Cheap London Eats (introducing the magic apps)

Hello to all of the travelers out there! We are so excited to have you here.

Either if you have been living in London for a while or if you are planning a visit here you must have realized by know why it is considered to be one of the most expensive world capitals. One of the things I enjoy the most about this city is that there is always something new going on and there’s something for everybody; it really feels like the options are endless. Also, London is one of the world’s trendsetter so we get to discover and try new amazing things before they get anywhere else. Great news is there are a few options to be a happy foodie without overspending and sacrificing your budget. This tricks will allow you to try new things and explore lots of restaurants with major discounts. Want to know more? Keep Reading.

1. Too good to goThis is by far the app we have been using the most since we discovered it last year. It’s not only great to find out about local bakeries and small businesses around you but it’s also fighting food waste and supporting the environment. How does it work? You need to download their app, create an account and insert your card details. After this you can select restaurants, cafes and bakeries based on their location and the hour when you’d like to go there. The products are fresh and nice but simply they won’t be able to sell them the following day. Once you select the place you are buying a bag of the stuff they haven’t sold , so it is not possible for you to select the items. As they say in the app, your magic bag is a surprise. Sometimes the same retailer will add the option for meat and veggie. It has happened to us as well that once we arrive in the place they let us select a number of items from the ones they have available but this will depend on the retailer and you should prepare yourself to be surprised. What I like about it is sometimes this makes you try things otherwise you wouldn’t and en up loving them. If you have a bad experience -which is rare but can happen- the support team is available and will fully refund you for that! so it’s risk free to try. In addition to lovely small bakeries and restaurants you can find big companies such as Costa Coffee, Pauls, Oree, Le Pain Quotidien, Benugo and many more. The price of a bag full of goodies is usually around 3 pounds, which is almost the price of just one sandwich. Plus you will be saving nice food from being wasted, it’s a win-win!

1. Disco Eat. This has been a total game changer for us when it comes to restaurants, so be prepared to discover the Disco Eat revolution! There’s an app but you can also use their web site, plus there is no need to create an account or insert your card details, therefore this is great for tourists as well as you don’t need to create an account you will not use after your trip or provide personal details. How it works, they offer tables at restaurants with percentages of discount depending on how busy they are. It is usually cheaper to book a table at ‘strange’ eating hours as restaurants are usually empty. As an example, if you book to eat at 1pm the discount can be a 10% whereas if you book the same restaurant for 3pm you can get a 40% discount. Just make a reservation and when the bill comes at the restaurant as usual the % of discount selected will apply automatically. Simple as that. Why is it great? You can enjoy delicious food and a nice meal in a restaurant while avoiding the crowds and the establishments will benefit from not having the tables empty in between the rush hours. We have discovered amazing places we probably wouldn’t have tried otherwise plus we get discount in a few of our favourites where we were paying full price before knowing Disco Eat. Great perks of using this site is you choose your food as usual, full menu of the restaurant available and there’s a huge selection from spanish tapas, italian pizza and pasta, vietnamise, chinese, traditional british pubs… you name it. Our best choices so far are Pane Cunzato in Holborn -we were already usuals by the time we discovered this!- and Crepes a la carte in Camden Town.

1. Wowcher/ Ava Experiences/ GrouponThis are three different sites but what they offer is very similar so we will just fit everything under the same category. Basically, how do they work? You can get amazing offers for restaurants, meal packages and bottomless brunches with a ‘coupon’. You buy it in their site and then contact the provider to book a day and a time. If you miss this slot once you’ve booked you’ll loose the money, so make sure you select a day and time where realistically you can make it. I have tried wowcher, which is were I discovered Friends House Cafe – as seen in our instagram- but I contacted the cafe directly as I was facing some issues to book through this site and he offered me a booking with the same discount. When it comes to Groupon, Giuseppe has tried it once and it was a set menu kind of offer which was good but in the end they didn’t offer the discount because they had to make the booking with the restaurant 48 hours before using it so we haven’t tried it since. There are nice offers just make sure you read properly the Terms & Conditions -which may vary from place to place- and to contact the provider in case of doubt to avoid disappointments. The newest incorporation to the team of good deals is ava experiences, a web site where you select an experience (not necessarily in a restaurant but most of their selection is related to food), select how many people will attend and then choose how much you are willing to pay per person. If you are one of the higher bidders you’ll be (usually) given 6 months to redeem your experience. They mainly offer bottomless brunches for 2 with prosecco and drinks. I would not really advise any of these if you’ll be spending a short time in London as if you buy the coupon/experience and don’t have availability on those dates you’ll loose the money. If you find a offer you really like try to contact the place directly and ask for availability on the dates first.

1. Big Dish. This site is a sort of Disco Eat with some significant differences. For starters, they are not only operating in London and you can Big Fish in many locations across the UK, so hurray for that! When it comes to London the biggest selection available is for asian food but still there are a few other options as italian, traditional british and american. In here the discounts options are 25%, 50% and 2×1.
2. Happy Hour. Usually between 4-6 *hours may vary from place to place* pubs and bars offer amazing discounts in drinks around the city. Usually you can benefit from half price discounts and 2×1. If you’d like a selection of our favourite city Happy Hours leave us a comment below!.
3. End of the day 50%. So this is a classic that has been going on for quite a while now but is still relatively unknown. How this basically works is big retailers that offer fresh products everyday – such as sushi that can not be left to sell for the next day – offer a 50% discount or a 2×1 between 1 hour and 1/2 before they close. If you opt to do this there are a few things to take into consideration: you will be able to choose the products between a smaller range and variety as many things might be sold out by then. Also, you can adjust it a bit to your own schedule as these retailers usually own many shops around the city with different closing hours, so you might be lucky to find one close to you. Our selection of 50% retailers are Itsu, Wasabi and Abokado but you can find many others such as Starbucks offering this type of discount. Again, saving money and fighting food waste can come together!