Want to try some delicious food in London but don’t want to pay the extravagant prices? You’re not alone. Visitors and locals are constantly looking for ways to chow down for cheap when they’re visiting the UK’s capital city. After all, London is pretty well-known for being an expensive place to visit, particularly when it comes to restaurant meals and drinks.
Fortunately, there are a few ways you can keep costs low if you want to maintain some of your budget for other London experiences. Here are some quick tips on how to eat for less.
Try Street Food or Foreign Food
Street food doesn’t have to mean dodgy burgers from a local van, especially not in London. Here, you can find some of the most delicious street food around. There are countless markets where you can visit food stalls and get delicious meals in the form of macaroni and cheese, halloumi burgers, and more. See what’s available when you’re out shopping.
While you’re checking out the markets, don’t be afraid to taste flavours from around the world too. London is a great place to go if you want to grab some Chinese, Indian, Turkish and other meals. If you’re not sitting down to eat in a British restaurant, you can expect to pay a little less.
Eat Early if You Can
There are a lot of ways that eating early can save you money when you’re in London. A traditional English cooked breakfast when you first wake up is an excellent and filling way to make sure you don’t need any other snacks until much later in the day. Plus, you can find countless cafes willing to offer these meals for a low price.
Alternatively, you can consider having your main meal at lunch time. For a sit-down experience in a pub or restaurant, you can often expect to spend a lot less on similar meals during the day than you would in the evening. You can always have a lighter meal later.
Stick to What You’d Do at Home
Just because you’re in London doesn’t mean that you need to sit down for a meal at a fancy restaurant before you go to the theatre. If you’re low on cash, you can save some serious money by going to grab some food from a supermarket instead. There are also plenty of meal deals available from UK supermarkets that will give you a sandwich, snack, and drink for less than £5.
If you can’t find somewhere affordable to sit down, you can also find tons of local delivery places who will bring food to you. Download a delivery app like Just Eat or Deliveroo and you can have delightful meals from various different cultures brought to your hotel or room. It’s much easier than you’d think, and much more affordable too.
Avoid Eating at Events
Finally, if you’re visiting London for something in particular, like a convention, a festival, a gig, or even a theatre show, make sure you don’t wait until you’re at the event to eat. More often than not, the price of buying food and drink in these locations is significantly increased because the vendors know that you won’t want to go elsewhere to find something to eat when you’re already settled in.
If you are going to the West End, you could always look into special pre-theatre menus offered by some restaurants for theatregoers nearby. These menus will require you to follow specific rules, like only ordering certain meals, and drinking certain beverages, but they can save you a decent amount of money if you know where to find them.
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