Where Can You Find a Cheap Lunch in Central London?
Eating in central London doesn't have to mean spending £25 on lunch. Here are some of the places and areas where you can find a proper meal for less.
Central London has a reputation for being expensive.
And, honestly, it can be.
Walk into a restaurant around Covent Garden, Soho or Leicester Square without checking the menu first and you can quickly find yourself paying £20 or more for lunch.
But there is another side to lunchtime in central London.
Look beyond the obvious tourist restaurants and you'll find pizza, noodles, sandwiches, Middle Eastern food, Indian street food, pasta, food halls and set menus that can keep lunch much closer to £10–£15.
Current 2026 guides show that there are still numerous central-London lunch options below £15, while some set menus are available for under £20.
So if you're sightseeing in London and don't want lunch to destroy your budget, here's where to look.
How Much Should You Budget for Lunch in Central London?
Before getting into specific places, let's set a realistic expectation.
For a cheap central-London lunch, I'd aim for:
£5–£10 - very cheap / quick meal
£10–£15 - comfortable budget for a proper casual lunch
£15–£20 - affordable sit-down or set-menu lunch
Once you're getting beyond £20, you're moving away from what most people would consider a budget lunch.
Of course, drinks, sides and desserts can push the total higher.
That's why one of the easiest ways to save money is simply to eat the main meal and skip the expensive restaurant drinks.
1. Soho Is One of the Best Areas to Search
You might not expect Soho to be a budget-food destination.
It's surrounded by some of London's most expensive restaurants and bars.
But Soho also has an enormous concentration of small, independent and quick-service places.
Current 2026 research lists numerous Soho set menus below £20, including options from around £15.
You can find:
pizza
pasta
noodles
Indian food
Middle Eastern food
sandwiches
Japanese food
Mexican food
street food
The trick is not to automatically sit down at the first restaurant you see on the busiest streets.
Walk a couple of streets away from the main tourist flow and compare menus.
2. Look for Set Lunch Menus
This is probably one of the best money-saving tricks in central London.
Some restaurants offer a cheaper fixed-price lunch menu that isn't necessarily obvious from the main menu.
For example, current 2026 listings show 25 central-London restaurants offering set menus under £20, with prices starting at £14.95.
In Soho alone, there are set menus from around £15, including two- and three-course options.
So before choosing a restaurant, search:
“[restaurant name] lunch set menu”
rather than simply looking at the à la carte menu.
You might find that a restaurant that looks expensive actually has a surprisingly reasonable lunchtime deal.
3. Brasserie Zédel
If you want the experience of sitting down in a beautiful restaurant without spending a fortune, Brasserie Zédel is worth knowing about.
It is close to Piccadilly Circus and offers a fixed-price menu.
Current 2026 listings show its prix fixe at £16.95 for two courses and £19.95 for three courses, served every day. (allsetlondon.com)
That's very different from ordering freely from an expensive à la carte menu.
It's particularly useful if you're already sightseeing around:
Piccadilly Circus → Soho → Leicester Square
because you can fit lunch into the day without travelling across London.
4. Pizza Can Be One of Your Cheapest Options
Pizza is another easy answer when you're hungry in central London.
You don't necessarily need to sit down for a full restaurant meal.
Places such as ICCO in Soho and Fitzrovia offer inexpensive pizzas, with current 2026 pricing examples showing 12-inch pizzas from just a few pounds.
ICCO itself says its Soho location has been serving pizza since 1999, and its current menu includes a whole Margherita for around £6.50.
That's a completely different lunch budget from a £25 restaurant meal.
And if you're sightseeing, pizza is also easy to eat quickly.
5. Marugame Udon for a Cheap Hot Meal
If you're looking for something warm and filling, Marugame Udon is another name worth remembering.
Its restaurants use a quick-service format where you can order udon and sides without the formality of a sit-down restaurant.
Current 2026 London budget-food guides list udon bowls from around £4.95.
That's particularly useful when you're travelling alone.
You can walk in, eat, pay and leave without spending an hour over lunch.
6. Chinatown Is Your Friend
If you're around Leicester Square, don't automatically eat on the main tourist streets.
Walk towards Chinatown.
This is one of the easiest areas in central London to explore when you're looking for different types of food at different price points.
