The best cheap eats in London

This Ethiopian cafe bashes out hearty vegan food in a friendly, no-frills setting. Inside, it’s simple: take a seat among the fairy lights and artificial plants and you’ll be asked whether you want traditional injera (a spongy, savoury pancake) or rice, which will then be served up with six sample dishes. It’s all about the greens and aromatic stews made with beans or lentils here, which are pimped out with plenty of garlic, ginger and turmeric. It's BYO, too. 

Price: £7 per person or £12 for two. 

Going strong for more than three decades, this plain-looking Earl’s Court restaurant and bar is still packed to the rafters – and as good as it ever was. As soon as the proper caramel-coloured prawn crackers arrive, you know that this place is the real deal. So dig into their great-value menu for all the usual Thai suspects – from the fresh and frighteningly spicy som tum (green papaya) salad served in a deep bowl to curries, stir-fries and luscious pad thai topped with a traditional lattice pancake. 

Price: Pad thai £8; red Thai curry with steamed rice £10.

Camera-wielding gastro geeks still line Lexington Street hoping to hashtag London’s finest bao, and there’s always a queue outside this iconic no-bookings eatery – your best bet is a late dinner. Spend your tenner wisely by picking from the line-up of steamed buns (the ‘classic’ with braised pork belly, peanut powder and fermented greens is a must), but don’t ignore the ‘xiao chi’ snacks such as trotter nuggets or mapo aubergine with chi shiang rice. If you prefer to book, head to Bao Fitzrovia. 

Price: Bao from £5.25; Taiwanese fried chicken with hot sauce £6.75. 

Fun buns in Chinatown might make you think of Taiwanese bao, but these beauties are of the Cantonese variety – closed-up, then stamped with their identity. There are pig buns, fish buns, custard buns and more, but do order some small dishes too (curry fish balls, chilli tripe or glass noodle salad, say) and bulk things out with a rice pot of beef brisket. They also do a ‘tea service’ if you’re eating in (£2), but note that BH is strictly first-come, first-served.

Price: Buns from £2.50; chu hou beef brisket rice pot £6.80.

Tucked away in Hammersmith’s Polish Social and Cultural Association is a back-to-basics caff serving some of the best dumplings in west London. Soft, pillowy and as comforting as David Attenborough whispering in your ear, the pierogi here come boiled, fried and filled with everything from roast pork and cabbage to sweet strawberry.

Price: Pierogi from £5.20 to £5.50.

Big menus are commonplace in Chinatown, but such a vast repertoire seems impossible from a galley the size of an origami boat. Still, Café TPT manages to deliver its flavour-packed pan-Chinese bonanza with commendable aplomb – despite functional decor, bare tables and matter-of-fact service. Best bets are Cantonese staples such as succulent roast duck on rice, although we crave the Hong Kong-style ‘Tai pai tong hawker dishes’ too. Anything with seafood is worth ordering. 

Price: Mixed roast meat on rice £6.50; nasi lemak £8.

If you’re after a cooked breakfast with a difference, it’s worth taking a peek under the dangling lights at modern Walthamstow tea house Chaiiwala (part of a small London chain). For £4.50, you can kickstart your day with a masala omelette, a roti, masala beans or creamy dahl, and a cup of karak chai. It sure beats a lukewarm McMuffin and a tepid stewed coffee.

Price: Desi breakfast from £4.50

Having built a cult following at Boxpark in Shoreditch, charismatic plant-based food champion King Senathit (aka King Cook) has migrated to a cool location under an arch close to Netil Market. Expect affordably priced bowls of vegan rainbow goodness, crammed full of vegetables, tofu or fake chicken – try the jerk combo on brown rice, the udon noodle bowl with char siu ‘crumbles’ or the ‘full English’ with scrambled tofu ‘egg’ etc. Simply order and pay at the counter, then collect when your number is called. 

Price: Bowls from £8.50 (plus toppings).

It doesn’t matter whether you opt for hot or classic spiced meat, the pork dumplings at this Cantonese stalwart in Chinatown work out at an extremely reasonable 94p each. The only problem? They taste so damn good (herby, satisfying and substantial) that we guarantee you’ll finish a portion of eight (£7.50) ready to take on even more.

Price: Pork siu long bao from 94p each.

