Cheap Eats in London – My Top Five

In honour of this week’s Time Out, which if you haven’t already seen features London’s best “Cheap Eats,” I thought I would give a round up of my fave places in London to eat for £10 to £20. There are so many great places around the city to eat and not break the bank, and with many of them (Pizza Express, Leon, Strada, Zizzi, Giraffe, Wagamama) running vouchers for 2-for-1s or £1 meals, how can you resist? These places serve great food and thanks to the mass viral spread of the vouchers, they’re always packed and have a fun, laid-back atmosphere.

But, it’s the places that took a little more effort to find – and I should probably give full credit here to my friend/eating comrad Pete who discovered most of them in the east end – that are worth trying out if you’re looking for a place to have lunch or dinner on a budget with a fun and very chilled-out atmosphere.

Tay Do, Kingsland Road (the one next to Viet Grill) – I eat dinner at this Vietnamese restaurant so often I just refer to it as “The” Vietnamese, as if there’s only one on Kingsland Road. The reason Tay Do is the ‘one and only’ is because it’s delicious, cheap, fast and you can bring your own booze. The atmosphere when full is brilliant – loud, happy, lots of young people. However, if you go at the wrong time (say 6 pm on a Tuesday night…) when there’s no one there, it’s just not the same, and can leave you feeling a bit awkward even if you’re dining with your best friend.

Pick up a bottle of wine or a few beers to share at the shop across the street, and tuck into a table amidst the hustle and bustle of all the cool “Shoreditch” types having dinner with friends. Sharing multiple dishes, in my opinion, is the best way to go here so you can get a taste of everything. My favourites on the menu are: crispy duck pancakes, Vietnamese spring rolls, fresh summer rolls with prawns, chicken satay skewers with peanut sauce, and a big bowl of noodles with chilli and lemongrass and seafood (squid, scallops, and prawns). Between 3 or 4 people, this is the perfect amount of food for sharing and will not cost you more than £10 each.

Pera, Shoreditch High Street – This is a little corner Turkish restaurant on Shoreditch High Street that does a lunch deal for £6 – you get a meal, bread and Turkish dips, a drink and a tiny little square of Turkish delight for just six pounds. And the portions are perfect – I always get the chicken shish which comes with heaps of rice and lots of fresh veggies like cucumber, onions and red cabbage with an olive oil and lemon dressing and a Diet Coke. If you ask nicely, the waitress will bring out the toasted, fluffy bread with taziki and crushed red pepper dips before your meal, which is almost always necessary. The boys always go for the lamb shish which gets great marks from them, but I go for the chicken as it’s a bit healthier. The atmosphere is touch-and-go at Pera, but as it’s small, intimate and looks out directly onto Shoreditch High Street, the people watching is always classic, especially if you’re dining there on a Friday night. 

Daddy Donkey*, Leather Lane Market – I first tried this amazing Mexican street food stall in Leather Lane Market about two and a half years ago when I was really missing my stateside Mexican food, and  I have been obsessed ever since. This ‘burrito-mobile’ is open for lunch from Monday to Friday and serves burritos, tacos, salads and ‘naked’ burritos that are all cooked right in front of you, and you pick the ingredients from start to finish. I almost always go for the naked fajita burrito with chicken, beans, grilled red and green peppers and onions, cheese, medium salsa and plenty of fresh guacamole. A good way to try all of the authentic Mexican flavours is by ordering the tacos – you get three and can pick three different meats like the shredded tomatillo beef, carnitas (slow-cooked pork) and and picadillo (ground beef).

Daddy Donkey has definitely nailed the street food atmosphere, the food is always fresh and the main thing that has always stuck in my mind about the staff is they seem to be having a great time, and are happy to make your lunch exactly how you ask for it. For about £5.50-£6.50 per person, if you haven’t tried it, it will definitely become a fast favourite. I just hope you work close to Daddy Donkey because it will keep ya comin’ back!

*Daddy Donkey is my client at ING MEDIA, and I love their food so much that last year, I asked them if I could work for them. Thankfully, they said yes.

The Breakfast Club, Hoxton Square – The Breakfast Club in Hoxton Square (there’s also one in Soho and one in Angel) is perfect for a Sunday brunch or a lunch with a bit of personality – although I’m not sure about it if you’re hung over as the music is seriously loud and it’s too much effort to hold a conversation if you’re struggling and tired. For about £10, you can get a very large and delicious meal and a coffee. I’ve got two favourites at the moment from The Breakfast Club. The Smoked Salmon and Scrambled Eggs which comes with two very large pieces of toast and salad is a classic and although available pretty much everywhere, this one goes for about £7. And for lunch, the ‘When Haloumi met Salad wrap,’ is to die for. Filled with grilled haloumi cheese, spinach, hummus, sundried tomato and balsamic vinegar it’s a deliciously salty, filling and arguably healthy lunch.

Sunday Upmarket, Brick Lane – Ok, all of my favourite cheap eats are located in East London, but that’s because I live there and am a creature of habit! Sunday Upmarket behind Spitalfields is a great place to try any of the different cultures of street food offered for under a fiver. The possibilities are endless: Chicken and chickpea curry, big falafel wraps, even bigger grilled chorizo sandwiches, salad and meze plates with plenty of fresh veggies, feta cheese and hummus, and the latest craze to hit London, the Vietnamese baguette. The best part is sitting on the steps eating something fairly messy but equally delicious with a friend, followed by a cupcake, bag of sweets or fresh fruit juice from one of the stalls in Old Spitalfields market. Who needs a Sunday roast when you can spend your Sundays meandering through these markets and tasting everything in sight?

You may also enjoy these similar posts:

• Biting the tops off burritos – “Behind the Scenes” with Kang and Daddy Donkey
• The Bánh Mì Bandwagon
• Fika, Shoreditch: 2.5 bikes out of 5
• What will be the food trend of 2010?
• A Little of What You Fancy: 4.5 bikes (out of 5)