As money gets tight and the need to eat never goes away don’t necessarily feel condemned to pot noodles for the rest of your life. For not that much more you can still have a great meal out and not be stung by alcohol on your bill by opting for a Bring Your Own.
Bring your own restaurants can be found all over London, they offer great food, normally a lot cheaper than normal, booze licensed premises and the great thing is that you can choose from all the world’s selection of booze to take in with you.
Careful though, some do charge a corkage fee which is a price per bottle you bring in so you may want to check that before.
Below are our favourite Bring Your Owns (BYO’s) in London.
Needo Grill – Serving Pakistani (rather than Indian) style curry Needo Grill has anyone that’s visited raving about it. Offering poppadoms, kebabs and a wide selection of vegetable curries & daily specials such as meat pilau & lamb korma all food is kept at a really high standard. The interior is quite stark and red and full of shiny surfaces with Bollywood blaring from the big-screen TV but you can over look that when you see how cheep the place is. Needoo Grill is also a bring your own that is corkage-free.
87 New Road, London E1 1HH
Mien Tay – here again you won’t find many frills, much the same as most bring your owns but you will find some great Vietnamese. The menu is huge and full of gamut from everyday stir-fries & pho noodle soups to dishes. Most mains here are about £6 so still gerat value.
180 Lavender Hill, London SW11 5TQ
The Seagrass – a little more upmarket and housed in a 19th century pie and mash house with booths and cozy interior The Seagrass in Chapel market offers fresh British produce on Thursday, Friday and Saturday Evenings. The menu mostly focuses on game and seafood and they have a great three courses for £30 offer.
74 Chapel Market, Islington, London N1 9ER
Tayyabs – the older cousin of the afore mentioned Needo Grill has earned itself quite a cult status amongst the BYO’s. It’s is always full so you’ll have to book early and has the reputation of being the best Pakistani restaurant in London. If you don’t book you are looking at a que that takes around 3 hours, if you do book you are still looking at 1 hour. It is the food that keeps this BYO’s reputation up as the service has been slagged many times as has the hot and noisy atmosphere so it may not be to everyones tastes.
83 Fieldgate Street, London E1 1JU
Image : Seagrass
