London for a tenner

Champagne tastes on a beer budget? Here are some ingenious ways to enjoy the capital for less

- MIKE DAW

Our capital is famed for all sorts of reasons: the formidable landmarks, the history, the greatest restaurants on earth, and the greatest people too. But it all comes at a cost — London has long been home to the most expensive versions of just about everything. But for those who know where to look, there are still vast swathes of the city that can be enjoyed for less. A tenner isn’t a lot, but it turns out it can buy a meal, a drink, a ticket to the best live theatre, and access to some of the finest art, culture and fashion going. Here’s how.

Budget boozing

Kicking things off in the undeniably essential category of drinking, the aptly named Discount Suit Company (29A Wentworth Street, E1, discountsuitcompany.co.uk) in Shoreditch serves a rotating range of fabulously made cocktails full of finely sourced ingredients for just £10 a pop. In a city where cocktails of this calibre are lurching upwards of £16, these are a steal. The bar also does sharing cocktails for £35 which comfortably serve four. You do the maths.

Group conviviality is likewise encouraged at one of south London’s finest cocktail bars, Goldfinch (145 Mitcham Road, SW17, goldfinchsw17.co.uk). The early-bird menu offers two immaculate cocktails for just £15, or £7.50 each. We defy you to find a cheaper Tom Collins in town. Meanwhile, at Cafe Mondo (42 Peckham Road, SE5, @mondo.sandwiches), a mini martini is £5, beer is £3.75 and a negroni is just £7.50. If the budget’s even tighter, at the various Passyunk Avenue bars (across town, passyunkavenue.​com), a Citywide Special — which is a beer and a shot of bourbon — is just £7, or head to Jazu (2 Deptford High Street, SE8, jazudrinks.​com) and have a £5.50 pickleback: a slug of whisky served alongside a house pickle chaser.