Leicester Square cheap eats: Best food under £10

1/11
Ailis Brennan11 March 2019

Let’s face it, there’s not so much to Leicester Square.

There are the cinemas that occasionally pop-up on TV, the enduringly bewildering M&M’s World and the scent of bad ideas wafting from the Hippodrome Casino – as well as a few hundred people milling around quite inexplicably.

If you’ve ended up there and you’re hungry, there are plenty of sub-par steakhouses and the like ready to take your money and disappoint – or you could investigate some of the genuinely interesting, good value restaurants that can be found within a five minute walk.

From hidden Chinatown gems to sky high brunch spots, these are the nearby dishes under £10 that can soothe the sense of hell that comes with London's busiest tourist trap.

Xiao long bao at Dumplings Legend - £7.50

First step in getting off the chain bandwagon: head to Chinatown. One of the capital’s most fruitful areas for cheap food is a step away from Leicester Square. Dumplings Legend is one of the area’s most popular spots for a dim sum lunch, and it offers a whole basket of xiao long bao for well within budget. These much-lauded dumplings are filled with minced pork and delicious brothy soup that leaks out on bite – eight delicious pieces cost just £7.50.

15-16 Gerrard Street, W1D 6JE

Sausage roll at The Blue Posts - £4.50

The Blue Posts isn’t any old pub – this place is run by the team behind hit restaurants The Palomar (which is next door) and The Barbary. The bar snacks are accordingly top notch. The sausage roll is a more than adequate accompaniment to a post-work pint or two, with a robustly meaty filling wrapped in delicately flaky, glistening pastry. The restaurants may take inspiration from the Middle East, but this dish has a firm hand on British preferences – the roll is served with a dollop of Colman’s mustard on the side.

28 Rupert Street, W1D 6DJ, theblueposts.co.uk

Abura soba at Kanada-Ya - £9

Kanada-Ya is one of the capital’s ramen stars – but all of their ramen dishes nudge just outside the £10 mark (though the tonkotsu ramen is £10.50, so it depends how strict you’re being). It’s not the end of the world, though, as the superlative noodles that sets Kanada Ya’s ramen apart can also be tried in the aruba soba dish for £9. No soup, but the bowl of noodles comes topped with slices of seared chashu pork belly, bamboo shoots, an onsen egg, seaweed and more.

3 Panton Street, SW1Y 4DL, kanada-ya.com

Margherita at Pizza Pilgrims - £6.85

Sometimes it’s simplicity that hits the spot. While a pizza pitstop can involve endless trawling of potential toppings, this is unnecessary at Pizza Pilgrims – here, the crust is the star of the show. The chewy sourdough is delicately charred on the outside, and just the right side of yielding on the inside – top it with tomato, fior di latte mozzarella and basil. This simple pleasure will perk you up in no time.

23 Garrick Street, WC2E 9BN, pizzapilgrims.co.uk

Fried chicken at Good Friend Chicken - £6.50

This is fried chicken, but not as the Colonel knows it. Chinatown favourite Good Friend Chicken takes the Taiwanese approach to the fast food favourite: it marinades its chicken breast, slices it into super thin schnitzel-style steaks, flattens and tosses it in three flours before frying. The result is super crispy chicken, which is then dusted with your choice of flavoured powder, which ranges from plum to seaweed.

14 Little Newport Street, WC2H 7JJ

Eggs Benedict at B&H Garden Room - £8.50

This new Covent Garden spot is a room with a serious view. Above the hubbub of Leicester Square, the West End offshoot of Clerkenwell stalwart Bourne & Hollingsworth boasts floor-to-ceiling windows 10 floors up. Alongside impressive views across the centre of the capital, breakfast comes largely within budget, including an eggs Benedict twist topped with ham hock and Béarnaise sauce.

10th floor, above Assembly Hotel, 31 Charing Cross Road, WC2H 0LS, bandhgardenroom.com

Pork baozi at Baozi Inn Newport Court - £2.80

In recent times, Baozi Inn has gone from being a low-key Chinatown favourite to a three-venue, Instagram-friendly hotspot in London. There's been much fuss around the new sites in Romilly Street and Market Hall Victoria, but the diminutive original restaurant is still offering cheap, good food just a four minute walk from Leicester Square. Instead of multi-coloured dim sum (a social media favourite at the newer venues), here you can indulge in the restaurant's super cheap namesake. Spend just £2.80, and Baozi Inn will bring you its namesake pork baozi, a fluffy steamed bun the size of a substantial handful that is filled with tender pork and a rich sauce.

25 Newport Court, WC2H 7JS, baoziinn-ct.com

Black daal at Dishoom - £6

There’s plentiful pickings for under a tenner on Dishoom’s masterly menu of spiced-up bites, but for satisfaction to soothe the belly and the soul, there’s only one dish you need. The black daal at the Bombay cafe-style restaurant is cooked for a luxurious 24 hours, allowing it to become silky, unctuous and drenched in flavour. Enjoy this with a freshly made garlic naan and lunch is more than sorted for well within budget.

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

Soft shell crab with chilli and salt at Cafe TPT - £5.50

For those looking to keep it cheap in Chinatown, Cafe TPT is an enduring favourite. It’s not much to look at inside – think doctor’s waiting room but less aesthetically inspiring – but its spread of Cantonese dishes hit the spot without doing damage to the wallet. Most main meals are well under £10, with char siu pork and the sizzling hot bowls among the top picks, but be sure to start with a £5.50 portion of delicious soft shell crab sprinkled with a salt and fresh chilli garnish straight out of the fryer.

21 Wardour Street, W1D 6PN, cafetpt.com

El Presidente burrito at Benito’s Hat - £8.90

A good burrito spot needs some pretty strong leadership – for that, Benito’s Hat brought in El Presidente. This burrito may be the most expensive on the menu, but it brings with it some pretty serious substance. Rice, guacamole and all the usual suspects are wrapped up with not one but three meats – beef, chicken and pork – resulting in mammoth half-kilo burrito.

19 New Row, WC2N 4LA, benitos-hat.com

Cuttlefish croquetas at Barrafina - £7.50

Yes, we know this isn’t a full meal – but as one of the best bites in the capital, how could we not give Barrafina’s croquetas a mention? The Adelaide Street location of the acclaimed tapas bars may just be a short walk from Leicester Square, but it offers a chance to transport into the mercados of Spain. The jamon croquetas usually found at other locations are switched here for cuttlefish versions, which lace the creamy bechamel interior with jet black ink, along with a mix of fried cuttlefish, spring onions and fino sherry. If you're in need of a snack, they don't get much better.

10 Adelaide Street, WC2N 4HZ, barrafina.co.uk

100 delicious dishes in London that cost less than £10

1/100

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in