The best places to find cheap eats in East London

Good food at bargain prices

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...

Song Que Cafe image
Song Que Cafe
134 Kingsland Road E2 8DY
Hoxton 0.05 miles
AIL
Users
Vietnamese
Opening Times

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.

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Best Tava Restaurant
17 Stoke Newington Road N16 8BH
Dalston Kingsland 0.25 miles
AIL
Users
Turkish
Opening Times

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.

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F Cooke
9 Broadway Market E8 4PH
Haggerston 0.34 miles
Cafes & Tea Rooms
Opening Times

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.

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Tayyabs
83-89 Fieldgate Street E1 1JU
Aldgate East 0.30 miles
AIL
Users
Indian
Opening Times
Photos

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.

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St John Bread & Wine
94-96 Commercial Street E1 6LZ
Delicatessens
Opening Times

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.

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Sebright Arms
31-35 Coate Street E2 9AG
Cambridge Heath 0.18 miles
AIL
Users
Pubs
Opening Times

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.

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Hurwundeki
Arches 298-299 Cambridge Heath Road E2 9HA
Cambridge Heath 0.08 miles
AIL
Users
Cafes & Tea Rooms

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.

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Beigel Bake
159 Brick Lane E1 6SB
Bakeries

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.

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Tonkotsu East
1a Dunston Street, Arch 334 E8 4EB
Haggerston 0.29 miles
AIL
Users
Japanese
Photos

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.

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Franco Manca
52 Broadway Market E8 4QJ
Cambridge Heath 0.33 miles
AIL
Users
Pizzeria

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.