YVR Cockroach

There's this pseudo French bistro chain that at least used to offer a 3 course dinner for GBP 5.

But as othershave said, food in London is expensive anyway you look at it.

GeorgeJ

I found the food prices in London to be incredibly expensive last week...we had lunch one day at Burger King and it was over 3 times as much as we'd pay in San Diego for the same meal (almost 7 pounds for mine alone, which I'd have paid $3 for in the US).

English breakfast at our hotel would have been 20 pounds; those days we ate breakfast, we had the same at a nearby cafe for 8.5 pounds (which was still a lot for breakfast in the states but a much better deal than the hotel).

I'm not sure if the pubs we ate in were really pubs but we went twice to one in Chelsea where we ate for about 7 pounds each and went back later in the week for another dinner it was so good. (And they were actually having a two-for-one special the second time). The food was very well prepared, and what I would have expected in a snooty fancy restaurant for several times the price..This was at a pub on Kings Road called the Front Room..

(The London economy will be happy to know that we more than made up for it with several very expensive dinners and a bruch that was the most expensive meal I have ever had anywhere)



[This message has been edited by GeorgeJ (edited 07-13-2003).]

GadgetFreak

Many years ago I had a revelation while looking at an English menu at a hotel in Tokyo. The cheap American beer (listed as an import of course) cost about twice as much as Kirin or Sapporo. The point being if you eat at an American fast food restaurant in a foreign country you are going to get ripped off. Im not surprised. The other point of course is why should you travel 6000 miles and eat at the same place you can eat at home although that is course an idividual issue (as witnessed by my inability to not go in Starbucks in London )

That being said London is a darn expensive city. However, you can get some great food at decent prices if you look around. The suggestions in the long post above were a very good start. There are some great fish and chips and pub food to be had although they can deteriorate pretty fast in some of the more tourist popular restaurants and districts. One specific suggestion is
North Sea Fish Bar in St. Pancras area. Great fish and chips and quite reasonable. A bit off the beaten track although not too far from the new British Library.

Giler

I realise this thread's not exactly hot, but for the sake of anyone who may be searching the forum for tips in the future...

I can recommend an astoundingly cheap curry in Brick Lane. There are many, of course, but my personal favourite is called the Aladdin (132 Brick Lane, London E1; tel.: +44 20 7247 8210). The service is typically friendly and relaxed, the prices ludicrously cheap, the cuisine Bangladeshi, the quality high, and the d�cor horrendous. What more could you ask?

Giler.

MeLike2Travel

So what exactly does astoundingly cheap mean? What price range is it?

luxury

The problem with London is that "cheap food" as a requirement is fairly difficult to fulfill. "Good food" is not that much easier. "Good AND cheap food" is possible but, in my experience, terribly difficult without having some time to explore.

Satsuma (Japanese food) in Wardour Street, near Brewer Street / Old Compton Street is fairly good value, about �15 for a bento box with rice and miso soup. Busaba Eathai (Thai), just a few doors north (towards Oxford Street) is also good and can eat for about �12. Sofra (Turkish) is also fairly good with locations in Covent Garden (Tavistock Street) and a nice European style square in St. Christopher's Place, between Oxford and Wigmore Streets (closest tube: Bond Street). Lunch can be had for about �12, dinner a little more. Zizzi for pizza's and pasta's (locations all over the place);Beirut Express and Maroush in Edgware Road for good and cheap Lebanese food.....

Also good deals are the prix fixe lunch and dinner menu's at top hotel restaurants -- The Oriental in the Dorchester have Dim Sum prix fixe for �17, �19 and �22 while at the Dorchester Grill, 3 course prix fixe lunch can be had for �23 incl. VAT, service, and coffee -- this is likely the best deal in the city given the quantity and quality of food.

The �21 Bento box at Asia de Cuba in the St. Martin's Lane Hotel is also a good deal; as are the 3 course meals at Indigo and Axis at One Aldwych Hotel in Covent Garden.

Being a student going to Uni in London, it has taken me 2 years to assemble this list (also saving up to try a restaurant 2-3 times a term) which is no where near exhaustive....... I have had so many miserable meals paying �30 on average for horrible food -- I don't care how many magazines and people claim London has great food, I do not believe this to be the case at all. Food in London can be good (and there are some very nice restaurants-- Zaika, Al Hamra) but overwhelmingly disappointing.

davistev

A great way to eat cheaply in London is to buy sandwiches from Tesco or Sainsbury. Add some fresh milk and some fruit and you have a reasonable lunch.

For the most part, London restaurants are expensive and small. But London is a great city. I just would not go there for the food.

The again, I hear it is cheaper than Reykjavik.

MatthewClement

I must be the world's biggest defender of British cuisine. The food at the better restaurants in London is some of the best in the world. Just don't expect it to be cheap.

For a good indication of the cost/quality compromise, have a look at zagat.com -- that'll give you a good indication of meal prices.

luxury

I am not being cheeky at all but which restaurants did you have in mind? I have been so unimpressed with London restaurants. Richard Corrigan was an exception but Gordon Ramsay is over-rated and hyped.

Oddly, I have never found Zagat's to be accurate with approximate costs -- I find Harden's does a better job IMHO........

Giler

About �3 for a curry, last time I was there. Add rice and a naan, have some poppadums beforehand and buy a couple of beers from the off licence nearby and you're still getting change from a tenner.

Giler.