3 under priced ways to eat better in London

Stop eating “Meal meals” from supermarkets with their sandwiches, chips and sodas. Eat meals from your favourite restaurants for under £5.

1. Your weekday lunches, MealPal
2. Your dinners, TooGoodToGo
3. Discounts 30 minutes before closing

Your weekday lunches (Monday lunchtime to Friday lunchtime) in London

Mealpal, a mobile app that allows you to enjoy takeaway meals in hundreds of restaurants for under £5. It’s a subscription of 12 or 20 lunches a month. This is happening in central London (and Manchester).
Enjoy different meals every day. Choose your dish the day before from 5pm or in the morning directly on the application (or the website). Do not queue any more (skip the queue to collect your meal as you already paid it).

Bonus: I recommend you cancel each month before the end of your cycle to take advantage of an offer to stay with them. As they do not want to lose you as a user.
Get your invite and a special introductory offer here.

Your dinners, from 16h30 ~ variable depending on the restaurants

Too Good To Go. A second mobile application to avoid restaurant food waste. Become a food warrior and rescue unsold meal at the end of the day. Book a meal within the app (less than £5, the cheapest is £2) and collect it at a specified time slot for a great price. No subscription or subscription.

Be aware that restaurants in central London are running out of stock very quickly, so do not wait until the last minute to book.

From time to time there is an offer, if you rescue 2 meals in 7 days and the cheapest will be refunded.

Discounts 30 minutes before closing

Some restaurants drop prices every day before closing. Generally, it’s about 30 minutes before closing time. Be careful, each branch can have different closing times. A quick Google search will show you the closing time of the restaurant closest to you.

List of places that reduce their price before closing time

Itsu: 50% discount 30 minutes before closing. Really popular so choose your food 40 minutes before closing and stay 10 minutes pretending you are still looking around.

POD: 50% discount 30 minutes before closing. I have heard that some of their branches do not participate, but most do, you will probably need to check with your nearest.

Wasabi: 50% discount 30 minutes before closing (on a selection only). Wasabi offers fresh, authentic Japanese sushi and bento

Coco Di Mama: 50% discount 1 hour before closing. Lots of great things here. I think all refrigerated products are reduced so you can get very good salads for £2.

Crusshh: 50% discount 1 hour before closing. These are just items with a red sticker on them, usually sandwiches and not salads.

Abokado: 33% discount after 17h. Very good food even if it’s not 50%.

Tossed: 50% discount 1 hour before closing. Salads and soup.

YouMeSushi: on sushi boxes 1 hour before closing. Has been confirmed on Baker Street, must be verified for other locations.

Japan Center: 50% discount on food (sometimes more, up to 90%!) Minimum 1 hour before for bargains. They reduce their sushi and other pieces more and more when they approach the closing time.

Mugen Sushi: 50% discount 1 hour before closing.

Kitchen8 Clerkenwell: Great discounts. Closes at 16h so maybe after 3 / 3h30. It will be necessary to check. Salads and pizzas. Ying and yang.

Vital Ingredient: Friday only. 50% discount after 15h. Mainly salads here.

Bonne Bouche: Important discounts 30 minutes before closing. Pastries, cakes, etc.

K10 Japanese: 50% discount 30 minutes before closing.

Beiriso: 50% discount after 17h (they close at 20h).

Harrods Food Hall: Some dishes at 50% + 2 hours before closing. I have not tried this myself and it’s probably a million pounds, but you may have some cool stuff.

Selfridges Food Hall: Some dishes at half price one hour before closing. Probably expensive still.

Fortnum & Mason: Big discount before closing. Try 1-2 hours before.

Extra: shops and supermarkets

• Boots sell refrigerated food late in the day to close for 50p / £1.
• Waitrose is amazing, some produce an hour or two before closing such as their cakes, etc. bakery products for 20p.

You have others? Share them in comments and I will update this list.

Bonus: Win a dinner

Win a dinner is a totally free English website (lots of ads on the site to finance the daily prizes) with a draw at 4pm every day. You have to visit the site every day to enter the competition of the day. If you win, you can choose a gift card for a restaurant (different options) or £20 on your PayPal.

To get your prize, the winner must visit the site and click on the ‘Claim’ button before the next draw. The button only appears if you are the winner.