You'll find:
noodles
dumplings
roast meats
bao
bakeries
bubble tea
Chinese snacks
quick-service restaurants
And you can often create a cheaper lunch by choosing something from a bakery or counter-service restaurant instead of sitting down for a large meal.
This is especially useful if you're travelling with friends because everyone can choose something different.
7. Don't Ignore Bakeries
A bakery can be one of the easiest ways to eat cheaply in central London.
You don't always need:
starter + main + drink + dessert.
Sometimes you just need:
sandwich + pastry + coffee
or
filled roll + drink
and you're done.
This is particularly useful if you're spending the day sightseeing and don't want to lose an hour sitting inside a restaurant.
London's central neighbourhoods have bakeries and food counters everywhere you just need to look beyond the big chains around major tourist attractions.
8. Try Indian Street Food
Central London has plenty of Indian restaurants, but don't assume Indian food automatically means an expensive sit-down curry.
Look for Indian street-food restaurants and smaller casual restaurants.
You'll find things such as:
dosa
chaat
samosas
wraps
biryani
thali
curry bowls
These can be considerably cheaper than a traditional restaurant meal.
And if you're around Charing Cross Road, Soho or Leicester Square, Indian food is particularly easy to find.
The key is looking for casual counter-service places rather than restaurants designed around a long dining experience.
9. Food Halls Can Make Lunch Easier
Food halls are another excellent option if you're travelling with other people.
Instead of everyone agreeing on one restaurant, you can go somewhere with multiple vendors.
One person can get:
noodles
another can get:
pizza
someone else can get:
Indian food
and everyone can sit together.
This can also help with budgeting because you aren't locked into one restaurant's pricing.
Some central London food halls and market-style venues are particularly useful around lunchtime, especially if your group has different tastes.
10. Covent Garden: Walk a Little Further
Covent Garden is one of London's busiest tourist areas.
That also means there are plenty of restaurants designed specifically for tourists.
But don't assume that everything around Covent Garden is expensive.
Current business listings show casual options such as Mother Mash Covent Garden and Old Chang Kee Covent Garden around the New Row area.
The lesson here is simple:
Don't judge an entire neighbourhood by its main square.
Walk a few minutes away from the busiest tourist streets and compare menus.
11. Try a Market Instead of a Restaurant
Markets can be another good lunchtime strategy.
Instead of sitting in a restaurant, you can buy one meal from a stall and find somewhere nearby to eat.
This works particularly well if you're already exploring places such as:
Borough Market
Seven Dials Market
Mercato Metropolitano
and other food-focused markets and halls.
Just remember that market food isn't automatically cheap.
Some stalls can be surprisingly expensive.
Look around first.
12. Look Around Leicester Square Before Eating
Leicester Square is surrounded by some of London's biggest attractions.
It's also surrounded by plenty of restaurants.
That doesn't mean you should eat directly beside the square.
Walk towards:
Chinatown
Soho
Covent Garden
or Shaftesbury Avenue
and compare menus.
You can find everything from quick Chinese food to pizza and Middle Eastern food within a relatively short walk.
That's one of the advantages of central London:
you don't always have to eat where you happen to be standing.
13. Try Middle Eastern Food
Middle Eastern food can be another good option for a filling lunch.
Look for:
falafel
shawarma
hummus
grilled meats
flatbreads
mezze
You can often build a satisfying lunch without ordering several expensive courses.
For example, a wrap with a side can be enough for lunch rather than ordering a full mezze spread.
Around Shaftesbury Avenue and the West End, there are several Middle Eastern options.
Beirut Garden is one current example around Shaftesbury Avenue.
14. Don't Forget the City
Central London isn't just the West End.
The City of London can be another useful place to look for lunch deals, particularly on weekdays when restaurants are catering to office workers.
Areas around:
Liverpool Street
Bank
Fenchurch Street
Monument
and St Paul's
have plenty of lunchtime options.
For example, Pilpel Fenchurch Street is a casual Middle Eastern option around Fenchurch Street, while Old Chang Kee @ Boxhall City offers Singaporean food near Liverpool Street.
The important thing to remember is that the City can feel completely different at lunchtime compared with the weekend.
15. Eat Earlier
Here's a simple trick that tourists often overlook.
Don't wait until 2:30pm to start looking for lunch.
