London's Best Cheap Eats (2024)

A grab-and-go neighbourhood treat, the gem in Stamford Hill's crown is this much-loved Caribbean takeout spot. Trinidadian doubles with tamarind sauce, or curried lamb roti are the way to go – and don't forget to wash it all down with some fruit punch.

Price:Doubles; £4 for veg (channa or pumpkin and channa), £5 for jerk or curry chicken, £6 forcurry lamb or curry goat.

Sandwich lovers, assemble. This endlessly charming deli has been run by the same family since 1900 and has an epic line out of the door every lunchtime. Punters come in their droves for old school sarnies made to order by white-coated servers who offer up more fillings than Pret could ever muster. Salt beef, tuna mayo, many, many kinds of cheese, they've got it all. Eat-in at the fabulous formica tables and on caff-style seating, while surrounded by jars of jam.

Price: Sandwiches start at £3.40.

This Latin American indoor market was recentlysaved from the developers axe; even more reason to go and feast onauthentic Colombian food in the friendly cafe in this popular community spot. Empanadas are a big draw, but the meat-y, brothy sancocho soup is the true elixir, packed with veg, yuca and meat on the bone. Itjust feels good for you.

Price:Sancocho; £5.

Brave the queues at thissmall but mighty hole-in-the-wall Chinatown spot, which serves up jianbing pancakes and superlative street food. Whipped up right in front of you, these lacey crepes are stuffed with spring onions, chilli oil, pickles,hoisin sauce and pork belly if you want to make it meaty. Worth the wait.

Price:Crepes start at £4.50.

Just of Peckham's main Rye Lane, you'll find this family-run food truck serving up sublime, North African-style wraps packed with with falafel, halloumi, and lamb and chicken shawarma. All the bread is freshly made, and they slather everything in a bounty of stunning sauces.

Price:Chicken shawarma wrap;£6.

A family-run Vietnamese cafe in Clapton, whereMama Hai rules the roost and puts buckets of love into every dish she prepares. Flavour-packed chicken, prawn or tofu bánh mì are only £8 to takeway, but it's thesensational mango salad that you'll want to order.It's walk-ins only, but everything is £2 cheaper if you bag if for takeway when all the tables are taken.

Price: Mango salad; £7 takeaway, £9 eat-in.

A satisfyingly low-keyKurdish tandoor whichpumps out a seriously decent variety ofnaan-style bread in Finsbury Park, from plain to peshwari via garlic, chilli and cheese. They're so loved that nearby natural wine bar Top Cuvee has even done a collab with them.

Price: Falafel wrap £5.50; three plain naan £1.50.

A slice of Echo Park in Stoke Newington, this LA-style taco joint offers a short menu ofgrill and guisado (braised) tacos. Most are pork and beef-based, though there’s a cactus leaf nopales offering for vegetarians and faux chorizo for vegans. A sensible diner would order three tacos, but you’d be within your rights to order four, even five. Prices are an extremely reasonable £3.50 to £5, and though they look petite, Sonora’s paper-thin tortillas come packed to the floury brim. Truly excellent stuff.

Price: Carne asada taco; £4.50, barbacoa taco £4; bean quesadilla £2.

Bargain Cantonese bakes line the windows of this Chinatown mainstay. Swerve thebuffet and instead focus on the bakery where you can score a crispy BBQ pork bun for £2 and onion buns for an even more reasonable £1.50.Sweetscomes cheap too, with crispy coconut buns at £1.50 and chocolate tiger rolls and pandan swiss rolls for £1.80.

Price:Crispy BBQ pork bun £2.

Thiskid-friendly Japanese café canalside on the Kingsland Basin, close to Haggerston station, offers up an ever-changing daily set lunch menu of a main dish, rice, miso soup and a small salad. Always delicious and always packed full of variety, there are also rice balls, teas,Japanesetoasts and desserts. The name translates as 'kids on the floor', so expect a few of those, too.