Fast-growing south London mini-chain Eat of Eden has recently brought its Caribbean-inspired vegan goodies to Shepherd’s Bush. There are stews, curries and sticky plantain, but we like the plump patties best. Light, flaky pastry encases a well-spiced but not too spicy filling of dhal, vegetables or – our fave – callaloo (a spinach-like vegetable). At a bargainous £2.20 each, you should really try all three.

Price: Callaloo patty from £2.20

A mural-laden SheBu favourite, Esarn Kheaw has been serving north-eastern Thai food to an appreciative crowd of locals for more than 25 years. The dark dining room may be starting to show its age, but the cooking is as good as ever and most dishes are budget-friendly – witness marinated chargrilled beef, spiced catfish or blisteringly hot vegetarian jungle curry. Also don’t miss the boiled and deep-fried ‘son-in-law eggs’ – a delicious mouth-cooling foil to the spicy food. 

Price: Ox tripe soup £7.95; spiced glass noodle salad with minced pork £7.95.

You can choose between four Sri Lankan curries and rice at this ever-changing Lewisham hangout. Think: pumpkin, vibrant beetroot or chilli-spiked dry-spiced potato numbers, ladled from behind a counter. The decor’s constantly transforming so expect a different experience every visit.

Price: Curry and rice from £7.95.

A glowing wall of photographs of meaty flatbreads, falafel dishes and salads sits above the rotating meats at Falafel and Shawarma in Camberwell. Don’t let it distract you from the best deal in the house, though. At this beloved café-takeaway you can get a juicy chicken shawarma wrap and four spicy, fragrant samosas for just a fiver.

Price: Shawarma wrap and samosas from £5

There’s usually a queue at this Med-inspired Turkish grill, but no-nonsense service means you’ll bag a table pretty quickly. While you wait, get the juices flowing by watching Fez’s meat maestros as they rotate the hefty barbecue skewers and shave slices off the own-made doners. They also score highly with cut-above accompaniments including crunchy red cabbage, spice-rubbed flatbreads and tangy Turkish yoghurt. It’s BYO and they don’t charge corkage – hooray!

Price: Lamb doner £9.20; falafel, rice and salad £7.20.

Locally renowned as one of the dreamiest sites on Brixton’s rumbustious market, FW and T has a communal vibe with its battered, bright-orange tables, effervescent service, reggae tunes and easygoing menu. To start there are ‘codfish’ fritters, jerked-up pepper prawns and kingfish curry with rice ‘n’ peas; then come the ‘reggae’ wings, and finally there are loads of ‘tings’ – from goat roti with green mango chutney to oxtail stew. Thirsty? Slam down a Trinidadian beer or a fruity rum punch. 

Price: Reggae wings with pineapple and mango chutney £6.50; goat curry £10.

Squiggly cartoon colours and rough-hewn ‘Flintstones’-style furniture set the scene at Yugoslav chef Peter Ilic’s health-promoting venture a short stroll from King’s Cross station. Everything feels carefully made and quirky (in a good way), from the Ottolenghi-style salads such as roasted sweet potatoes with kale and tofu dressing to the hearty, comforting hot dishes (Thai chicken curry, vegan moussaka etc). All-you-can-eat buffets are the main attractions at lunch and dinner, while BYOB adds to the overall value. There’s an offshoot in Putney. 

Price: All-you-can-eat buffet £7.50.

Housed in the basement of a shabby boozer around the back of the Edgware Road, the Heron is a rough diamond, but beyond its slightly dingy interior, you’ll discover some of the most authentic Thai food in London (yep, that means spicy!). The kitchen specialises in north-eastern cooking, with an impressive range of salads, sour curries and stir-fries – all budget-friendly stuff. Expect things to get lively after 9pm, when the dining room doubles as a karaoke lounge. 

Price: Spicy pork liver salad £8; fried rice with crab, egg and onions £9.

A popular Indian canteen on Islington’s Chapel Market, serving an all-you-can-eat buffet in karmic (some might say preachy) surrounds. As the name suggests, it’s totally veggie and a lot of the stuff also ticks those vegan boxes – think vegetable curries, dhals, colourful salads and feather-light parathas. No wonder this place is a stalwart for cheap dates and early-evening carb loading, especially if you BYOB. Also don’t forget to bring some cash – they don’t accept cards.  

Price: All-you-can-eat buffet £7.95.

From cauliflower and chickpea, to long bean and paneer, there’s no reason not to treat yourself to a whole damn platter of veggie curries at BYOB spot Jai Krishna (handily across the road from an off-licence) in Finsbury Park. One of the more expensive items on this list (but still very cheap) is the thali, but its vastness makes it well worth it.

