere for Sunday brunch. Thanks again for everyone's suggestions. Cheers.

mike.

[Mrs Woman]

Hi overlord, I'm sorry to be a pedantic old fool but it is Sunday LUNCH you'll should b asking for rather than 'brunch'. I know I sound petty but I didn't want you to be going to the Belvedere asking for 'brunch' as you'd probably get something resembling breakfast (or nothing at all if they don't do brunch) rather than the roast beef and Yorkshir pud you were after. Hope this helps!

[Andy Lynes]

The food is not British, but if you find yourself hungry and in the Soho area, I can't recommend Leon highly enough.

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Just tried their bacon sarnie. It came ready made and packaged up in greaseproof paper. When I opened it, it had tomato ketchup on it. Tomato bleeding ketchup. That is just wrong. And it was made from some poncy bloody wholemeal toast as well. White bread lightly toasted, decent bacon, HP sauce. Anything else is against the laws of this fine country, everyone knows that. Apart from the owners of Leon apparently.

[Bapi]

When I opened it, it had tomato ketchup on it. Tomato bleeding ketchup. That is just wrong. And it was made from some poncy bloody wholemeal toast as well. White bread lightly toasted, decent bacon, HP sauce. Anything else is against the laws of this fine country, everyone knows that. Apart from the owners of Leon apparently.

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That's absolute testicles Andy. Heinz tomato ketchup is an absolute must. Agree about the white bread though- wholemeal bread is like sawdust.

[naebody]

The food is not British, but if you find yourself hungry and in the Soho area, I can't recommend Leon highly enough.

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Just tried their bacon sarnie.

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Why on earth did you do that? Thanks For Franks is literally 50 yards away.

[Andy Lynes]

The food is not British, but if you find yourself hungry and in the Soho area, I can't recommend Leon highly enough.

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Just tried their bacon sarnie.

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Why on earth did you do that? Thanks For Franks is literally 50 yards away.

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Now he tells me! I have no idea what that is - I'll go and have a look now and bare it in mind for future reference.

[rjs1]

I agree about Leon - also I like Andrew Edmonds also in Soho for good, almost homely food, and very British in character (I had ham with piccalilli recently - smashing).  I'd avoid their lemon tart though - bought-in and disgusting...

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The wine list at Andrew Edmunds is a model of what a wine bar list should be like, and very good value at that. However, you need to make sure that you book well in advance and absolutely insist on a table upstairs - downstairs is a dreadful space.

[naebody]

The wine list at Andrew Edmunds is a model of what a wine bar list should be like, and very good value at that.  However, you need to make sure that you book well in advance and absolutely insist on a table upstairs - downstairs is a dreadful space.

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I'd argue that the reverse is true, given downstairs is non smoking. I'll take overcrowding over fumigation every time.

[rjs1]

The wine list at Andrew Edmunds is a model of what a wine bar list should be like, and very good value at that.  However, you need to make sure that you book well in advance and absolutely insist on a table upstairs - downstairs is a dreadful space.

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I'd argue that the reverse is true, given downstairs is non smoking. I'll take overcrowding over fumigation every time.

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I agree with you in principle, but downstairs at Andrew Edmunds is claustrophobic and will be like the Black Hole of Calcutta in this weather, whereas upstairs has to be one of Soho's nicest spaces.

Answer is perhaps to get one of the tables by the door and only inhale when facing outside?

When I lived nearby there were also two tiny outside tables on the street, although in those days you had to share the pavement with about five people shooting up and leaving the syringes in the gutter (don't know what it's like now).

(

[Scott]

of course Andrew E only takes bookings 1 week in advance, starting on Monday morning... so not always that easy to have your choice of up/downstairs.

[Pontormo]

When I opened it, it had tomato ketchup on it. Tomato bleeding ketchup. That is just wrong. And it was made from some poncy bloody wholemeal toast as well. White bread lightly toasted, decent bacon, HP sauce. Anything else is against the laws of this fine country, everyone knows that. Apart from the owners of Leon apparently.

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That's absolute testicles Andy. Heinz tomato ketchup is an absolute must. Agree about the white bread though- wholemeal bread is like sawdust.

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Hmmm. I am bumping this thread up with some trepidation since I know how many times these regional forums receive the same kind of request. Since the posts above are a mixed bag, I am hoping readers might be willing to link more useful threads I've overlooked, or make new suggestions. I have found a couple of threads on fish & chips and will look for Indian, too. Meanwhile:

I have friends heading off to London to meet their son who's finishing his first year of grad school in Africa. They're very good, unpretentious home cooks and diners, adventurous, even will eat testicles if prepared well. They've spent a few summers living in Paris. Husband's favorite food is French cheese, but also into sausage; wife's is bread, then arugula. They're also a bit nervous about how expensive London is for U.S. citizens on a budget. They'll be there for two weeks, starting the 17th. Thanks!