Price: Set lunch £8.40

Get on your bike (quite literally, as it's near the bikers paradise that is the High Beech tea hut) and head down to this seriously fresh seafood spot in the heart of Epping Forest. Open Thursday to Sunday, swing by for hot and cold platters full of prawns, co*ckles, whelks and more.

Price:Pint of cold prawns; £6.50

Spasia Dinkovski whips up traditional Macedonian filo pies using her grandma’s recipes; semi-psychedelic swirls of pastry packed with ground meat, gooey cheese, and enough butter to make you see into the future. Find them at her Sydenham cafe – a former Italian deli – where the short menu lists four bureks and one sweet and sour cherry baklava bun. Scoff your hearty slice surrounded by accoutrements ofBalkan culture and toa Northern Soul soundtrack. Heaven.

Price: Burek slices from£7. Cup of tea; £1.

Michele Manze and family arrived from Italy in 1878, started out as ice-cream merchants and finally opened this pie, mash and eel shop on Tower Bridge Road in 1902. Inside, little seems to have changed since those early days: the Victorian green-tiled interiors speak of history, while the pie and mash is reckoned to be some of the best in town. A truly iconic London feast and one that comes with a reasonable price to boot.

Price:Pie and mash, £5.50.

The sign outside announces ‘ale, cider, meat’, and that pretty much sums up what’s on offer at one of the best pubs in north London. It's their small but powerful bar snack menu that really sets this boozer apart. The roast pork bap is the finest meaty treat in town and comes complete with heroic crackling and oozy apple sauce. Vegetarianswon't be lonely; there are cheese baps and veggie Scotch eggs on offer, too.

Price:Hot roast pork bap £5.95; pork pies £4.50; cheese and chutney bap £5.75.

This teeny Euston backstreet basem*nt serves up astounding Malaysian rotis, either stuffed or with equally first-rate curries for dipping. They’re crisp, chewy and feather-light but also dense – perfect with an ambrosial glass of teh tarik (chilled sweet tea). Also look out for great-value ‘local’ dishes such as nasi lemak, nasi goreng and beef rendang. RK is really is small, so dining solo or in pairs is probably sensible. Go early evening to beat the queues.

Price: Roti canai from £6.50 (two pieces); nasi goreng £8.95.

Zeitgeist or no, this Taiwanese joint is a tip-top contender that brings a slice of Soho to SE15 with its fluffy steamed bao buns, small plates and co*cktails. The classic Mr Bao (pork, pickle and peanut powder) is both larger and cheaper than its uptown rivals (but just as good), and we also likeits extended list of vegan offerings such as the ginger-braised tofu bao. And for God’s sake, don’t skip the Bao S’more, with marshmallow and chocolate.

Price: Mr Bao bun with pork belly £4.80, ginger-braised tofu bao (vegan) £4.60.

When only a filthy-good US-style burger made with rare-breed dry-aged beef will do, Bleecker comes up trumps for London’s meat-mad hordes. The oozing bacon cheeseburger is a carnivore’s dream – especially when it’s loaded up with ketchup – although adding a side of ‘angry fries’, drizzledwith blue cheese and hot sauce, will take you over the £10 limit.

Price:Burgers from £8.50.

Now happily embedded in Peckham Rye, this former street food outfit serves up fail-safe Vietnamese dishes in a modest, neutrally decorated, plywood-clad setting. Affordable classics such as summer rolls and ‘bun’ noodle salads abound, but it’s worth tossing in an extra quid for more unusual ideas such as coconut pancakes filled with prawns and sprinkled with shrimp dust. There’s a second branch in Brixton.

Price: Rolls from £7.

A garish, grungy Mexican pop-up barand taqueria gone permanent, Del 74 promises banging beats, good vibes and easy-drinking margaritas, plus a bar menu of well-crafted classics – brisket tostadas, tinga quesadillas, that sort of thing. Veggies are guaranteed to do well here. Drop by at any time for a cheap eat, although the best value is on Taco Tuesday when the happy hour lasts all night long and you can pick up tacos for £2.50.

Price: Veggie tinga tacos; £6. Chicken quesadilla; £6.50.

