London can be spenny but there are ways to eat at some of the best restaurants in town for less
That’s why we look for loopholes where cheap eats (and a cheap night out in London) can be found, and a good value set menu is actually not too hard to come by. Restaurants across the city (including some of our all-time favourites) have dedicated menus of two or more courses that’ll set you back a whole lot less than standard – but will blow you away just as much.
The Pelican
The Pelican in Notting Hill is one of our fave posh pubs in town and now it’s gotten even better thanks to the introduction of a new set lunch menu. You can get British classics like raw venison, skate wing with brown butter and apple pie with custard for £24 (two courses) or £29 (three courses). The menu changes weekly too so you won’t be short of variety.
45 All Saints Rd, London W11 1HE
thepelicanw11.com
BAO
Looking for a lunch that’s fast, filling and friendly on the wallet? Head to BAO for the BAO 15, which is available form 12pm – 6pm on weekdays. The menu includes a bao, a snack and a noodle dish for £15, with the option to add on some of their Taiwanese fried chicken for an extra couple of quid. If you’ve got a little more time to eat, the King’s Cross and City restaurants also serve the four-course A Taipei Story menu for £29 per person, which features a selection of the team’s fave dishes.
All BAO locations
baolondon.com
Sune
Sune on Broadway Market does one hell of a sandwich at lunchtime – a croque monsieur topped with beef tartare – but you can also get a great value two- or three-course meal as well. Running Wednesday – Friday and costing £25 for two courses or £29 for three, the set lunch menu includes dishes like cured trout with winter tomatoes, roe, capers and dill; pork loin with charred greens, madeira and green peppercorn; and ginger cake with blood orange and cream.
129A Pritchard’s Road, London E2 9AP
sune.restaurant
Akara
Head to West African restaurant Akara from Tuesday to Thursday, 12pm – 3pm, for a steal of a set lunch deal. You can get the namesake akara – black-eyed bean fritters with fillings like BBQ prawn and BBQ celeriac – and the likes of Lagos chicken or BBQ king oyster mushroom served with efik rice or Brazillian carrot rice for £25, with a dessert option for an additional £4.
Arch 208, 18 Stoney Street, London, SE1 9AD
akaralondon.co.uk
The Cinnamon Club
Vivek Singh’s Cinnamon Club does an early and late set menu, running from 5.30pm – 6pm and after 9.30pm. It features three courses for £38, including dishes such as Awadhi lamb galouti with saffron sheermal and smoked paprika raita; Chicken Rezala; Koorgi style double cooked pork belly with masala mash, raw mango and chilli sambal; and baked saffron cheesecake with coconut cardamom sorbet.
The Old Westminster Library, 30-32 Great Smith Street, London SW1P 3BU
cinnamonclub.com
som saa
A frequent feature on ‘London’s best Thai restaurants’ lists, som saa is a great choice any day of the week. But drop by on a Sunday or Monday evening to take advantage of their discounted Tem Toh (meaning ‘full table’ in Thai) menu. For £35, you’ll get four courses, plus sticky and jasmine rice (which can be topped up if necessary), including the likes of yum samun phrai, gaeng khiao waan gung, pad pak and salted palm sugar ice cream with grilled bananas for dessert. There are veggie and vegan options, as well as the choice to add on a whole deep-fried seabass with isaan herbs and roasted rice powder. And, if you can’t make it to dinner on a Sunday or Monday, they also do the Tem Toh for £35 at lunch, or £40 for dinner any other day of the week. It’s the dream way to get the full experience at one of the hottest Thai spots in town.
43A Commercial Street, London E1 6BD
somsaa.com
Berners Tavern
If you’re heading out for a pre-theatre bite, or you just like an early dinner and being home by 8, then Berners Tavern at The London EDITION has just the thing for you. The new Early Berners menu, where you can get two courses for £29.50 and three for £35, runs from 5pm – 6.30pm, Monday – Saturday, and includes dishes like prawn cocktail with lobster jelly, Cornish Cob chicken paillard and pistachio & raspberry chocolate opera. Not only is it excellent value, you get to enjoy being in one of London’s most spectacular dining rooms too.
10 Berners Street, London, W1T 3NP
bernerstavern.com
Pavyllon
The Four Seasons on Park Lane isn’t somewhere you’d immediately associate with value for money but at Pavyllon London, run by multi-Michelin starred French chef Yannick Alleno, you can get a four course lunch for £55.50, and in just 55 minutes too. Running daily from 12pm – 3pm, the lunch break friendly service includes seasonal dishes like Bluefin tuna tartare with parmesan and anchovies condiment; steamed comté cheese soufflé with Albufera sauce; and veal fillet “à la ficelle” with veal butter sauce and vegetables brunoise.
Hamilton Place, London W1J 7DR
pavyllonlondon.com
The Ninth
Jun Tanaka has introduced a new set lunch menu at his Michelin-starred Fitzrovia spot The Ninth, running from 12pm – 2.30pm, Monday – Saturday. The restaurant is known for its French-Mediterranean style and this is reflected in the lunch offering, with dishes like spaghetti with girolles, peas & hazelnut gremolata; raisin vinaigrette & lamb sausage, fennel purée, courgettes & tomatoes; and poached peach with granita, mint oil & yoghurt sorbet. It’s £33 for two courses and £38 for three, and if the weather is good, you’ll want a seat on that terrace.
22 Charlotte Street, London W1T 2NB
theninthlondon.com
Noble Rot
A big name in the London restaurant scene and one of the city’s best wine bars, Noble Rot is here to keep the British boozy lunch brand alive. Their set lunch menu changes seasonally, with a choice of three courses – two for £24 and all for £28 – and each course has a suggested wine pairing which, although not included in the price, makes life a lot easier.
