Cheap cafes in London. Where to eat in London? Cafe in a department store

Covent Garden is full of wonderful expensive restaurants, charming cafes and always packed bistros, but that's not what we're talking about today.

Covent Garden, one of central London's most popular tourist districts, is particularly attractive for cultural lovers. You can talk a lot about cozy coffee shops, the best restaurants and bars in this area, but you will also have to mention the crowds of tourists and the steep prices. Few people know that there are several places worth visiting in the area from Shaftesbury Avenue to the Strand and from Drury Lane to Charing Cross Road. However, let's start with Covent Garden itself.

Chez Antoinette

This French cafe is located in the Covent Garden market building and specializes in fresh open sandwiches. On weekdays you can stop by here for lunch. The daily fixed menu for £9.90 includes your choice of drink, sandwich, soup or salad. You can limit yourself to a delicious sandwich. Average cost: £7.

Abeno Too

Located a stone's throw from Leicester Square, this compact Japanese café offers great food on the go. Pay special attention to the okonomiyaki - a flatbread with cabbage and egg, grilled, topped with a special sauce of mayonnaise and seaweed and sprinkled with thinly sliced ​​dried tuna. This deluxe size scone (no other available) costs £9.95.

The cafe is open every day from midday until night, making it ideal for lunch or dinner.

Chick 'n' Sours

This noisy, dimly lit basement restaurant consistently receives five out of five star ratings. And all because here they know a lot about fried chicken and know how to organize a holiday every day.

Don't miss out on the Southern-style chicken marinated in buttermilk and fried to a crisp, accompanied by killer cocktails. Among the most budget-friendly dishes on the menu, we recommend homemade roast chicken, pickled watermelon and seaweed salad for just £9, or the “General” chicken burger for a tenner.

Flat Iron

As we've already discovered, interiors can be deceiving. Ignore the brick walls and unpainted wood floors. Better pay attention to the designer lighting, and most importantly, try the delicious steaks of this restaurant, located at the very beginning of the chic, fashionable and stylish Henrietta Street.

If you want to avoid long lines, avoid coming here in the evenings from Wednesday to Saturday. It is better to choose the time after lunch.

The restaurant serves only one dish - steak, and they do it exclusively. The only recommendation is to choose medium rare. You might decide that this is the best steak you've ever tasted. And this is attention! - for just ten pounds (plus a couple of pounds for the fries).

Homeslice Neal's Yard

Quite a cozy eatery in the brightly colored Neal’s Yard. The name speaks for itself: this is a pizzeria. New York style pizza is served by the slice or in huge portions for two to three people.

There are no reservations here and a lot of people gather in the evening. But, as is usually the case with pizza, you don’t have to wait long for it and it runs out quickly. There are much fewer visitors during lunch and afternoon hours.

Any large pizza for two costs £20. For £4 you can order a slice of pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms and ricotta cheese or the usual Margherita. Pizzas with unusual toppings are sold only whole.

Anyone who has applied for a UK visa remembers the recommended minimum amount of funds of at least £50 per day. This amount can be considered sufficient to live an interesting British day without gastronomic delights. How to combine the desire of tourists to eat tasty and nutritious food in London with modest financial resources?

Street food

One of the popular snack options not only for tourists, but also for local residents of the city - street food (street food). This sounds unappetizing until you find yourself at a colorful local market where you can't resist the smell of freshly prepared food. London's most famous market is the atmospheric Borough Market (boroughmarket.org.uk), located next to London Bridge tube station. The best days to visit it are from Thursday to Saturday. With £10 in your pocket you can count on 'first, second and compote'. The only inconvenience is that you will most likely have to stand while eating all this gastronomic splendor.

Fast food chain restaurants

If you don't like eating on the go or don't trust street chefs, head to one of the many cafes of famous chains such as Pret-a-Manger, Costa Coffee, Starbucks, Eat. There you are guaranteed fresh food, from hot soups (around £3.5) and porridges to delicious baked goods. A large salad at these establishments will cost around £4.5, and a sandwich - from £1.5 (small) to £4 (large loaf). As a rule, these chains charge an additional service fee (about 20-25% of the order value) if you want to eat at a cafe table. When paying at the checkout, you may be asked: taking away (takeaway) or eating in (meals at a table)? If you decide to stay, be prepared for a higher check. Don't think you've been deceived - look carefully at the price tag. It usually shows the takeaway price in large print, followed by a less visible price with a service charge.

