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Tips for eating out in London
By Kurt Smith
Living in central London and enjoying eating out, I thought it’d be useful to share my tips and suggestions for finding great value deals and cheap places to dine out. TopTable:Top Table is a restaurant reservation, review and search service which operates in London, the UK and Europe. The concept is that restaurants post offers for times and dates on which their business is slow and you can make a booking via Top Table for those deals. The discounts are normally provided as 2 or 3 courses for a fixed price (from a set menu), or sometimes also up to 50% off your food bill. The main restrictions are that you need to book in advance and make the time slot you selected. I’ve also found that quite a few restaurants give you a different menu when you book via Top Table. I.e. the discounts only apply on a selection of the normal menu. Still this is a massively popular service which will give you serious money savings and which is totally free (i.e. no membership fee to pay). More info and food deals are found on their website (www.toptable.com). I noticed that they’ve actually just been bought by OpenTable which runs a similar service in the US from what I understand. Taste Card:Previously called TasteLondon, but now changed to TasteCard because they’ve expanded throughout the UK, let’s you dine at 50% off in over 3,500 restaurants. It works as a membership club with a yearly subscription cost. The normal fee is £69.95, but you can often find discount codes which will significantly reduce this fee. I’ve had the card now for 3 years and never paid more than £29.95. The concept is great. You can search for member restaurant by postcode, location or food type via their website or iPhone app. The restaurant will give you either 50% OFF the total food bill, or 2 for 1 on the dishes (i.e. you pay the most expensive starter and main course). Unlike with a scheme like TopTable (see above), you actually just order from the normal main menu and not from a selected pre-set menu deal. Only caveat is that most restaurants don’t let you use the card on a Friday or Saturday night. With some restaurants you’ll need to book first (though I normally do this 15 minutes before walking in and never had an issue) while with others you can just walk in and use the card anytime. Saying that though, the savings you get on your bill are great. The restaurants included also vary in terms of price range, from good value Indian or Thai restos to high-end exclusive new cuisine restaurants where your food bill could easily end up being £50 a head, saving you £50 per couple. Great way to save some serious money on an evening out. I really recommend this card and as mentioned have been using it for 3 years. Just looking at the website (www.tastcard.co.uk) will give you an idea of the restaurants include in the scheme. Most even include honest member reviews to give you an idea of what the food and service is like. Pre-theatre and lunch deals:A lot of restaurants in the centre (West End) of London will give you discounts on their menu when you dine at lunch or at pre-theatre hours (between 5:30 and 7:30). A lot of the deals mean you dine and choose from a pre-set menu, though often this means you can get a very nice 2 or 3 course meal for between £5 and £10, excluding your drinks. These restaurants will normally advertise their deals clearly outside, so just walk around and pick one. Eat-all-you-can buffet:You’ll find these probably in every city in the world and London is no exception. London’s choices are mainly oriental cuisine (Chinese, Thai, Malay, etc.), though Pizza Hut also offer a lunchtime buffet is some of their branches. Prices start for £2.99. Personally they’re not my favourites as quality is often substituted for quantity, but if you want some quick and cheap meal then they may be to your liking. I hope some of this information may be useful for anyone visiting or living in London, and hopefully allow you to save some money when eating out. Any comments and further suggestions are welcome. Cheers
Kurt |
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Thank you for sharing this dining information Kurt. The Taste Card sounds like a great way to experience new places to eat.
I'll have to see if we have anything like this in our area.
Best wishes.
Frederick
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This intel was contributed by Kurt
Kurt
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May, 2012
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