Although London is generally viewed as a place where money comes and goes quickly, it's actually pretty easy to eat (well) on a budget. There's something for every appetite - whether it be Brazilian, Indian, Mediterranean or Asian, to name a few.
Brasil by Kilo on Oxford Street offers an innovative way for diners to get their eat on. Load your plate up with goodies (to either eat-in or take-away) and you'll only get charged 99p for each 100g. Get on the tube and get off at Tottenham Court Road to fill up on all the things that Ronaldinho and Ronaldo might eat (although probably not before a match).17 Oxford St, W1C 2JS (020 7636 7222) Don't miss the rice & black beans (arroz e feijao). It is the only way to have a complete meal for £5 in London! Just a bit hard to find: you must enter an electronic store (cameras, computers, etc) and go up the staircase to the restaurant. It is not well marked.
Rub elbows with the business-types at Club Mangia at the Punch Tavern for next-to-nothing. Just £7.50 (15 $US)gets you an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord of international fare (beef goulash, dhal, pumpkin curry, etc). There's a healthy selection of salads, too, to keep you from feeling like you've completely blown your diet (although, you're on vacation, who cares about calories?). 99 Fleet St, EC4Y 1DE (020 7353 6658) Blackfriars tube/rail.
You can't come to London and not nosh on a pie or two - but we're not talking about pastry pies here. Meat pies are the lunch of choice for many workers in London. Square Pie Company offers a whole variety of pies to satiate even the hungriest of travelers. Old Spitalfields Market, E1 6AA (020 7377 1114/ www.squarepie.com) Liverpool St tube/rail.
Lennie's is an odd-duck sort of place because it offers Thai and East Asian dishes alongside an authentic English fry-up on Sundays. Hey, whatever works. The fry-ups are only about £4, including tea and coffee, which is a steal for any traveler on a budget. 6 Calvert Avenue, E2 7JP (020 7739 3628) Liverpool St or Old St tube/rail.
Wagamama, which has locations all over London, features a huge array of noodle dishes from chilli chicken ramen to yasai itame all priced between £5 and £10. It is extremely popular with Londoners, so don't be shocked if you encounter a line at the entrance. The line moves quickly and the wait is well worth it. Check out www.wagamama.com for locations.
New Culture Revolution - Locations in Chelsea, Notting Hill and Angel Islington ( www.newculturerevolution.co.uk), this well known noodle and dumpling bar serves London's most authentic chinese dumplings/jiaozhi and also home made egg free noodles. The menu is varied and always popular with locals popping in for a quick bite or informal dinner. Must try are the dumplings and marinated shin beef. You can eat well for around £7 per person.
Royal China Chinese Restaurant - In Swiss Cottage, Queenway, Baker Street. expensive for dinner, but pop in for quality Dim Sum 12:00 - 17:00. Stick to their main menu and you can have around 7 standard dim sum baskets, drink tea all for just over £20 including service.
Gourmet Burger Kitchen "GBK" - Big organic burgers with chips and drink all for around £11 per person. Restaurants all around London.
Masala Zone - Delicious Indian dishes in a stylish setting on Earl's Court Road one block from the tube station with entrees for under £7.00. Two additional locations around town.
Spicy Food Plus - Fabulous cheap Indian food. Don't let the cafeteria-like setting throw you off; the food is great. Dirt cheap delicious Indian food. This is actually my favorite place to eat in London. Tel.0207-834-8068. 83 Wilton Road London Swividl.
Grocery Stores and Ready-To-Eat Food
Grocery stores are an excellent way of feeding yourself. They have plenty of ready-to-eat type of mini-grocery stores that have packaged sandwiches, single portion veggies and desserts, fruit shakes etc, etc. This can be a life-saver on the wallet. There is plenty of competition which in turn means that you are probably never more than 4 blocks away from one of these stores, both in touristy areas as well as more residential areas.
- The Simply Foods (Marks & Spencer) stores are visually appealing and do not really offer groceries, they just focus on ready to eat products.
- The Sainbury stores are more like mini-grocery stores, offering ready to eat as well, for slightly lower prices.
- The Tesco Express and Tesco Metro stores, a spin-off the larger Tesco grocery stores, are similar to Sainsbury and also cheaper slightly than Simply Foods.
- Boots (The chemist) also sell sandwiches and their "Meal Deal" of sandwich/salad, drink and crisps/desert for £3.30 is very good value.
For all of these stores, ensure you review the "made on" and "best before" dates. Tesco's and Sainsbury's have sections where food on its' sell-by date is sold for half price. Handy for real budget travelers.