Restaurants with national cuisine

Those who want to add some exoticism to the foggy everyday life of the British capital should look into, for example, Korean, Indian or Vietnamese restaurants. There you can sit comfortably at a table and order vegetable curry for just £4.

On the website www.tripadvisor.co.uk it is easy to find budget restaurants with good reviews by filtering by the cheap eats parameter (“cheap and cheerful” in our opinion).

Pizzerias

One of the most popular and favorite cuisines, Italian, can be enjoyed on a budget in numerous pizzerias offering takeaway food. Very tasty and inexpensive pizza can be found at Pizza Union (whole pizza - from £4) or Princi (large slice straight from the oven - from £4). It’s easy to guess how popular the establishment is - there’s always “no place for an apple to fall.” In this case, it’s worth following the crowd and looking inside. Of course, this rule also applies to other European cuisines, but most often it is the Italians who manage to treat the guests of the establishment to a tasty, varied and inexpensive meal.

Supermarket

Many tourists love foreign supermarkets, where the choice can be limited only by imagination. If you don't mind satisfying your hunger in your hotel room, then go grocery shopping in the next Tesco, Sainsbury's, Marks & Spencer or Waitrose. You'll have the same cereal and milk and croissant you'd eat at your hotel breakfast, but you'll pay a fraction of the price. For example, a large packet of cereal costs on average £2, a carton of milk from £0.45, and a croissant in the fresh bakery department around £0.70. Of course, eating in your room is not as fun, but the savings are significant.

English pub

It is completely illogical, being in the capital of Great Britain, to bypass the typical english pub. Even if you are a categorical opponent of alcohol, it makes sense to pop into a pub for the traditional “Fish & Chips” dish (fish and chips). The pub can be a fun and economical way to spend time, especially if you are traveling with friends. If you don’t abuse alcohol, you can spend £10-15 per person.

Pocket nutrition

And stock up pocket food in case of a long excursion or trip outside London. In an unfamiliar place, it is sometimes difficult to find where to eat inexpensively.

Tourists planning a holiday in London can use the London hotel map to find a hotel suitable for price and location. Change the scale, move the map and choose the hotel that suits your wishes.

Arriving tourists at London Airport have car rental and a taxi service.

In addition, a transfer to the hotel can be ordered in advance from the Russian-speaking taxi booking service Kiwi-taxi. Compared to finding a local taxi, in addition to traditional comfort, safety and reliability, this option has a number of advantages:

a driver with a name plate will meet you in the arrivals area;

in case of flight delay, the driver monitors the change in arrival time (without additional charges);

operators communicate with you in Russian and a Russian-speaking driver is usually provided;

You can order child seats in advance;

it is possible to choose any class of car (out of 12) and a car for non-standard luggage;

The transfer price will be known before the trip and will not change.

Where to eat:

The most budget-friendly and, by the way, no less tasty option is the Pret A Manger cafe chain. This is a great option to eat tasty and inexpensive. All products are fresh, the food is quite decent. Breakfast or lunch for three with drinks costs approximately £30. There are restaurants on every corner. I highly recommend it to everyone!

For dinner, I recommend going to the Fish Works restaurant at least once; one of them is located at 7-9 Swallow Street, Piccadilly Circus, London, W1B 4DE. You should definitely try the fish dishes there; the fish there is very fresh and cooked deliciously. Dinner for three with drinks will cost about 100-120 pounds (if you don’t save at all, you can choose more budget-friendly dishes).

I tried the most delicious beef steak of my life at the Steak House in the famous Harrods store. There you can choose the part of meat that you want to taste, they will cut it off in front of you and cook it right there. For three persons this pleasure will cost 120-140 pounds. But it's worth it! I have never eaten tastier meat.

In the same Harrods there is the famous French confectionery Ladurée. If you haven’t, you definitely need to watch it!

If you have extra money, you can have lunch at a restaurant in the famous Fortum & Mason store, which is located in Piccadilly. The food there is quite decent, but it won’t be cheap. However, it’s definitely worth visiting this store just for fun, if only to appreciate the gastronomic diversity that’s going on there.

And don’t forget about a tip of 10% of the check amount!

There is also a restaurant by the famous Moscow restaurateur Novikov (that’s what it’s called) - the price-quality ratio is incomparable. Still on the same Piccadilly there is a restaurant called Wilson (Willson, something like that, I don’t remember the name exactly, not far from the Ritz Hotel), in which, by the way, we had the honor of seeing the famous Yoko Ono eating her breakfast; oddly enough, it’s not very expensive and tasty, although the restaurant even has its own doorman. We had a chance to visit the restaurant of the famous chef Jamie Oliver. Surprisingly, the price tag is quite reasonable, but the food, unfortunately, did not live up to expectations. Perhaps if Jamie had cooked it himself, it would have been much tastier.

