Eating cheaply in London does not mean eating badly. The city’s food markets, independent traders, and street food scene offer some of the best value eating anywhere in Britain — if you know where to look. Here’s how to eat well in London without spending a fortune.
Where to Find Cheap Eats
The honest answer: street food markets. Not tourist-facing restaurants, not chain cafés, not airport-style food courts. Street food markets.
London’s food markets are the most consistent source of good, affordable eating in the city. The economics are straightforward: traders have lower overheads than restaurants (no table service, no front-of-house), so they can charge less for the same quality of ingredients and cooking. A dish that would cost £20 in a restaurant might cost £9 at a market stall — and sometimes it’s the same cook making it.
Borough Market, Maltby Street Market, Camden Market, Broadway Market — all are excellent for affordable eating. See our Best London Food Markets guide for specifics on each.
Beyond markets, a few other reliable routes to cheap eating in London:
Lunch specials. Many London restaurants that are too expensive in the evening offer good-value set lunches. Indian restaurants in particular often have fixed-price lunch deals that are genuinely worth seeking out.
Ethnic food strips. Edgware Road for Lebanese and Middle Eastern food. Kingsland Road for Vietnamese pho. Brick Lane for South Asian. Tooting Broadway for a mix of South Asian and South American. These strips tend to be competitively priced because the restaurants are competing against each other.
Bakeries. London has some exceptional bakeries, and a pastry or a slice of really good bread doesn’t cost much. As a mid-morning snack or a light lunch, a proper croissant or a sourdough loaf can be more satisfying and cheaper than a sandwich from a chain.
Best Budget Street Food
Here are the dishes that consistently deliver the best value in London’s street food scene.
Falafel wrap. A properly made falafel wrap — crisp falafel, hummus, pickled vegetables, herbs, tahini, in a freshly baked flatbread — costs £5–7 at most stalls. It’s filling, it’s flavourful, and if the falafel is made fresh (ask), it’s genuinely excellent food.
Jerk chicken with rice and peas. London’s Caribbean food is seriously underrated for value. A proper jerk chicken portion — smoky, spiced, with slow-cooked rice and peas — typically runs £7–10 at a market stall. Good enough that it would cost twice as much in a restaurant.
Pho. A bowl of Vietnamese pho — the beef noodle soup — at a good café on Kingsland Road can be under £10. It’s a meal, not a snack. Restorative, filling, and seriously flavoured.
Samosa or aloo tikki. Individual Indian street food snacks at market stalls: typically £2–4 each. If you’re grazing a market, two or three good samosas can constitute a real meal for under £10.
Dumplings. This is where we come in.
Pay-by-Weight Value
The pay-by-weight model exists for one reason: fairness. You pay for what you eat. Nothing more.
At Varenik & Pelmen, we charge £5 per 100g — for the dumpling weight only. The bowl doesn’t count. The toppings don’t count. Six toppings, all included, all free.
Let’s be clear about what that means in practice.
Sour cream — included. Crispy bacon — included. Fresh herbs — included. Sautéed mushrooms — included. Fried onions — included. Berry jam — included. All of them. On your bowl. No extra charge.
This matters in a city where “add toppings” is usually code for “add £1–2 per item.” We don’t do that. The toppings are part of the dish. We just happen to charge for the dumplings separately because that’s the honest way to do it.
Filling Bowls for a Tenner
A practical guide to eating at Varenik & Pelmen without overspending.
A 150g bowl — roughly 8–10 pelmeni or 5–6 vareniki — costs £7.50 for the dumplings. Add however many toppings you want: still £7.50. That’s a solid snack or a light meal.
A 200g bowl — our recommended portion for one — costs £10. With sour cream, fried onions, and fresh herbs, it’s a full meal. That’s the sweet spot, and a typical bowl runs £10–12.
Going bigger — pile on a more generous serving for one or a light sharing portion for two. You’ve covered all the toppings you want, had a proper feed, and still spent less than a starter in most London restaurants.
The model is deliberately transparent. You see the price per 100g, you watch the scales, you know exactly what you’re paying before it happens. No surprises. No service charge. No extras.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where can I eat cheaply in London?
Street food markets are the best starting point — Borough Market, Camden Market, Maltby Street Market, and Broadway Market all offer good food at lower prices than restaurants. For handmade dumplings specifically, Varenik & Pelmen’s pay-by-weight model (£5/100g, toppings included) gives you a filling bowl for £10–12. Check our next pop-up date at eatpelmeni.com/find-us.
What’s the best budget street food in London?
Falafel wraps, jerk chicken, pho, Indian street food snacks, and dumplings are all excellent value. Dumplings in particular — at Varenik & Pelmen, a 200g bowl of handmade pelmeni with toppings included comes to £10. For London, that’s genuinely generous.
How does pay-by-weight save money?
Pay-by-weight means you only pay for what you actually eat. There’s no set menu markup, no pricing for “standard portions” that are larger than you want, and no extra charges for toppings. At Varenik & Pelmen, six toppings are included at no cost — so you’re genuinely paying only for the dumplings. The bowl doesn’t count. The toppings don’t count.
How much is a dumpling bowl at Varenik & Pelmen?
We charge £5 per 100g for dumpling weight. A 150g bowl is £7.50, and a 200g bowl (the recommended one portion) is £10 — a typical bowl runs £10–12. All six toppings — sour cream, crispy bacon, fresh herbs, sautéed mushrooms, fried onions, berry jam — are included with every bowl. We also sell frozen 200g packs at £9 if you want to take some home.