{"id":245406,"date":"2025-07-07T13:58:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-07T13:58:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/245406\/"},"modified":"2025-07-07T13:58:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T13:58:12","slug":"the-rise-of-the-luxe-meal-deal-londons-new-lunchtime-obsession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/245406\/","title":{"rendered":"The rise of the luxe meal deal, London\u2019s new lunchtime obsession"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/p>\n

While many cling to the financial comforts of meal prep and yellow stickers, others in London<\/a> are experiencing a lunchtime renaissance. Step out for a midday meal in the city and the queues are everywhere, winding round shopfronts, made up of a mix of City types and WFH escapists.<\/p>\n

Meal deals, of course, are something of a hot topic this summer: last month, Sainsbury<\/a>\u2019s quietly hiked the price of its sandwich, snack and drink package by 20p \u2014 and it sent the internet into a bit of a tizz. What was once a bargain has slowly crept into pricier territory, offering less value for money.<\/p>\n

Now, restaurants have come up with their own riff on the formula. A set menu? Not quite. It\u2019s not three courses for \u00a330, or caviar and champagne as alternatives \u2014 it\u2019s a proper lunch, but executed with a little more finesse, and designed for a little more speed. The setup is firmly in proper meal deal territory: a sandwich (or salad\/soup\/other equivalent), with a snack (often crisps) and a drink, for a rounded sum that comes in at a discount compared to buying it all individually.<\/p>\n

\u00a311 buys a sandwich, a packet of crisps and a drink from the fridge. Nostalgia thrown in for free<\/p>\n

There\u2019s an unmistakable formula to these places, which are popping up all over London: clean aesthetic, fast-casual service, a grab-and-go setup. The difference is that diners part with anything between \u00a39 and \u00a313 \u2014 which, these days, is an easy spend at the likes of Pret<\/a> or Itsu.<\/p>\n

My Favourite Sandwich fits the bill. Newly opened in the heart of Shoreditch, the brand has paired a millennial-pink shopfront with a menu of freshly made sarnies featuring meatballs (plant-based, also very good), coronation chicken, and a take on a banh mi \u2014 all priced between \u00a38 and \u00a311. A decent chunk more than one off the fridge shelf in Tesco<\/a>, but made then and there. And the lunch deal? \u00a311 buys a sandwich, a packet of crisps and a drink from the fridge. Nostalgia thrown in for free. \u201cWe wanted to give customers something that feels like a win,\u201d says founder Damien Aiudi. \u201cYou\u2019re getting top-quality ingredients, made fresh every day, at a price that\u2019s hard to beat. It\u2019s value without the compromise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Just sales speak? Well, put it in context: Shoreditch, lunchtime, freshly made, hot filling, a good range of drinks \u2014 it makes a strange kind of sense.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s something clever, almost admirable, about the way these businesses have tapped into the Gen Z\/millennial lunch psyche. In a city of eye-watering rent costs and unpredictable footfall, it\u2019s a low-risk model with a relatively high chance of reward. No wonder these places keep popping up \u2014 and drawing in crowds, too. Just watch out for the \u201cmeal deals\u201d that are hardly deals at all, like a burger, fries and drink coming in at \u00a325. Buyer beware.<\/p>\n

Still, the luxe meal deal is decidedly now a thing. Recognise the shift, one sandwich at a time.<\/p>\n

Eight of the best in London<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

El Pastor<\/p>\n

Tim Atkins<\/p>\n

From newly-opened boutique lunch spots to restaurants getting in on the action, these deals are grab-and-go friendly and promise not to break the bank. Some offer the traditional meal deal trio, while others are examples of newly-opened cafes\/delis offering Londoners a refreshing lunchtime choice.<\/p>\n

You can figure out what this place does. A sandwich, with crisps and a drink is \u00a311. <\/p>\n

The longstanding vegetarian favourite does a salad, snack box and a drink for \u00a312. <\/p>\n

Three quesadillas, papas al \u00e1rbol or a green salad and an agua del d\u00eda (bottle of water) is \u00a312 at this Mexican hit.<\/p>\n

Perhaps not strictly a meal deal, but a small grilled marinated chicken sandwich comes with two sides and a soft drink for \u00a312.50.<\/p>\n

Salad, pitta bread and a piece of fruit? Just \u00a36. Tack on a drink fancied and it’s still under a tenner.<\/p>\n

Look, yes, it\u2019s Honest Burger. But it\u2019s also a burger, chips and a drink for \u00a38.95. Hard to beat, this one.<\/p>\n

Lunch-sized ramen or hiyashi noodle salad, lunch-sized side and a soft drink is just \u00a312. <\/p>\n

The Turkish chain offers a main and two sides for between \u00a310.20-\u00a311.20, and salad bundles from \u00a39.20. Sticking to a sarnie? Sandwiches (and toasts) are from \u00a36.25, with a drink to complete the \u201cdeal\u201d for between \u00a32.20-\u00a33.20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While many cling to the financial comforts of meal prep and yellow stickers, others in London are experiencing…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":245407,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7757],"tags":[748,393,4884,257,95289,95288,1735,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-245406","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-london","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-england","10":"tag-great-britain","11":"tag-london","12":"tag-pret","13":"tag-sainsbury","14":"tag-tesco","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114812309690593337","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245406","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=245406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/245406\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/245407"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=245406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=245406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=245406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}