Some lunch deals are designed around specific hours.
A set menu might run:
12pm–2pm
or
12pm–3pm
rather than all afternoon.
If you start looking at 1pm, you have more choices.
You also avoid the worst of the lunchtime rush in some busy areas.
16. Look for Express Lunches
An express lunch is exactly what it sounds like.
A restaurant offers a smaller or fixed menu designed to get people fed quickly during the middle of the day.
Current 2026 Soho listings include Chotto Matte's Express Lunch at £14.95, making it one of the lower-priced set options currently listed in the area.
This is particularly useful if you have plans afterwards.
For example:
Lunch → British Museum → Covent Garden → West End show
You don't want a two-hour lunch eating into your sightseeing.
17. Eat Like a London Office Worker
Here's perhaps the most useful mindset.
If you want an inexpensive weekday lunch in central London, look for the places office workers use.
They aren't necessarily looking for:
“the most Instagrammable restaurant in London.”
They're looking for:
fast
filling
reasonably priced
and close to work.
That's why streets around office-heavy areas can have sandwich shops, salad bars, noodle places, bakeries, food halls and small restaurants that are much better suited to a budget lunch.
How to Keep Your Lunch Under £15
If £15 is your target, try this:
Option 1
Main meal: £8–£10
Water: bring your own bottle
Total: around £8–£10
Option 2
Set menu: £14–£15
Drink: water
Total: around £15
Option 3
Sandwich: £5–£7
Fruit/snack: £2–£3
Drink: £1–£2
Total: around £8–£12
Option 4
Pizza/noodles: £5–£8
Drink: £1–£2
Total: around £6–£10
These are examples rather than fixed prices menus change, and extras can increase the final bill.
What About a £10 Lunch?
Yes, it is still possible.
But you'll generally have more choices if you're happy with quick-service food rather than a full sit-down restaurant.
Current London guides continue to document central-London meals under £10, including pizza and udon, while Londonist's 2026 guide specifically highlights affordable food around Tottenham Court Road, Holborn and Leicester Square.
So if someone tells you:
“You can't eat in central London for under £10.”
That's not quite true.
You just need to change the type of lunch you're looking for.
Areas Worth Checking for Cheap Lunch
If you don't know where to start, keep these areas in mind:
Soho
Great for variety and set menus.
Chinatown
Good for Asian food and quick meals.
Covent Garden
More expensive overall, but plenty of casual options if you walk around.
Leicester Square
Useful because of its proximity to Chinatown and Soho.
Holborn
Good for weekday lunches and office workers.
Tottenham Court Road
Lots of quick and casual options.
The City
Particularly useful on weekdays.
Borough
Excellent for food-market browsing, although not everything is cheap.
The Biggest Mistake Tourists Make
The biggest mistake is assuming:
“I'm hungry, so I'll just eat at the restaurant directly in front of me.”
That can work.
But around major attractions, you are often surrounded by restaurants competing for tourists.
Instead, spend five minutes checking nearby menus.
Walk one or two streets away.
Look for lunch menus.
Check whether there is a market or food hall nearby.
You might save £10 without travelling very far.
A Cheap Lunch Doesn't Have to Mean Bad Food
This is worth remembering.
Budget lunch doesn't mean you have to survive on supermarket meal deals every day.
London has an enormous food scene, and some of the best-value meals come from small restaurants, bakeries, food halls and casual counters.
You can eat:
Japanese
Indian
Chinese
Middle Eastern
Italian
Mexican
British
and plenty more without spending restaurant-level money.
That's one of the best things about eating in London.
You just need to know where to look.
So, Where Can You Find a Cheap Lunch in Central London?
If you're trying to keep lunch affordable, start with Soho, Chinatown, Covent Garden, Leicester Square, Holborn, Tottenham Court Road and the City.
Look for set menus, express lunches, food halls, bakeries, markets and quick-service restaurants rather than automatically choosing a traditional sit-down restaurant.
And if you want the easiest rule to remember:
Before ordering, look at the lunch menu not just the main menu.
A restaurant that looks expensive from the outside might have a £15 lunch deal.
A restaurant that looks cheap might have £20 mains.
And sometimes walking five minutes away from a major attraction can completely change your options.
So yes, you can still have lunch in central London without spending a fortune.
You just have to know where and when to look.
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