Price: Thali from £9.50.

Run virtually single-handedly by delightful one-woman army Getenesh Gabiemichael, this tiny Ethiopian restaurant opened in 1999, and the prices barely seem to have shifted since. The veg basic – three dishes, served on flatbread – will set you back just a tenner.

Price: The Veg Basic from £10.

Watch noodles being hand-pulled and cooked to order, then tuck into bowls of nourishing soup at this late-night joint near Leicester Square (open till 5am at the weekends). Skip the neon Chinese buffet in the window and stick to the composite rice plates or noodles – we love the twisted and stretched lamian version with stewed beef (ask for extra broth and fewer noodles). Also look out for affordable set deals. 

Price: Noodles from £6.15; char siu pork chop with rice £8.

South-east London’s perpetually upbeat Polish restaurant has bounced around locations a few times lately, becoming fractionally fancier each time – the cheap milk-bar vibes are a thing of the past at its hipstery Lambeth venue. But a hearty plate of pierogi ruskie is still kind on the wallet.

Price: Pierogi from £5.60.

Harrow is happy to have this convivial BYOB venue serving Afghan grills and comfort food to big family gatherings – neither the setting nor the portions are built for a romantic dinner à deux. It’s worth asking what’s been freshly cooked that day: you can’t go wrong with the sabzi lamb (with spinach) plus a side of dhal or some naan bread. Also look out for the mantoo and aashak (pasta dishes), as well as the rice-based palow and chalow riffs. 

Price: Kobeda chicken (two skewers with naan and salad) £6.95; kofta chalow £8.95.

Following the huge success of its pokey original branch by Tooting Bec tube station, Meza’s second coming is now the go-to for Lebanese food in Tooting itself. The same standards apply (welcoming service, low prices), but there’s a bit more space – and you can book. Eat cheaply by sharing and grazing on hot and cold ‘meza’ or pick one of the cheaper mains – perhaps kafta djaj (skewered minced chicken with chilli sauce and pitta) or memieh (okra in tomato sauce) served on vegetable rice.  

Price: Kafta djaj £10; memieh with vegetable rice £9. 

Having expanded into the premises next door, this well-liked Vietnamese stalwart has gone upmarket – although it’s lost none of its allure as a destination for first-rate cooking. Seafood is the big draw here and the kitchen proves its mettle with punchy ideas such as stir-fried green mussels with ginger and spring onion or scallops with black bean sauce. The fragrant rare beef pho, bursting with noodles, beef balls and green herbs is a must for under a tenner. There are outlets in Battersea, Fulham and Wood Green.

Price: Beef pho £9.50; claypot curries from £8.50.

Dishing up gutsy Northern Chinese food in a boxy little room off Euston Road, Murger Han trades on value. Although the place is synonymous with murgers (slow-cooked meat in flatbread), the highlight of the wipe-clean menu is a deep bowl of hand-pulled noodles topped with pak choi, omelette and braised pork. The flavours are bold, prices are low, and the food comes fast with absolutely no ceremony. Similar deals are available at Murger Hanhan – an upmarket offshoot in Mayfair.

Price: Pork murger £6; beef soup with ox tripe and tofu £8.50.

Fish and chips is one of those fast-food meals that, if you want to get a nice version of in London, always seems to be unnecessarily expensive. The solution? Head to one of the city’s best chippies (that’ll be Poppies) but skip the £15 fish in favour of some of its crisp-on-the-outside-soggy-on-the-inside chips squished into soft bread for £3.95. Order with lots of butter and even more vinegar.

Price: Chip butty from £3.95

Clapton’s My Neighbours the Dumplings might be the most-hyped east London dumpling chain, but true dump heads know that cheaper, tastier ones can be found just a few miles away in BYOB spot Panda Dim Sum in Leytonstone. The best-value of them all are the pork-and-prawn siu mai at just 90p each.

Price: Pork-and-prawn siu mai from 90p.

Launched by Alan Yau in 2008, this smart outpost of a Milanese bakery chain is a good-looking spot and the food is varied enough to keep punters coming back for more. During the day it’s all about the frenetic self-service counter (cakes, pastries and breads, filled focaccia, hot dishes, slices of pizza and lots of attractive salads). In the evening, the adjoining pizzeria comes into its own with table service and a menu of wood-fired pizzas, pastas and other seasonal stuff.

Price: Pizzas from £7.50; spaghetti carbonara £8.

