Eating Well in London for Under £15

London has a reputation for emptying wallets, but the best cheap meals in the city are rarely compromises. They tend to be single dishes done repeatedly and well, in markets, on high streets and in rooms where nobody minds if you eat quickly. Here are eight places, grouped by neighbourhood, where a satisfying meal costs under £15. Prices move, so check before you go.

East London: pizza by the fiver and a bagel for a quid

Sud Italia, Old Spitalfields Market

This market stall sells the portafoglio, the Neapolitan folded pizza, which is meant to be eaten in one hand while walking. The Nudge puts it at a mere fiver, and Budget Traveller covers it too as a £5 wallet pizza. It is a walk-in affair, roughly eight minutes on foot from Aldgate East according to London Travel Geek. Pair it with a wander round the market and you have lunch for less than a sandwich in a chain.

Beigel Bake, Brick Lane

The famous bagel shop is a reliable budget anchor. Budget Traveller lists a butter bagel from £1, hummus or peanut butter at £2.50, and cream cheese with salmon at £4.50. The Infatuation files it under Shoreditch cheap eats with a score of 8.6. Two bagels and change still leaves you well inside £15.

Holborn: a proper sandwich at lunchtime

Tongue & Brisket, Leather Lane

Leather Lane is a weekday lunchtime market, and Tongue & Brisket is one of its better reasons to visit. The Infatuation says it is a really good sandwich, especially for under £10, which is a fair summary of the appeal. London Travel Geek lists it in its Holborn and Bloomsbury section. Go at lunch on a weekday, and expect office workers to have had the same idea.

Islington: all you can eat, vegetarian

Indian Veg, Chapel Market

At 92 to 93 Chapel Market, N1, Indian Veg is a vegetarian Indian restaurant that has been going since 1985, according to Strand Magazine, which describes its buffet as budget friendly. The Infatuation puts the all you can eat buffet at just over £12, notes that you can bring your own drinks, and adds that homeless people eat free. It is a rare London meal where you can go back for more without looking at the bill. Angel is the likely station, but check the route before you set out.

Fitzrovia and Camden: Neapolitan style pizza on a budget

ICCO Pizza

ICCO has branches in Fitzrovia and Camden, with a third elsewhere, and the same menu applies across all three. Its own site lists a whole Margherita from £6.50, Pepperoni at £7.50, Fiorentina at £8.25 and a Vegan Veggie at £9.50. The Camden branch is a short walk from Mornington Crescent, is 100% halal and makes its dough fresh daily, according to the ICCO site. London Travel Geek lists the Fitzrovia branch too. Even the dearest pizza here is comfortably under £15, and with a drink it still holds up.

South London: skewers and tacos

Silk Road, Camberwell

The Infatuation singles out the Xinjiang lamb skewers here at two pounds a pop, which means a generous plate of them barely troubles a tenner. London Travel Geek also lists Silk Road under South London, in Camberwell. Order skewers by the handful and add whatever else the table fancies.

Guacamoles, Rye Lane Market, Peckham

Three hand pressed corn tacos start at about £11, according to The Infatuation, which also calls it one of London's best taquerias. That makes it the priciest entry on this list, but it is still inside the limit and the quality is the point. Rye Lane is a good street to eat your way along on a free afternoon.

North London: takeaway tacos

Sonora Taquería, Stoke Newington High Street

Sonora scores 9.2 with The Infatuation, which calls it a serious takeout operation and includes it on its cheap eats list. It is on Stoke Newington High Street, N16, and it suits an easy picnic in nearby parks or a quick meal on the way home. Prices were not listed in what we have, so check the menu before ordering a big spread.

How to eat well on a small budget

• Go at lunch. Market stalls such as Leather Lane trade on the weekday office crowd, and lunch is when they are at their best.
• Eat in the market. Old Spitalfields, Chapel Market and Rye Lane all put several cheap options within a few minutes of each other.
• Choose single dishes. A folded pizza, a skewer, a sandwich or a taco: the cheap places do one thing well, and the bill stays low when you order it.
• Check before you go. Prices, opening days and queues change, and market stalls in particular do not always trade every day.

A rough plan for a week

If you want to put this to use, treat it as a rota. Weekday lunch is the easiest slot: a Tongue & Brisket sandwich on Leather Lane, or a pizza from ICCO in Fitzrovia. Weekends suit the markets, so Old Spitalfields for a folded pizza and Brick Lane for a bagel are an obvious pairing, a short walk apart. When there are several of you, Indian Veg in Islington makes the most sense, since the buffet price holds however hungry anyone is. For a South London afternoon, Camberwell and Peckham are close enough to combine skewers and tacos in one outing.

None of this is complicated, and that is rather the point. London's cheapest good meals are usually the ones that have been quietly doing the same thing for years, with a queue to prove it.