dear internet,
saying one were going to London and wanted to save all ones hard-earned money for outings with friends, theater, the Doctor Who Exhibition, etc . . . do you have any recommendations for cheap-but-good eating / grocery shopping in the Hoxton Square / Shoreditch area (nearest the Old Street tube station) or environs?
home
ask a question
answer-o-matic
browse
comments
i certainly couldnt eat there for less than 10 pounds... and dont know it well enough to direct you to a grocery. i trust you already have somewhere to stay!
There must be a Tesco's somewhere nearby? Buying groceries and cooking your own food is definitely the cheapest way to eat.
If you're staying in Shoreditch, beware of accidentally spending all your hard-earned cash on a crazy night out in Old Street..
No, but I'm very curious what other answers you'll get. I'll probably be in London some time this autumn and if I go, it'll definitely be on a very tight budget.
The Doctor Who Exhibition looks gorgeous, though. Like 9 quid well spent :-)!
I wouldn't want to make anyone here jealous but I may have to post a thinly-disguised how-much-fun-am-I-having question when I am in London. Perhaps about Doctor Who, and which part of the exhibition is the best. I know the Daleks will likely win, but I'll ask anyway. I mean, since David Tennant won't be there in the flesh ;)
inafish:
seeing your statement, I am just going to reproduce what I sent in a long-ish message to Iseult. And the same to you as to Iseult, if you want any more information feel free to contact me. I have a cousin coming to stay and I understand his monthly food budget is £120 (which I find incredible, mine is almost always at least £300), and he lived around East London area. Also, I have Chicago-based friends coming to stay mid-September onwards, so they may hopefully have some budget nuggets to share in their few weeks here.
Shoreditch and Hoxton Square are odd areas, very yuppie on one side of the street, but almost immediately on the other, incredibly poor. So, like I said, odd. In the immediate environs it is likely to be (especially Hoxton Square) very expensive. A wee waltz into the Bethnal Green/ Whitechapel area and you should get poor again, ie, cheap Asian influence food. But more useful in terms of keeping costs down if you are planning to cook from scratch, not really otherwise. Eating food in London on less than £10 a day seems a rather dicey proposition. Where are you staying, ie, if with friends, could you not take sandwiches/ salads etc made up from home? There are, of course, budget places to eat, but most taste rather bland. Compared to the U.S. it is going to seem prohibitively expensive.
Budget eating ideas are the same the world over I guess. Take tap water from wherever you are staying so you don't buy any liquids. A large size salad at John Lewis is £3, possibly cheaper than Burger King etc, and healthier. 'Food for thought' is a great place to eat in Covent Garden, huge portions, order only one course at a time - see if you can finish it! Cheap on-the-go food are pasties (savoury) and pastries (sweet) available from high street bakeries, usually taste rather ghastly, but edible in a pinch. I really only know veggie cheap eats, sorry!
You can get pizza slices for £1 in tourist areas of central London, whilst kebabs, burger and chips etc, usually weigh in under a fiver. You can get cheap grocery food (and I am not sure whether we both have the same definition of grocery store here, I am talking about where one buys fruit and vegetables etc) around East London and local markets/ shops thereby (a station stop or two away from the area you mentioned: Mile End, Bethnal Green, Limehouse, Aldgate East, Shadwell). If going to big supermarkets for shopping, possibly places like Asda or Morrisons, Lidl etc, are the best budget options.
There are great farmer's markets around and about London. If you go right towards the end of the day, the price of fresh food/ cheeses/ pastries tends to be greatly reduced.
Time out London has a cheap eats section, but their idea of cheap eats tends to be a lot more expensive than my idea of cheap eats. (I get hungry, and eat a lot!). Still it is worth looking up for ideas. Hope this helps.
Just remembered, www.moneysavingexpert.com is very helpful and you can get lots of eating out, 2for1 meals and discounts galore on food shopping and pretty much almost everything related to money and everyday living in the UK, on there.