Journey forth and witness the Magical Wonders of the East.
And by East we mean Shoreditch and Dalston and places like that.
And by Wonders we mean "cheesy pizza", "salt beef bagels" and "bacon sandwiches".
And by Magical we mean "dirt-cheap".
If this is up your street, then take a look at our list below...
An AIL favourite, Song Que Café is one of the best no-frills Vietnamese restaurants on Kingsland Road. Stick to their excellent pho, bring your own booze and your bill will be peanuts. Not that the starters and main curries aren’t worth spending more on.
In terms of quantity, quality and value, Best Tava restaurant is one of Dalston’s best Turkish grills. Opt for a chicken shish wrap if you’re really watching the pennies or push the boat out and take on a lamb shish, bread and rice for around £8.
Be warned, if you turn up at F. Cooke’s Broadway Market branch in the evening then you’re unlikely to find a cheap, traditional meal waiting for you. This jellied eel, pie and mash shop touts itself out to pop-ups by night. Come during the day for the full F. Cooke experience. The food may not be anything more than suet indulgence but people put big money into attempting to recreate places like this.
Yes, you know all about Tayyabs but how can you leave out a restaurant that delivers such consistent quality at such reasonable prices? Get the mixed grilled meat and the pumpkin curry above all else. And feel free to BYO.
If you pick your time well – meaning if you go in the morning – you can feed yourself fairly cheaply at Fergus Henderson’s St. John Bread and Wine. The Spitalfields restaurant serves up what is one of London’s legendary bacon sandwiches. Filled with Old Spot bacon and at a reasonable £6.30 (all things being relative) it is a beautiful, tasty bargain.
Gourmet burgers have moved beyond junk food status into a category of their own. With a permanent residency at the Sebright Arms, Lucky Chip offers some of the finest burgers in London. Starting at £7.00 and going up, the patties with the kooky film inspired names trump most three-course set menus that you can show us.
Part Korean café, part hair salon, Hurwendeki is certainly not your average cheap eat restaurant. Located on Cambridge Heath Road, this weird but wonderful place has an evening meal deal that offers one main, one side and roast seaweed for £10. Hurwendeki is about simple, delicious, home-cooked Korean food. And it is another BYO restaurant.
Beigel Bake; it is what it is. Not a restaurant, not a café, just an over the counter bakery that will furnish you with one of the best salt beef beigels in London. Cheap doesn’t cover it. More filling than a full meal, tastier than steak and don’t even try comparing it to a sandwich. So cheap, so good.
Tonkotsu East is by no means the cheapest restaurant on this list but you would pay more for a ramen as good as theirs. The silky broth, creamy eggs, homemade noodles and aged pork makes for the type of bowl that you’ll have dreams about.
Getting bigger and bigger, Franco Manca are the sour dough pizza people offering up cheap cheesy goodness across London. Their Broadway Market branch is a sweet little restaurant with views out onto the hip street. Prices are reasonable, especially if you can bear to share.