Marble countertops give this Lebanese takeaway near Marble Arch a vibe that’s almost as decadent as the shawarma it serves up. If you’re after all the indulgence of black pepper and nutmeg sesame marinated lamb at less than half the price you’d pay for a main here, get it in a sarnie with tahini, salad, parsley and sumac for just £6.50. Extremely good stuff.

Price: Shawarma lamb sandwich from £6.50

Over the past ten years, Stoke Newington Church Street has filled with pretty chic shops, bars and restaurants, but none of them have the star quality of Rasa and its bright pink restaurant front. Get Keralan speciality avial here – a yellow curry made with turmeric, coconut, green bananas and mixed vegetables.

Price: Avial from £5.95.

Sit down and eat for under a tenner at this intensely cosy, family-run Italian – an honest down-home ‘neighbourhood’ restaurant in the old-fashioned sense of the word. Regulars know the menu by heart, there’s an ice-cream bar up front and a couple of alfresco tables for that faux-Italian vibe. Neapolitan-style pizzas and generous pastas (the spaghetti napoli is a classic) are the go-to choices for the garrulous groups who regularly pack the place.   

Price: Spaghetti napoli £7, pizzas from £7. 

As its name suggests, this dinky Caribbean takeaway specialises in huge discs of springy bread. Get one stuffed with spinach, potato, pumpkin, beans or chickpeas, or, for a mere fiver, all of the above. Despite the veg being smooshed together inside the fat roti parcel, individual flavours cut through. Curried meat versions are also available for an extra few quid. It’s the most nourishing snack in town.

Price: Mixed veg roti from £5

As the name suggests, this teeny Euston backstreet basement serves up astounding Malaysian rotis, either stuffed or with equally first-rate curries for dipping. They’re crisp, chewy and feather-light but also dense – perfect with an ambrosial glass of teh tarik (chilled sweet tea). Also look out for great-value ‘local’ dishes such as nasi lemak, nasi goreng and beef rendang. RK is really is small, so dining solo or in pairs is probably sensible. Go early evening to beat the queues.  

Price: Sweet and savoury roti canai from £5 (two pieces); nasi goreng £7.

Wembley’s stalwart veggie/vegan emporium turned juice bar, snack counter and restaurant serves up a broad menu of South Indian, Gujarati, Indo-Chinese and, er, Italian-style pizzas in utilitarian, Formica-heavy surroundings. Dosas, wraps, daily curries, noodles and street-food bites are all decent value and perfectly pleasant for those on a tight budget, but Sakonis is best known for one dish: the super-celebrated, best-in-town chilli paneer. There are branches in Harrow and Hatch End. 

Price: Chilli paneer £8.25; triple hakka (rice and noodles) £7.50.

It may look a bit like a backpacker café, but Malaysian-born Mandy Lin’s laksa bar offers food that’s quality as well as fun. Prices are a tad higher than you might expect, but you can’t go wrong with the standard laksa – puffy, satisfyingly chewy strips of tofu, rice or egg noodles all set in the rich, fiery red, fragrant, coconutty broth. It’s hands-down the best – and best-value – dish on the menu, although you might also consider the noodle salads. 

Price: Standard laksa £9.70; chicken and rice noodle salad £10.

A whopping great restaurant outside a shopping centre in Stratford, Sichuan Grand lives up to its name on both counts and there are dishes on its vast menu that linger long in the memory – like the crunchy but gelatinous shredded jellyfish with black vinegar dressing. Portions are almost impossibly generous, so fill up for less than a tenner by ordering the soupy wontons, a plate of hot-and-sour glass noodles with pig’s intestine or some cold noodles with shredded chicken.   

Price:  Chongqing spicy and numbing noodles £8.20; dumplings with chilli sauce £6.80 (six pieces).

A pioneer of regional Chinese cuisine in London, this Camberwell cutie puts the focus on dishes from the north-west frontier province of Xinjiang. It’s a friendly haven for fans of hand-pulled noodles, skewered shish, dumplings and stews, so look for regional classics such as the chilli-spiked ‘big plate’ or ‘middle plate’ chicken’. The flavours can be fiery, although they’re tempered with a plethora of spices – a legacy from the namesake Silk Road of yore. Cash only.

Price: Beef cube and potato stew £7; ‘middle plate’ chicken with belt noodles £9.

