Covent Garden London cheap eats: The best budget food, restaurants with meals under £10

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Ailis Brennan8 August 2018

A night out in the West End is one of the great joys of London – but it doesn’t always come cheap.

If you’ve forked out on theatre tickets for the night, you may well be looking to rein in the spending on dinner. The good news is, some of the best seats in the house at Covent Garden restaurants can be enjoyed on a budget.

From kebabs to bibimbap, these are some of the best dishes you’ll find in Covent Garden for under a tenner.

Korean fried chicken wings at Flesh and Buns – £7.40

For such an alarmingly named restaurant, Flesh and Buns is a relatively pleasant place to spend an hour or two. Flash the flesh with a portion of Korean fried chicken wings, which come sticky, sweet and and sprinkled with sesame. Vegetarians can also pick up a treat in the form of a miso grilled aubergine filling for their famously fluffy steamed buns, which comes in at £9.90.

41 Earlham Street, ​WC2H 9LX, fleshandbuns.com

Cauliflower Jaffa Style at The Barbary – £7.50

Highlight: Cauliflower ‘jaffa style’

Following on from the success of The Palomar, sister restaurant The Barbary took the party from Jerusalem to the Barbary coast. All veggie dishes served over the counter of this open kitchen restaurant come in under £10, including this deep-fried cauliflower, topped with chopped tomato, lemon and coriander.

16 Neal's Yard, WC2H 9DP, thebarbary.co.uk

Dead Hippie at MEATmarket – £9.25

Carnivores craving a protein punch should try Meat Liquor’s Covent Garden edition, where the Dead Hippie will perk you up in no time. You get a lot of bang for your burger with this one, which features two mustard-fried beef patties, Dead Hippie sauce, cheese, pickles and minced onions.

Jubliee Market Hall, WC2E 8BE, meatliquor.com

Roasted Lamb Chops at Sibarita – £9.50

Spanish spot Sibarita masquerades as a wine bar, but is actually a darn good restaurant. Ex-Encant and now Rambla chef Victor Garvey is at the helm, serving up seriously satisfying tapas dishes. A must are the roasted lamb chops, perfectly pink and wildly succulent.

7 Maiden Lane, WC2E 7NA, opentable.com

On the Bibimbap at On the Bab – £7.90/£9.90

Get on it at On the Bab, where this Korean restaurant serves up street food designed to be enjoyed with a drink or two. You can choose whether to have your meat or veg on buns, babs (rice), rolls or noodle soup, or you can go for their signature kimchi and fried egg topped bibimbap rice dish for £7.90, and add your choice of meat for just another £2.

36 Wellington Street, WC2E 7BD, onthebab.com

Seekh Kebab Roll at Tandoor Chop House – £7

For a smoking hot night, Tandoor Chop House is the place to go. You won’t find a curry on the menu at this Indian restaurant, but you will find a bounty of gorgeously grilled meat. Petite but punchy, the seekh kebab roll wraps juicy lamb with green chutney, pomegranate and red onion, served on one of their signature naans.

8 Adelaide Street, WC2N 4HZ, tandoorchophouse.com

Pizza by the slice at Homeslice – £4

Sometimes it just needs to be pizza, doesn’t it? If so, you’ll feel right at home at Homeslice, where you can pick up pizza by the (generously sized) slice in their signature flavours including margherita, and a mushroom, ricotta and chilli topped pie. If you’re hungry and have a homie to hand, one of their mammoth 20 inch pizzas costs £20 and easily serves two.

13 Neal's Yard, WC2H 9DP, homeslicepizza.co.uk

Tortelli with ricotta, spinach, sage butter and pine nuts at Cafe Murano – £9

The little sister of Michelin-starred Murano, Angela Hartnett’s Covent Garden eatery specialises in Italian small plates – cicchetti – but also plentiful pasta. You can pick up a small bowl of said Italian staple for under £10, including this £9 bowl of tortelli stuffed with ricotta and spinach, cooked in sage butter and served with pine nuts.

36 Tavistock Street, WC2E 7PB, cafemurano.co.uk

La Complète at Mamie’s – £6.95

It doesn’t have to be pancake day for you to eat pancakes. Breton-style creperie Mamie’s is flipping the French version all year round, and almost always within your budget. Go classic with La Complète, which sees a gluten free savoury batter folded around a traditional filling of ham, emmental and a fried egg.

19 Catherine Street, WC2B 5JS, mamies.co.uk

House fry at Chick ‘n’ Sours – £9

Seaweed crack: House Fry at Chick 'n' Sours

A foodie take on the fried chicken shop, Chick n Sours’ Haggerston stop was so popular it now boasts another in Seven Dials. The house fry embraces both the deep south of America and the Asian flavours that pepper its menu, serving up a deep fried drumstick and thigh with pickled watermelon and a dusting of seaweed “crack” – known in most circles as nori.

1A Earlham Street, WC2H 9LL, chicknsours.co.uk

Black daal at Dishoom – £6.20

Who knew a bowl of lentils could get London foodies so excited? This is not, of course, just any bowl of lentils, but a portion of Bombay cafe Dishoom’s famed black daal. Cooked with a secret recipe for over 24 hours, this dish is delivers deep flavours and high satisfaction, especially when scooped up with a portion of freshly cooked garlic naan. It could be a side, but is also perfectly enjoyable all by itself.

12 Upper St Martin's Lane, WC2H 9FB, dishoom.com

Ginger ice cream at Jidori – £5

When the Standard’s Fay Maschler says that a pudding is her “Dessert of the Year”, you know you’re up for something pretty special. This Japanese restaurant largely sells yakitori meat and fish skewers, but make sure you have room for a sweet something, namely the ginger ice cream with miso caramel, that comes topped with sweet potato crisps and black sesame praline.

15 Catherine Street, WC2B 5JZ, jidori.co.uk

30 must-try dishes in London restaurants

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