While vacationing in the capital of Great Britain, any traveler will invariably face the question: “Where to eat in London?” For gourmets, there are more than 7,000 restaurants serving different cuisines from around the world (most restaurants are concentrated in the West End and Soho).

It is worth noting that you will have to pay a lot for good food in London, but during lunch hours many ethnic restaurants offer cheap menus to their guests.

In the British capital you will be able to taste traditional English tea (16:00-17:30). So, for example, for a tea ceremony (it is advisable to book places for this event in advance) you can go to the Ritz Hotel’s Palm Court - here you will be served sandwiches and cookies for tea. If you wish, you can drink tea at any tea or coffee establishment along with a sandwich, cake or pastry.

Where to eat inexpensively in London?

Restaurants serving Chinese, Caribbean, and Indian cuisines offer high-quality and inexpensive menus.

You can eat on a budget at chain establishments “Coffee Rebublik”, “Costa”, “Aroma”, “Starbucks”, “Pret a Manger” (sandwiches cost 2.5-3 pounds, coffee - 1.8-2 pounds, soup - 3 pound).

You can try different types of beer and snacks in English pubs. You can also have dinner here: as a rule, their menu includes potato pudding, fried beef, and fish and chips.

Where to eat delicious food in London?

• St. John: in this restaurant you can taste traditional English dishes - smoked eel with bacon and mashed potatoes, ox tongue with chicory, real English pudding.
• Hakkasan: This Chinese restaurant offers its guests signature dishes - Peking duck with royal beluga caviar, silver cod soaked in Chinese honey and champagne.
• Le Gavroche: This 2-Michelin-starred French restaurant features dishes such as cinnamon pie and foie gras, venison fillet with spicy cranberry sauce, and truffled scallops.
• Louis Hungarian Patisserie: this pastry shop will appeal to those with a sweet tooth - here you can enjoy almond and marzipan cookies, eclairs, almond pretzels and other sweets.

Gastronomic excursions in London

If you go on a gastronomic tour of London, designed for several days, you can stroll around the City of London, visit pubs from the 17th to 19th centuries (here you will be offered to taste English ale), go on an evening river cruise on the Thames (there will be an exquisite English dinner of 4-5 courses, an aperitif, tea/coffee, musical accompaniment, dancing after dinner), attend a tea ceremony in one of the restaurants, as well as a master class in one of the local culinary schools.

While relaxing in London, you can try not only traditional, but also dishes from almost all cuisines of the world.

Restaurants, food courts and street food - you can eat on almost every corner in London. But if you care about what you fill your stomach with, you need to know a few rules that London gourmets use. Where to eat deliciously in London and which places are best to avoid - the ZagraNitsa portal will tell you

Street food

In London, street food gets a lot of attention. Such dishes in the British capital are not just an opportunity to have a quick and inexpensive snack. Here street food is as popular as . Just look at the stalls with home-cooked dishes, where gourmets come from all over London! Another argument in favor of the popularity of street food in London is that they are held almost every week, attracting the best chefs in the UK.

Pop-up restaurants

Opening restaurants for specific periods of time, in unexpected places or with changing designs is a very popular topic. London is no exception. Here you can also find “dynamic” places that constantly offer their guests something new. For example, a popular restaurant with a changing design.

Tweets and blogs

In order not to miss a single restaurant opening and find out the rating of any establishment, follow popular London bloggers. Read Cheese and Biscuits or London Eater for everything foodies need to know.

Traditional London pubs

Pubs and beer are a big part of British culture. Not visiting at least one of them is the same as leaving London without seeing it. Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, Ye Olde Miter Tavern - establishments where you will be treated to delicious food, and for a snack - like fish ‘n’ chips.

Tourist traps

Avoid expensive food stalls in busy areas of London. For example, don't try the curry on Brick Lane. Just a 10-minute walk away there are excellent restaurants with delicious curry: Tayyabs, Lahore Kebab House, Needoo Grill.

Secluded places

Explore every corner of the British capital to find new places to eat. Sometimes in unremarkable areas you can find good establishments with delicious cuisine. For example, Newington has a Roti Stop restaurant with excellent takeaway food.

All the cuisines of the world in one capital

It is difficult to imagine a world dish that would not be prepared in the British capital. Try Mediterranean cuisine in