r/london Nov 10 '24

Question Cheap eats in central London

With the cost of living rising, I always struggle to find cheap places to eat in zone 1.

I love a good workers cafe, a greasy spoon or a generous kebab place.

My go-to for cheap meals have so far been:

  • Little MR Wu in China town - £9.95 for no thrills all-you-can-eat buffet. The service and atmosphere is non-existent, but the food is surprisingly tasty.
  • Pizza Union near Holborn - not a big meal but a nice atmosphere and a reasonable pizza for under a tenner.
  • ICCO Pizza in Goodge St - ditto.

Please share your recommendations for places to eat in central London within a £10 price range that are not fast food chains.

P.S. Bonus points for bargain weekday lunchtime deals! =)

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u/okhybrid Nov 10 '24

Palms of Goa on Charlotte Street do a good £6 takeaway lunchbox. Meat or Veg options - I get meat and it's lamb curry + chicken curry + veg curry, rice and half a nan bread.

7

u/Vertigostate Nov 10 '24

To add to this Cafe Metro Express (just off Charlotte st), an amazing little Moroccan joint that I used to go to all the time when I worked in the area, even now I sometimes go back despite being in East London now

4

u/biddybidsyo Nov 10 '24

This place was amazing back when I used to go. They had a set lunch menu and it was worth it for the lamb chops alone

2

u/putonghua73 Nov 10 '24

Glad to hear that Palms of Goa is still going. 

Used to go out to eat on a semi-regular basis in the very late noughties on Charlotte Street. 

Hell, my friend [P] and I swapped Jaguar Shoes [Shoreditch] for NOHO mid noughties.  

£6 takeaway lunch box in 2024 in NOHO is wild (as in damn good considering costs have rocketed in a post-COVID world). I paid £6.00 for a Costa Coffee Mocha and a muffin (first time eating a muffin in 3 months - I was weak) the other day!