Cheap eats in London that don't feel cheap
Ten London places where you can eat properly for very little money and still walk out feeling looked after, chosen by locals who go, order the same thing every time and pay for it themselves. Cheap here means generous portions and food someone actually cares about, not sad meal deals and a chair by the bins. We've named what to order at each one, so you don't have to guess.
Coffee and a pastry here costs less than a supermarket sandwich and tastes about 40 times better. Get the bacon and maple, take it to the fields, call it breakfast and lunch.
The sarnies and salads are the value play, not just the flat white. Big airy room, no one rushing you, and you can sit for two hours on one coffee if you look busy enough.
Shoreditch prices, not really. A coffee and a sandwich standing up, in and out in ten minutes, and the coffee is better than places charging double round the corner.
A whole stone-baked pizza and a pint of their own beer by the canal is one of the best value afternoons in E9. Split two pizzas between three and spend the difference on beer.
BYOB is doing serious heavy lifting on the final bill here. Bring a bottle from the shop, order the gochujang prawns and the beef tartare, and pretend you always eat this well midweek.
The hot dog in onion gravy at the bar with a lager is the move if you're counting. Tiny pub, so go early or eat standing up, which is half the fun anyway.
Not the cheapest on this list, we'll say it. But a couple of Mediterranean small plates and a glass of red in that garden costs less than a mediocre Sunday roast elsewhere.
Florentine cooking at prices that make you check the menu twice. Pasta first, then the negroni that costs about the same as a pint, then the tiramisu. Book, it's rammed.
The dahl is the cheap hero, a proper bowl of food for park cafe money, eaten by the lake. Get there before the pram rush at 11:00 and you'll get a table outside.
Lunch on the barge is the cheap window, and it's still a proper bistro plate rather than a token cheap menu. Small boat, small room, so book it and go early.
Every place on Nuff has been visited and chosen by us. Real people who love London's food, pubs and culture. Tried, tested and argued over. No ads, no algorithms, nothing pay-to-play.
Take this guide with you
Every place here is in the Nuff app, with live opening hours and travel times.
