London is SUCH a foodie destination! with over 100 nationalities living here, we have SO many different cuisines! London is definitely the place to go if you want to eat all around the world. As much as there’s lots of exciting selections, food can be quite pricey in the city so if you’re on a budget why not try some of the amazing cheap eats and citywide street food. Cheap eats in London are not always easy to find but they do exist! There are so many restaurants with good food where you can spend less than £10 per person on your meal. But luckily for you I’ve compiled some brilliant cheap eats and suggestions in different parts of the city. Enjoy and let me know if you visit any of these!

Berwick Street Market – Central London

I absolutely LOVE this place, it’s a real gem with loads of good cheap food options especially when you’re in Central and everything is so expensive. Tucked down a street in Soho, you’ll find food vendors along with fruit sellers, flower stalls and fabric merchants. There are 20 or so places to eat and here are my reccys:

Greek2Go London

Greek2Go London (also in Westminster & Peckham) do the most banging gyros. If you haven’t had gyros before, please join us in this elite food consumption: it’s pork, chicken and/or halloumi with onions, tomatoes and chips with a yummy sauce (I always go for Tzatziki) wrapped up a fluffy pitta. Their gyros range from £7-9 and are a nice and filling option while on the go.

The Jerk Drum

Next suggestion would be The Jerk Drum, these guys cook up a storm. In the winter, get a filling and tasty chicken soup for £5, pattys are only £3, jerk wraps are £7.95 then at the top-end of the budget (but worth it) you’ve got the jerk chicken box which is a generous portion of jerk chicken, rice and peas, Caribbean coleslaw, mixed-leaf salad, plantain, fried dumplings and Scotch Bonnet sauce for £10.95 – so delicious. But why not check out the menu here because who doesn’t love picking what they’re going to have in advance.

Best Stops in East London

E Pellicci’s 

It would be outrageous not to mention this sparkling star on Bethnal Green Road. E Pellicci’s is a proper working (wo)man’s caff (not cafe, please note). It’s all about good stuff that fills you up. If you start your day there, you’ll be served up a generous English breakfast for £8.60 which will definitely keep you going all day, or, if you’re a sweet tooth why not trip their stack of 3 American pancakes with fruit, maple syrup or nutella for £6.00 (maple syrup obvs!). There for lunch? Hit up their pasta selection, I’d suggest their cannelloni – it’s insane. Dropped by for dinner, it has to be homemade pie (choice of steak or chicken) with chips and the choice of: broccoli, broccoli cheese or peas – my opinion, pick the brocolli cheese!! But my main piece of advice is, do not leave this establishment without having the dessert of the day. Either apple crumble, chocolate roly poly or jam tart made by the lovely nonna of the place. They come with proper custard and will make your flipping day. But hey don’t take my word for it, have a look at the menu and make sure to visit.

Beigel Bake 

On the same street as E Pellicci, around a further 10-15 minute walk (Bethnal Green Road is long!), you’ll find the legendary Beigel Bake. Not only the best bagels in London (don’t at me it’s the truth) but this place is an experience in itself. The speed that these bagels get made at absolutely blows my mind and then there’s the big trays of fresh bagels flying through in the midst of your order. So if you see a big queue on arrival, do not be alarmed you will be in and out before you know it. My recommendations, the big cheese of this place is the salt beef bagel for £5.90 wow, just wow – a must experience. Other delicious options that are ridiculously cheap: smoked salmon and cream cheese (£3.20), tuna mayo sweetcorn (£2.95), cream cheese (£2.30), nutella or peanut butter (£2.00). Something to note is there is no seating in Beigel Bake so once you get your order, you can go for a nosey around Brick Lane while enjoying your bagels. If you’re feeling chilly after that, I’d head to brewdog for a warm up and a nice pint before venturing out again.

Cheap eats around North London

Bang Bang Oriental Food Hall

This place is a pan-asian food court and full of delicious Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Indian, Vietnamese, Singaporean, Taiwanese and Malaysian dishes to try. However, first tip to note, the address is Edgware Road. This is not THE Edgware Road (you can see where I’m going with this), you will need to get the tube to Colindale and walk 10 minutes. I did indeed go to THE Edgware Road and wandered around for ages looking for this massive food hall building to find myself back on the tube. You can get a really decent and filling meal here for under £10. There’s a great video by Food Goodness of YouTube that takes you all around the vendors with glimpses of their menus and dishes (click here). Or you can check out the insane selection of vendors on their website: https://www.bangbangoriental.com/foodhall. My mouth was honestly watering looking through – a must visit!

The Cheese Bar Camden

My next north London suggestion has to be The Cheese Bar because who doesn’t love cheese. This place is just full of the dreamiest, cheesiest dishes you could ever want. Maybe you could pop in for their Monger’s Cheese Board (£12.00), three selected British cheese with chutneys and all the bits because a cheese board is the bomb on all occasions. But the big event, really, is getting a grilled cheese sandwich with the cheddar and onion coming in at £8, it’s an absolute lunchtime delight.

Top Spots in South London

Ciullosteria

This place is a really cute family-run Italian in the lovely Balham. Maybe not at the top of your must visit list, but Balham is a lovely little neighbourhood if you’re staying in South. Now this is one you have to navigate through the menu as there’s some fabulous cheap eats amongst some more expensive dishes, so here’s what I recommend. On the pizza front, a margherita comes in at only £8, or upgrade to a Rughetta & Parmigiano for £10.50 which has rocket and flaked parmesan for a fancy experience. For pasta, I’d recommend on the super cheat eats, go for ravioli al mascarpone (£9.90). If you’re willing to stretch the budget a bit further they have some seafood pastas for a few quid more which I would say is very reasonable. For £12.90, try their Tagliolini with crab, spring onions, ginger and chilly or Tagliatelle Primavera for their fresh made Tagliatelle with asparagus & king prawns’ garlic olive oil in a wine sauce – my dish of choice! Finish with their gelati, don’t even look at the main desserts because they’re all nice too BUT the gelati is the main event. For the full italian experience, go for the Affogato Italiano which is ice cream with espresso, amaretto and a biscuit, also known as, HEAVEN.

BAO

Located at the edge of Borough Market, (I was going to talk about the market but I guess there’s lots of info out there on it – but it is a must visit!) Bao is the perfect cheap eats spot in the centre of town. Plus, I really enjoy getting the menu and ticking off what I want! Bao has a relaxed vibe so a great stop if you’ve been slogging it out on the tourist hot spots and need a little refresh. I’d recommend the Chicken Nugget BAO & Curry Cheese BAO as a must – these are only available in their Borough restaurant and are pretty epic! Finish off this snack stop with the milk tea ice cream BAO and you won’t be disappointed – it’s absolutely delicious!

Conclusion of Cheap Eats in London Tour

That concludes my recommendations and I hope this is useful if you find yourself in any parts of London looking for something that matches your budget. Although there are many recommendations, we can still explore and taste new places – give me a shout if you find something great!