Love a bargain? Grab your lunch for under a tenner at these fabulous budget-friendly eateries.
For your next lunch, swap your usual meal deal for something much more satisfying with these tasty cheap eats. Say so-long to sad salads and boring sandwiches – you deserve some proper grub to put you on ’til teatime. Whether you’re waiting on payday, living the student life or saving for your hols, we’ve got you covered. Because eating good food shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg – and at these refreshingly low prices, it won’t.
Little Tokyo
© Copyright Leeds-List 2022 by Ali Turner
A family-run restaurant, Little Tokyo has been serving quality, authentic Japanese dishes to the masses for 20 years. And with an excellent value menu and a proper sit-down setting, you really can’t go wrong for a cheap lunch in Leeds city centre. You’ll have the choice of six hunger-quenching combos, two of which are vegetarian. With flavour-rich katsu curry, saucy udon and super-slurpable ramen noodles, you’ll be transported to Tokyo and back, all on your lunch break. Each main comes with a starter for a grand total of £7.99 – you’ll walk out the door with a full stomach, heart and wallet.
Little Tokyo, 24 Central Road, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS1 6DE.
Dough Boys
Dough Boys is one of Leeds’ favourite cheap lunch spots. Walk into Belgrave Musical Hall and Canteen on any fair afternoon and you’ll catch them propelling discs of homemade dough over their heads and chucking them into 400º ovens. Seriously, it’s quite the affair. The best part, though, is the half-price slices from 12pm to 7pm Sunday through Thursday and until 5pm on Friday and Saturday. That’s two giant New York-style slices of Silvio (the handsome Margherita), Salami of Darkness, or ‘ahem’, Sausage Fest, from £3 to £3.60. Finish off with garlic or chilli oil, hot sauce and parmesan – it’s all on the house.
Dough Boys Pizza, Belgrave Music Hall and Canteen, 1A Cross Belgrave Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 8JP.
Bubble Sing
© Copyright Leeds-List 2022 by Ellie Hodgson
Walk into Sing Kee Oriental Supermarket and Bubble Sing, their bubble tea and food counter, will be on your right – it’s one of Leeds’ hottest lunch spots don’t you know? You can add a sushi roll to your bubble tea order and you’ve got the perfect cheap bite for just £8. These are handmade with your choice of protein and veggies, rolled in rice, wrapped in dried seaweed and cut into bite-sized pieces. The salmon, tempura prawn and crunchy chicken are the most popular, but you can also go completely veggie with it. Topped with avo, tamagoyaki (a Japanese omelette) and pickled radish and you can get a taste of the rainbow.
Bubble Sing, Singkee Oriental Supermarket, 26-28 Woodhouse Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 8LX.
Falafel Guys
© Copyright Leeds-List 2022 by Emma Cooke
Brothers Abdalla and Ahmed Gouda’s motto is ‘come hungry, leave happy’ and you certainly will. This pair of Falafel Guys have been fuelling Leeds workers on their lunch breaks since 2016 from their red and white truck on Briggate, but they’re also found in SALT on Granary Wharf. For around £6 to £8, their cheap, colourful wraps and salads are all made to order, with their famous ‘Mama’s recipe’ golden falafel, chicken shawarma or grilled halloumi. Each wrap comes with homemade hummus, fresh salad and plenty of sauce. The result – a deliciously balanced meal, full of flavour and promise.
Falafel Guys, SALT, Candle House, Granary Wharf, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS1 4GJ.
Banh & Mee
Take a trip to Vietnam without leaving Leeds. Banh & Mee brings the streets of Hanoi to Kirkgate Market. Their warming bowls of pho, slurpable noodles and colourful sandwiches make the ultimate cheap lunch. For just £5, their iconic banh mi comes in the form of a crispy baguette, spread with pate and layered with marinated meat and crisp salad. But that’s not all – each dish is expertly crafted using tried and tested methods. Like their rich yet delightfully light pho, which comes with a broth passed down three generations, costing between £6.50 and £7.50. At these prices, you’ll soon be a regular.
Banh & Mee, Leeds Kirkgate Market, George Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 7HY.
Thai Aroy Dee
Lunch is dubbed the ‘Happy Hour’ at Thai a Roy Dee, a buzzing Thai eatery in the north of Leeds city centre. And rightly so, because you can get their legendary, fragrant Thai dishes for even cheaper. Their lunch menu has everything from their signature spicy red and green curries to authentic pad Thai, each with an appetiser and rice or chips – all for just £7.95. Who wouldn’t be happy with that? They can even make everything meat and peanut-free. If your eyes happen to be bigger than your belly, they’ll pack up your leftovers into a takeaway box so you can enjoy it all over again the next day for a slim 50p.
Thai Aroy Dee, 120-122 Vicar Lane, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 7NL.
Manjit’s Kitchen
© Copyright Leeds-List 2022 by Emma Cooke
From humble beginnings as a street food vendor, Manjit’s Kitchen’s is now one of the best-loved eateries in Leeds and their Kirkgate Market home is perfect for a quick, cheap lunch. This award-winning street food favourite serves wholesome, homely Punjabi meals that are big on flavour, small on price. Like their Thali Box, a complete meal for just £8.50. You can expect a packed-out feast with not one but two curries, cumin rice, squash kofta, dhal, slaw, chutney and roti. Or, skip the fuss and go for their Chilli Paneer Wrap for a bargainous £7.50, filled with tons of fresh and spicy goodness.
Manjit’s Kitchen, Leeds Kirkgate Market, George Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 7HY.
Chop Chop
© Copyright Leeds-List 2022 by Ellie Hodgson
Taking inspiration from across East Asia, ChopChop in Leeds Kirkgate Market put the fast in fast food. At £6.50, their meal boxes make the perfect, cheap lunch for those times when you’re craving a takeaway in the middle of the day. First, choose your base – egg noodles, jasmine rice, fried rice or chips. Next up, the main, They’ve got classics like chicken curry and sweet and sour, as well as Korean-inspired crispy beef and five-spiced firecracker chicken. Their salt and pepper combo steals the show, though. For an extra quid, you can add on a side of spring rolls, salt and pepper wings, or chicken satay.
Chop Chop, Leeds Kirkgate Market, George Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 7HY.
The Fisherman’s Wife
Chippy tea but make it lunch. The Fisherman’s Wife fry up the British classic all afternoon from their Kirkgate Market stall. They’ve been in Leeds for over 60 years, using locally-sourced potatoes and fresh fish. Their Value Meal is cheap as chips, at just £6.10 for a box full of golden chips and your choice of either a homemade fishcake or sausage, with a pot of mushy peas, gravy or curry sauce on the side. Their £6.50 Mini Fish Meal is a smaller version of the whole chip shop shebang. The fish even comes in their extra special light batter, so you can get on with your day without needing an afternoon nap.
The Fisherman’s Wife, George Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 7HY.
Yorkshire Wrap Company
© Copyright Leeds-List 2022 by Ali Turner
You don’t have to wait for the weekend to scoff a roast dinner. Just head over to Leeds Kirkgate Market on any day of the week to enjoy all your favourite Sunday trimmings for lunch, loaded into a fluffy, crispy Yorkshire pudding wrap. It’s an unusual but wonderfully cheap and tasty take on this local delicacy. For £5.50, you can get a mouthful of roast beef, red cabbage and thick gravy, or roast pork, stuffing and homemade apple sauce – no knife and fork needed. This is a true Yorkshire bite, made with locally sourced ingredients, so you know you’re getting the real deal from these pudding connoisseurs.
Yorkshire Wrap Company, George Street, Leeds, West Yorkshire, LS2 7HY.
