The Chippy, W1
London's best cheap eats
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By Guy Dimond and Charmaine Mok. Photography Tricia de Courcy Ling
Updated: Tue Oct 20 2009 -
Where to find the best cheap meals in London and where to eat out on a budget. Time Out's recommendations for great food and good-value restaurants and cafés in the capital
UPDATE: We have now marked the restaurants where you can enjoy a two-course meal for under £10. Even tastier!
UPDATE 2: Restaurants featured in our all-time best cheap eats feature are marked as a 'Classic cheap eats'
Central | North | South | East | WestCheap restaurants in central London
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Comptoir Libanais
Eat here for under £10, 65 Wigmore Street, Marylebone, W1U 1PZ
This Lebanese café is remarkably affordable for fresh dishes with zingy citrus and herb flavours. The small meze plate allows you to try several of the warm and cold dips and salads. Take note, though: it closes at 8pm. Cost per person without wine or service: around £9. Read more
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The Chippy
38 Poland Street, Soho, W1F 7LY
Here a ‘small’ cod and chips (£7.60) arrives with the freshly fried, hand-cut chips spilling off the plate, the fish encased in a tight, crisp batter. Meal for two with wine and service: around £30. Read more
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Leong's Legends
4 Macclesfield St, Chinatown, W1D 6AX
The menu ticks off many Taiwanese classics – oyster omelette with crown daisies, sanbeiji and sticky rice cooked in a bamboo container – though some confident renditions of Sichuanese and northern Chinese dishes are present too. Meal for two with drinks and service: around £40. Read more
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Malaysia Kopi Tiam
67 Charing Cross Road, Chinatown, WC2H 0NE
Popular dish here is Hainanese chicken rice – tender slabs of poached chicken served with excellent fluffy rice cooked in chicken broth, and a small bowl of chicken soup on the side. Meal for two with drinks and service: around £30. Read more
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Baozi Inn
Eat here for under £10, 25 Newport Court, Chinatown, WC2H 7JS
So cheap are the dishes here, there's a minimum charge for sit-ins, but at £8 per head, we can hardly complain. A new £8.50 set lunch will get you a small bowl of wontons, a refreshing cucumber salad and a large bowl of noodles. Cost per person without wine or service: £8.55. Read more
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Passage Café
12 Jerusalem Passage, City, EC1V 4JP
The small kitchen works wonders with simplistic, hearty bistro fare. With dinner prices like £5.50 for starters, £10 for mains and £3.50 for puds… well, bon appétit, indeed. Read more
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Savannah Jerk
187 Wardour Street, Soho, W1F 8ZB
Our perennial favourite dish is the mutton roti, a hearty portion of full-flavoured stew wrapped in a flatbread; the ackee and saltfish is another winner. Meal for two with drinks and service: around £30. Read more
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Rasa Sayang
Eat here for under £10, 5 Macclesfield Street, Chinatown, W1D 6AY
Nasi lemak, beef rendang – all done with aplomb in a restaurant that has clearly put in its best effort. The service is friendly and efficient, and mains barely top seven quid. Cost per person without wine or service: £8.25. Read more
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Vincent Rooms
Victoria Centre, Vincent Square, Westminster, SW1P 2PD
An inspiring dining experience featuring well-heeled dishes – such as crab bisque with eel – at everyday prices. The exquisite three-course menu (bookended by canapés, coffee or tea and petits fours) is a steal at £22.50. Read more
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45 comments
Oh. i had allways the same problem where to eat or just find georgeous place to sit... Myself using several portals to search 1 is timeout.com and another is favoritelocations.eu Do't know if it works for you, but for me its OK
Thought I'd add another place, I use this place every couple of weeks as it's consistantly good, nice staff and it's a BYO. Cafe Nawaz on Snowfields, just behind Guy's hospital. REally good Indian food.
Hello, we've been in London in summer and went to some "cheap eats" and it was really good to have your guide.
My big Pro: The "Dehli Wala" got the best veggie indian food I'd ever had (...and I had a lot!)
My big "Con" was a cafe at carnaby street/Marlborough.
Quite expensive, old scones, cold water for the tea and unprofessional waiters...
But to make along story short: Your guide is really helpful and we will use it next year again.
Keep at it!!!
Greetings from Braunschweig/ Germany
I love this - a lot. There are so many great places in London to eat cheaply and really enjoy yourself. I find that I don't really enjoy fine dining - I prefer spending between £5 and £20 on some good food, a few drinks and a great atmosphere. My favourites include: Many of the Vietnamese and Turkish places in Shoreditch, Leon, Wahaca, Strada and Zizzi (with vouchers!), Giraffe, Daddy Donkey Mexican Grill and Wagamama.
Time Out - come one! Chaat over Mien Tay?!!! Chaat curries swim in sauce and so long to arrive, not only that but there is only a choice of about 3 dishes so there is NO excuse. Mien Tay is unreal - you missed a trick here.
I had a wheatgrass shot, then a delicious curry meal followed by a homemade superfood truffle at the Inspiral Lounge in Camden, paid about a fiver! Staff were lovely too :-) Inspiral gets my vote!
I have been to inSpiral lounge in Camden on several occasions for the delicious food and exciting events they do there.
I am also surprised not to see the venue listed in Time Out as its the most exciting place I have been to in London.
They have great dance events, DJ,s, singer songwriter performances and the quality of the food including vegan ice cream, makes it a real land mark for alternative entertainment and healthy eating. All Londoners should know about inSpiral lounge.
Agreed on the inSpiral Lounge comment. This place should really be up here. It has awesome food for bargain prices, not to mention the AMAZING healthy dairy, sugar and cholesterol free ice cream and cakes...yum! Best place in Camden in my opinion.
I have been to many restaurants, i must agree with Time Out, Comptoir does it for its 10 out of 10 for less than £10.
Go there have a lamb & prunes tagine with fluffy organic coucous and rose water lemonade all in £8.30.
go there during the day they have free wifi, or in the evening where you can bring your own wine with no corckage.
well worth a try.
Da siva
great selection, but i can't believe you left out inSpiral Lounge in Camden high street. having visited many of the restaurants you feature here, none of them compare to the wide range of tasty and healthy food at inSpiral. that gets my vote
A bit weary of this list as it excludes probably the best cheap eat I have been to in all of London - Hot Stuff in Vauxhall. Great, fresh food that is very reasonably priced and free corkage BYOB on meaning you won't get over £15 pp all in for the entire evening out.
None the less I think I'll give a few of these places a whirl.
The best cheap eat in London is Sheba Restaurant in Brick Lane under £15 per head and the most gorgeous food you will ever have.
the chippy is well nice mann its fish and chipss mmmmmmmmmmmm fish
Won Kei - good chinese?? Baozi would get my vote over that place any day. Next we'll be having recommendations for Mr Wu's chinese buffet as being authentic dim sum!
Hi David, Won Kei also in Chinatown gets my vote.. they're affordable, and the food is better than Bao Zi, although their place is more simple, canteen-like. I know we're talking about value for money here however I have to be honest, Bao Zi's use of oil in their noodle it really is too liberal... I don't know how they get away with it! Try their spicy soup noodle you'll see what I mean.
Also I did not question Baozi's authenticity. Read my post again!