Leeds is packed full of places that’ll feed you fabulously for a fair price. Get ready for globetrotting grub on a budget.
Whether it’s a pre-payday, end-of-the-month meal with mates or an impromptu dinner with your other half, sometimes you just need a cheap fix of good food. Happily, there are some excellent cheap restaurants in Leeds, from places serving up perfect pizza to heavenly dishes from Southeast Asia that will sing in your mouth. These places prove that cheap can be brilliant.
Thai Aroy Dee
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Less than a tenner gets you a princely meal at Thai Aroy Dee. This Thai stalwart might be cheap and cheerful, but it’s also authentic. Starters such as spring rolls and yum tofu sord – that’s tofu sautéed with ginger, peanuts, lemon juice and chilli powder – can be yours for south of a fiver.
Veg and tofu mains are £7.95, chicken, pork and beef £8.95 and prawn, duck and lamb are £9.95. Choose from tasty Pad Thai and familiar curries, as well as must-try specialities such as gang phed ped yang – special roast duck in red curry sauce with pineapple.
Thai Aroy Dee, 120-122 Vicar Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 7NL.
My Thai
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Considering the price, you might be surprised by just how good My Thai is – cheap restaurants in Leeds don’t come much better than this. There are two Leeds branches to choose from, with the subterranean charm of The Old Steps branch a contrast to the vibrant Merrion Centre outpost.
They both hit all the right notes in the kitchen, with the chicken satay just £3.50 for two skewers. The rice plates, noodle soups and curries all come in at £10 or less, with jasmine rice on the side just an extra £1.75.
My Thai, 43 Wade Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 8NJ and 26 York Place, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS1 2EY.
Pho 37
Banh mí stuffed with fragrant herbs, chillies, pickles, pate and your choice of BBQ beef, chicken or belly pork. And it’s only £6.95? Pho 37 is a dab hand at pocket-friendly Vietnamese street food classics with five out of eight pho bowls coming in at under £10, bao buns for under £6 and summer rolls for less than a fiver.
Meat-free diets are amply catered for, with no reduction in bold flavours, and the meal deals that package a main with fries and a drink are only a little more than a tenner. It’s rustic and unpretentious but, worry not, it’s all about the food here.
Pho 37, 15 North Lane, Headingley, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS6 3HG.
Cantina
The first all-vegan restaurant in Leeds also happens to be a brilliant place for a cheap feed. Cantina takes dirty diner food and gives it a plant-based twist, and the most you’ll pay for a single dish is £11.95. Start off with popcorn seitan or the classic soup of the week, made with freshly sourced veggies from the market.
Mains include burgers, most of which are seitan, although the sriacha cauliflower steak with rainbow slaw is the pick. Elsewhere, there’s BBQ pulled jackfruit fries and, if you’re brave enough, deep fried Oreos.
Cantina, The Old Red Bus Station, 101 Vicar Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 7NL and Lifton Place, Woodhouse, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 9JZ.
Franco Manca
While prices have shot up everywhere over the last couple of years, the pizzas at Franco Manca are still reliably affordable. Pizza number one – a marinara, pretty much – is pocket change at £6.95. That gets you a sourdough pizza base, made daily in the building, with organic tomato, basil, garlic and oregano.
Coming in at £9.90 is pizza number two. It’s topped with organic tomato, mozzarella and basil. A Scotch Bonnet chilli dip on the side tips it over a tenner, but it’s well worth it.
Franco Manca, 1 Trinity Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS1 6AP.
Home Chinese Restaurant
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Food doesn’t have to be progressive or reimagined to be good. Sometimes you want a menu full of tried-and-trusted Chinese dishes and a kitchen that knows how to cook them. That’s what Home does. Sizzling Szechuan beef, sweet & sour pork, Kung Pao chicken and more than decent dim sum won’t hurt your bank balance.
They have a large Chinese clientele, so you will find some regional choices on the menu – give the pickled fish fillets a try or the all-you-can-eat hotpot for a budget meal that goes far.
Home Chinese Restaurant, 7 Back Blenheim Terrace, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 9HZ.
Manjit’s Kitchen
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The always reliable Manjit’s Kitchen offers up the most delicious Indian street food in Leeds at the most affordable prices. Nearly every item on their menu of failsafe Punjabi classics comes in at under £10, but don’t worry, they don’t scrimp on the flavour.
If there’s one dish you have to try, it’s their famous chilli paneer wrap that’s a steal for just £7. If you simply can’t decide, plump for their two-curry thali, piled with cumin rice, squash kofta, dhal, slaw, roti and chutney for £7.50. Talk about bang for your buck.
Manjit’s Kitchen, Leeds Kirkgate Market, George Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 7HY.
Bundobust
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It’s generally accepted that Bundobust is one of the best places to eat out for cheap in Leeds, and for good reason. They focus on small plates, starting at £3.50 for the smacked khakri and ending at £7.95 for bigger plates like the paneer tikka.
But visit from Monday to Friday, 12pm ’til 4pm, and you can grab two items from their lunch express menu for £10.50. Whether you choose okra fries and raghda pethis or bundo chaat and chole saag, there’s no denying that this is a downright steal.
Bundobust, 6 Mill Hill, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS1 5DQ.
Mr Su’s Noodles
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Born in China, Mr Su brings an impressive culinary background spanning 25 years to his restaurant, where he serves up tasty dishes at budget prices. As the name would suggest, it would be a crime not to slurp a bowl of noodles here, and you can do so from just £9.50 with a comforting bowl of vegetarian ramen.
For £4.20, the Chinese fresh dumplings, also known as ‘Jiaozi’, are the perfect bite-sized accompaniment, with options including beef & onion, lamb & spring onion or mixed vegetables.
Mr Su’s Noodles and Dumplings, 24 Black, Blenheim Terrace, Woodhouse, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 9HD.
Senbon Sakura
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If you’re looking for one of the tastiest cheap restaurants in Leeds, give Senbon Sakura a whirl. Somewhat of a hidden gem, you’ll find them on the outskirts of the city centre serving up tasty Japanese food at competitive prices. Seafood bento boxes, sushi platters, slow cooked chicken curries, they have it all here, but the ramen never fails.
Take the Senbon Sakura soup ramen – for just £9.50, you can get your fill of chicken, king prawn, salmon and char siu in a steaming broth with noodles. What a bargain!
Senbon Sakura, 71 Great George Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS1 3BR.
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