Colourful, crowded and charmingly bonkers, Sally Chambers’s Middle Eastern café is shoehorned among the paraphernalia of Peckham’s Persian delicatessen. Expect a full-on veggie interpretation of Levantine and Persian cuisine, from traditional meze and wraps with seasonally inspired fillings (quince, halloumi and caramelised celeriac) to daily soups and hotpots, and all-day fillers such as baked sweet potato topped with Persian baked beans. Also, don’t miss the lush Turkish delight sundae. BYOB for supper.

Price: Meze platters £4.50/£8.50; wraps £5.50.

Peckham’s hip Mexican joint has pivoted to takeaway. Baja fish tacos shot through with lime cream are sublime for just £3.95 each and while you may question the appeal of hot avo, battered avocado tacos with ‘coconut bacon’ are the bomb for vegans. The menu recommends two tacos per person, but on large tortillas, you could get away with just the one on a budget – then grab a michelada to go as a substitute.

Price: Baja fish tacos from £3.95

A huge, full-on East End curry house that has acquired almost mythical status since launching back in 1972, Tayyabs remains as frantically busy as ever – don’t come here expecting a relaxed chilled-out ruby. No matter, because the food at this Punjabi stalwart is a bargain and the flavours are potent – tuck into the fiery grilled lamb chops, rich dahls and generous karahi bowls (‘small’ versions are big enough and cheap enough for one person). Corkage-free BYO is a budget-friendly bonus.

Price: Tandoori lamb chops (four pieces) £7; karahi ghost (small) £7.50.

It doesn’t matter if you go kofte, shish, liver or heart, the thing to order at Umut 200 is lamb. Juicy, spicy, fatty, excellent lamb. You can get any of the above tucked into a wrap for just £7. Hell yes.

Price: Lamb wrap from £7

Throwing down the Vietnamese gauntlet outside the entrance to Chinatown, this hip outfit puts an ultra-chic spin on things with its industrial interiors and throbbing dance music. The cooking’s pretty cool too, with a pick ’n’ mix menu of stellar street food devised by ex-Hakkasan chef Jeff Tan – do try the so-called ‘150’ pho (based on slow-boiled bone marrow and chicken), the bún vermicelli specials and modern Vietnamese tapas such as smoky spiced quail or crispy coconut calamari. 

Price: ‘150’ pho tom with freshwater prawns £9.20; grilled chilli sirloin beef salad £8.

The folks at Xi’an Biang Biang know a thing or two about pulling and twirling strands of starchy goodness, so drop by for some excellent hand-pulled ‘thin’ noodles or their hot-ticket biang biang ‘belt’ versions – bowls of chilli oil-slicked ribbons slathered with any number of delicious sauces and toppings from ‘special’ spicy beef to ‘big plate’ on-the-bone chicken. Yes, it’s going to get messy. 

Price: Hand-pulled noodles in broth from £8.80; stir-fried flat noodles with beef £8.20.

Chef Wei Guirong’s no-frills restaurant opposite the Emirates Stadium peddles street food from her birthplace, Xi’an (home to the Terracotta Army). Trained in the cuisine of Shan Xi province, her cooking is marked by rich combinations of spices and soft hand-pulled noodles – although hardcore fans come for the stonking Xi’an pork burger with special sauce, the pot-sticker dumplings, the smacked cucumber with garlic, and the shredded Xi’an bread in beef broth.    

Price: Xi’an pork burger from £4.80; hand-pulled noodle bowls from £9.40. 

Located down a dingy cobbled alleyway opposite Peckham Rye station, Yada’s is a ramshackle Kurdish joint with zero interest in PR but a huge talent for producing honest, flavourful food. Its shish kebabs, shawarma, BBQ platters and slow-cooked duck fezenjan (with walnuts and pomegranate molasses) are all grand, and they also do some unusual veggie/vegan dishes such as razziana (chilli, coriander and tomato stew with fennel and asparagus). There might also be some Irn Bru shisha, if you’re interested. 

Price: Chicken shawarma £10; razziana £9. 

Cosy vibes, faultless service and terrific food seal the deal at this modish self-styled purveyor of Beirut street food. Lunchtimes are mega-busy as crowds pile in for its takeaway wraps; otherwise, take pot luck at one of the long faux-rustic tables and graze from the all-day line-up of mezze – with some Arabic bread, olives and torshi (pickles) on the side, plus a cup of refreshing mint tea to quench the thirst. There’s an offshoot in Soho.  

Price: Falafel wrap platter £8.95; ‘village’ mezze platter for one £9.95.