How to Save Money on Restaurants in London

Save Money on London Restaurants

The pound is at a historic low against the dollar right now, so if you live in the U.S. or are paid in U.S. dollars, you should seriously pack your bags and hop on over the pond for a few days. Come eat all our delicious food — seriously don’t believe what you hear about food over here — and see our plays and well, spend your dollars. Spend ALL your dollars. But spend them wisely. Here are some great ways to save money on restaurants in London.

Time Out Offers: The granddaddy in terms of brand name, Time Out has some great offers on a small but interesting range of London restaurants. As of this writing, for example, there’s £20 quid off lunch for two at Sketch, which is a very London experience. Poppies Fish & Chips in Spitalfields, which is super popular with visitors, also has a number of great meal deals.

OpenTable Deals: Another big brand name and lots of interesting looking offers to look at here. But beware! Some of these aren’t offers per se but more advertising for prix fixe meals the restaurant offers anyhow.

Bookatable Star Deals: A more local brand here in London, but they’ve still got a great list of offerings. (Same caveat applies however about how sometimes, the deal is the same deal you could get by booking the restaurant directly.)

Lastminute.com Special Offers: Make sure you click the “Special Offers” checkbox here. There’s some great money saving to be had. There’s a nice long list of offers, including The Palm Court at The Langham and Maze Grill.

Groupon: Yes, they are still in business! They have a bit of a quirky list of offers — Crazy Bear anyone? And I’m surprised to see Galvin at Windows on the list. And of course, who couldn’t resist the Holiday Inn at Wembley Park?

TravelZoo Restaurant Deals: Confession. I’m kinda obsessed with TravelZoo. One of these days, I will book one of their special offer travel packages. They have a very small list of restaurant offers and they’re geared more towards tourists, but they are always work a look.

Squaremeal Offers: Squaremeal is like totally old school London. This was pretty much the first online restaurant guide in London. Imagine me, in my Cannon Street office back in 2004, wondering where to have dinner. Squaremeal is the website I checked. I think you can tell that they’ve been around for a while because this is a pretty extensive and interesting list of offers.

Living Social: Super quirky list of offers. Would anyone like a whole leg of Serrano ham? You’ll find offers for a few chains, a few afternoon teas, and some touristy bits here.

Money Saving Expert: Ah, Martin Lewis. He is so wise. He also has collated a nice collection of Pizza Express and similar vouchers. Go get ’em!

Buyagift.com: I’d never heard of Buyagift until I started researching this piece but they have a nice quirky list of deals that seem good for tourists and visitors and people who like chain restaurants.

I’m sure there are other ways to save money on London restaurants…the Happiour app is another one that comes to mind. What are you favorites?

You might find my other posts helpful:

• My Favorite Travel Sites
• My Favorite Travel Products
• What to Pack for London
• The Best London Food Tours

Book a London Tour