Time Out Cheap Eats London 1 (Time Out Guides) (Paperback)

~ Time Out (Author) "Starters were the most promising course at this tiny, vanilla-hued Mediterranean restaurant, which houses a deli and a conservatory..." (more)
Key Phrases: set meze, incl soft drink, courses incl coffee, Pizza Express, Time Out Cheap Eats, Tottenham Court Road (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

This is a guide to eating out in London on a budget. The criterion is that you should be able to get a two-course meal (or ethnic equivalent) with a drink and service for under #20. The guide includes around 500 restaurants, all with full reviews and listings details. The guide is arranged by area (though with cuisine and alphabetical indexes), allowing budget diners to easily locate the best places to eat wherever they are in the city. In addition to the top cheap eateries, the guide includes details of the usually more pricey restaurants that offer great value deals at certain times of the day.

About the Author

Time Out's acclaimed team of critics and reviewers.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Time Out (May 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141013370
• ISBN-13: 978-0141013374
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 4.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,346,349 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Foodie guide for an affordable London, June 20, 2007

By	Esther Schindler (Scottsdale, AZ USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Time Out Cheap Eats in London (Time Out Guides) (Paperback)

London is among the most expensive cities in the world, and at the moment the US-to-pound exchange rate is frightening. While I might love to visit the 5-star restaurants on my upcoming trip, my checkbook has issued a firm, "No way." If I'm going to "do London," then I have to do it inexpensively.

I spent some time with the "full size" Time Out London Eating and Drinking (Time Out Guides) before I ultimately chose this scaled down version. The two primary reasons were practicality (this book is smaller and will fit into a pocketbook) and affordability (of the recommended meals, not the book's cost). Both are very good, but I knew that I wouldn't get full use of the full size book.

To be included in Time Out Cheap Eats, the 500 restaurants must have an average meal price of under 20 pounds. That's about $40 US, hardly a bargain at first glance, but that meal is expected to include a starter, entree, dessert, and a beer and half bottle of wine. Restaurants are price-identified on three levels, with the least expensive being under 14 pounds per person. There's not a major "best of" grading system, though the ones they particularly like get a star next to the listing.

The main listings are by geography, and roughly associated with Tube stops, so you can quickly find affordable restaurants in Chiswick or Battersea. There are also maps (with each restaurant clearly and readably marked), and indexes by cuisine (Belgian, burgers) and by restaurant name.

Like its bigger sibling, each restaurant review has complete address and contact info, map location, price range, and credit card acceptance. There are usually 100-200 words describing the places the way you'd hope a friend would, with both the positives and negatives. They usually mention a few notable dishes to give you a sense of the restaurant's specialties.

This is a great book that gives me confidence that I can eat memorably and well in London... without needing to spend a lot of money.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars You'll find better deals on your own & have fun doing it., July 12, 2008

By	bookreader "gardner" (Marina, CA USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Time Out Cheap Eats in London (Time Out Guides) (Paperback)

Cheap eats is a complete waste of money, the places listed tended to be fast food knock offs and the info un-updated. Yet, the most frustrating thing was that the vast majority of food choices in this book tended to be very non-British. If your going to London, England you want to eat foods that are English, yet page after page of Time Out consists of pizza, chinese, thai, indian, chinese, russian, middle eastern, chinese again. And the page listing a few pie and mash shops or Fish and Chip shops could have been updated it is very frustrating making a trek to a location only to find it has been closed down for some time. And the final complaint here is the huge number of pages that are dedicated to advertisements for surprise surprise places they chose as a Cheap eat.
This book was so frustrating and worthless that after, three different closures I tossed it out with the rest of the garabage. No if you wish to find Cheap Eats that are truly worth eating save your money talk to a bus driver, cabbie or my favorite a policeman who'll walk you to the location and introduce you to his buddies at the pub and maybe buy you a pint.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Book, June 25, 2008

By	STW (Columbus, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Time Out Cheap Eats in London (Time Out Guides) (Paperback)

We took this book on a trip to London (obviously), and went to several of the restaurants in the guide. All of the restaurants that we visited were fabulous. We would look up a restaurant and then go to that part of town to eat, which really helped in getting us out to other parts of London that we might not have normally visited. Highly recommended. Also went to eat a couple of times at "Wasabi", a Japanese fast food chain. It wasn't in the book, but I really enjoyed it. The sushi was very fresh and super reasonably priced.