Bao Soho counter on Lexington Street in central London, opened 2015, runs the classic Taiwanese bao at £6 each, the city's best-value Asian counter eats.
Tip: Three bao plus a side runs £20-25; budget visit is two bao for £12. Walk-up only with the chalkboard waiting list outside.
Address: 53 Lexington Street, London W1F 9AS
Blacklock's pre-theatre chops menu in their Soho London basement, opened 2015, runs the all-chops platter at half price between 17:00 and 18:30 most weeknights for £10 a head.
Try: Skinny chops at half price
Tip: Walk-up only for pre-theatre. Last orders 18:30 sharp; the chops platter at the early sitting is the same kitchen as 19:30 service.
Blacklock's pre-theatre chops menu in their Soho London basement, opened 2015, runs the all-chops platter at half price between 17:00 and 18:30 most weeknights for £10 a head.
Try: Skinny chops at half price
Tip: Walk-up only for pre-theatre. Last orders 18:30 sharp; the chops platter at the early sitting is the same kitchen as 19:30 service.
Brick Lane's 24-hour bagel counter in east London, trading since 1974, runs salt beef bagels for £6 and cream cheese bagels for £2.50, the city's defining cheap-eat.
Try: Salt beef bagel
Tip: Order at the counter, pay at the till. Salt beef is the canonical order; cream cheese-and-tomato is the budget version at £3.50.
The 1946 white-tiled greasy spoon on Regency Street in Westminster London, runs the canonical full English breakfast for £8.50, a working-class set-piece preserved unchanged.
Try: Full English breakfast
Tip: Cash and contactless. Closed Sundays and from 14:30 weekdays. The mug of tea is £1.50; classic mug-of-tea-and-fry-up is the £10 menu.
Padella's hand-rolled pasta counter at Borough Market in London, opened 2016, runs the city's best-value fresh pasta at £8 a bowl, the cheap-counter destination on the South Bank.
Try: Fresh pasta
Tip: Use the Padella app at 12:00 sharp for first lunch slots. Mid-week dinner queues clear by 19:30 most weeks.
Franco Manca's first counter inside Brixton Village London, opened 2008, runs slow-fermented Neapolitan-style sourdough pizza at £6-10 per pie, the city's chain-priced gold standard.
Try: Sourdough Neapolitan pizza
Tip: Walk-up only at the Brixton original. Lunch on weekdays walks in without waiting. The Soho and Stratford siblings have shorter queues.
Koshari Street's Egyptian street-food counter on St Martin's Lane in Covent Garden London, opened 2014, runs the canonical Cairo bus-station dish at £8 a box.
Try: Egyptian koshari (rice, lentils, pasta, spiced tomato sauce)
Tip: Single-size £8 box comes with all the toppings (caramelised onion, chickpea, tomato-chili). Closed Sundays.