A new-gen greasy spoon that serves simple yet effective set menus, chip butties and piping hot mugs of tea. Your tenner will go far here, with bacon sarnies or cheese on toast for a fiver or a properEnglish breakfast with ham, two eggs and chips for £8. Indulgence on a budget.

Price: Beans on toast with cheese £5; chip butty £5.50; mug of tea £1.

Done out like a Tamil truck stop with lurid lighting, furniture the colour of Sunny Delight and movies on the flatscreen TV, this Sri Lankan-South Indian caff is famed for its minuscule prices and superlative dosas. Veggie options are the standouts – the Mysore masala dosa, served with spiced onion, potatoes and three house chutneys is a winner, as are the onion utthapam and veg biryani.

One of a number of London locations for this fun and fast Japanese noodle house, with katsu curry and kimchi toppings on hand-pulled udon, as well as vegan options. The classic katsu comes in chicken and aubergine options. You can also build your own curry rice bowl, starting at £7.50, then adding on tempura toppings or chicken karaage to your hearts content. An onsen egg is £1.75.

Price: £8.95 for a small chicken katsu udon.

Hindi film posters, Bollywood soundtracks and relaxed staff strike an authentic tone at this Indian street food stop just off Oxford Street. The main attraction here is a line-up of eminently affordable kati (pronounced ‘karti’) rolls: marinated meats, vegetables and cheeses, all bundled up in flaky paratha flatbread that’s been griddled and spread with beaten egg.

Price: Unda aloo roll £5.60; beef tikka roll £5.80.

A whole pizza? In central London? Forjust over a fiver? That’s the magic of Icco, a family-run Italian that’s been serving up cheap, cheap pies from its bright green corner site on Goodge Street since 1999. You can bag a funghi for six quid here, but you should spend 50p for the indulgence of the fiorentina – a salty, oily feast featuring a runny poached egg. Also in Camden, Wood Green, Croydon and Colindale.

Price: Pizza from £3.95.

London’s first vegan ‘chicken shop’ was born out of Hackney’s Temple of Seitan street stall. It’s all about ‘meaty’ wheat gluten (aka seitan) here, whether you order one of the Temple burgers, or doner wrap plus sides including popcorn bites. Brace yourself for blaring music, no indoor seating and a booze-free nosh. There's also a Camden branch.Price: Temple burger £8.75;doner wrap £6.50.

Colourful, crowded and charmingly bonkers, Sally Chambers’s Middle Eastern café is shoehorned among the paraphernalia of Peckham’s Persian delicatessen. Expect a full-on veggie interpretation of Levantine and Persian cuisine, from traditional meze and wraps with seasonally inspired fillings (quince, halloumi and caramelised celeriac) to daily soups and hotpots, and all-day fillers such as baked sweet potato topped with Persian baked beans. Also, don’t miss the lush turkish-delight sundae. BYOB for supper.

Price: Meze platters £4/£7.50; wraps £9.

Stoke Newington Church Street has been filled with pretty chic shops, bars and restaurants, but none of them has the star quality of veggie south Indian spot Rasa and its bright pink restaurant front.Dosas are a delight, but our favourite is the creamy aubergine bagar baingan from Hyderabad.

Price:Plain dosa £6.50; bagar baingan £7.95.

It was only a matter of time before kebabs got the vegan treatment, and this flagship branch of What the Pitta! is custom-built for trend-conscious Camden. Nuggets of marinated soya (that’s the ‘meat’) are packed into thin, floury home-baked flatbread with crunchy salad, soya yoghurt, tzatziki and houmous. The whole thing looks and tastes almost healthy! There's another one in Brick Lane.

Price: Vegan doner £9.50; falafel wrap £8.95.

Fish and chips is one of those fast-foodstaples that, if you want to get a nice version of in London, always seems to be unnecessarily expensive. The solution? Head to one of the city’s best chippies (that’ll be Poppies) but skip the £15 fish in favour of some of its crisp-on-the-outside-soggy-on-the-inside chips squished into soft bread for a build your own butty.

Price: Chips from £4.50; two rolls and butter £1.75.