51 Lamb’s Conduit Street, London WC1N 3NB
2 Greek Street, London W1D 4NB
noblerot.co.uk
The Devonshire
The Devonshire, aka London’s hottest pub, has won over the city with its superlative Guinness and classic dishes cooked on the upstairs restaurant’s wood-ember grill but we’ve fallen in love with its excellent set menu. You can bag the likes of prawn and langoustine cocktail, skirt steak with chips and bearnaise, and sticky toffee pudding for £29 (or two courses for £25), if you can manage to get a table that is….
17 Denman Street, London W1D 7HW
devonshiresoho.co.uk
Langan’s
This 70s and 80s hotspot was given a revamp before it landed back on the scene in 2021, but it’s still managed to maintain so much of what made it a hit all those years ago. Langan’s is a brasserie with a menu that focuses on British and French classics, so for their prix fixe menu (which is served Monday-Saturday, 12pm – 6:30pm and 9pm – close), expect the likes of chicken liver parfait with onion & raisin jam and toasted brioche, Langan’s bangers & mash and baked cherry & vanilla cheesecake. You can get two courses for £30 and three for £35 making this a real steal.
Stratton Street, London W1J 8LB
langansbrasserie.com
The Grill by Tom Booton
Usually a meal at The Dorchester doesn’t come cheap but there is one way to eat at the five star hotel without blowing a hole in your wallet. The Grill by Tom Booton, where chef Tom has made a name for himself with his playful take on classic cooking – see dishes like cauliflower cheese soup with crispy egg & truffle soldiers and red velvet soft serve with cookies and mascarpone cheesecake – runs an outstanding value set lunch menu where three courses will set you back just £45.
53 Park Lane, London W1K 1QA
dorchestercollection.com
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
Eat at the two Michelin-starred Dinner by Heston Blumenthal for a snip of the price with the restaurant’s new The Luncheon Menu. Priced at £65, it includes three courses that take inspo from historical recipes that also showcase ways to minimise food waste. You can expect dishes like ragoo of pig’s ear on toast; salt cod with parsnips, pickled lemon and horseradish; and pineapple and cardamom tart.
Mandarin Oriental Hyde Park, 66 Knightsbridge, London SW1X 7LA
dinnerbyheston.co.uk
Spring
Spring’s Scratch menu is available from Tuesday to Saturday for just one hour each day (5.30-6.30pm), but it’s worth catching if you can. The ethos behind Scratch is that they use ‘waste’ produce – perfectly good fruits and vegetables that would otherwise be discarded because they’re considered too ugly or irregular. The organic, overlooked ingredients are turned into nutritious dishes and you get three courses for £40.
Somerset House, New Wing, Lancaster Place, London WC2R 1LA
springrestaurant.co.uk
The Palomar
Looking for a great value lunch in Soho? Head to The Palomar where from 12pm – 5.15pm, Monday – Thurs and 12pm – 2.30om on Friday, you can get three courses for £25. Dishes change regularly but you could be tucking into the likes of labneh with tahini butter and velvet tomatoes, Palomar Waldorf salad, and Persian oxtail stew.
34 Rupert Street, London W1D 6DN
thepalomar.co.uk
Fallow
Under normal circs, a trip to Fallow means potentially having to plan your budget for the rest of the month around dinner (£30 for a roast alone… eek. It’s still one of our faves in town, though). But something magical happens at lunchtimes when you can secure three courses for just £42. Choose from the likes of mushroom parfait, sea bream crudo, dairy cow rump, mussels with smoked bacon and pickled lemon, Chelsea tart and rum-less raisin ice cream, and more, from Monday to Friday.
2 St. James’s Market, London SW1Y 4RP
fallowrestaurant.com
Quality Chop House
One of the most beloved restaurants in the city, the food at Quality Chop House always hits the mark. Their lunch set menu, which changes fortnightly and is available Tuesday through Friday, will get you three courses for £29 and although there’s just one option for each, you can put your faith in QCH to deliver something pretty special.
88-94 Farringdon Road, London EC1R 3EA
thequalitychophouse.com
Kudu Grill
Head to Kudu Grill in Nunhead on Friday lunchtimes to bag yourself a steal of a deal – three courses for £33.50. The South African-inspired menu includes dishes like harissa beef tartare with crispy shallots, sea bream with green mazavaroo and capers, and melktert choux bun with jasmine ice cream. Big sister spot Kudu in Peckham also runs a Friday set lunch menu that’s worth checking out too.
57 Nunhead Lane, London SE15 3TR
kuducollective.com
Hawksmoor
It doesn’t come much better than steak and chips, unless you’re making a tidy saving on the bill that is. Hawksmoor’s Express Menu (which runs at all its London restaurants, though timings vary slightly) has steak frites as one of the main options, which you can turn into two courses (for £30) by adding potted beef & bacon with Yorkshires or smoked mackerel salad or three courses (for £35) with sticky toffee sundae or peanut butter shortbread.
All Hawksmoor restaurants
thehawksmoor.com
Silo
Doug McMaster has relaunched his Shortlist menu at zero-waste restaurant Silo, meaning you can get six courses for £45 if you dine before 7pm. The menu changes weekly but you’ll be able to get three snacks, two larger plates and a dessert, including the likes of koji quavers with vegetable treacle and goat’s cheese, mutton with caramelised cream and wild garlic quavers, and Siloaf ice cream sandwich.
First Floor, Unit 7 Queens Yard, White Post Lane, London E9 5EN
silolondon.com