Some links on London Deals may be affiliate links. If you sign up through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes our verdict.
The quick verdicts
First Table: 50% off the food bill
First Table is the one most Londoners haven't heard of and should have. Restaurants list tables at quieter times of day, and if you book one through First Table, you get 50% off the food bill.
How it works
- You pay a booking fee. Fees vary by restaurant and party size and generally run from about £4 to £8 per table. That's your only cost to use it; signing up is free.
- Food is half price; drinks aren't. The 50% applies to food. Drinks are charged at full price.
- Tables are off-peak. You're getting the slots restaurants find hard to fill, so think early dinners rather than 8pm on a Saturday.
- Party size is usually two to four. Since 2026, some UK venues also take solo diners or groups of up to six, with a slightly different fee.
The small print worth knowing
- Some restaurants require each diner to buy a drink, or set a minimum number of courses. These conditions are shown before you confirm, so read them.
- You can't combine First Table with other offers or discounts.
- You can go back to the same restaurant, just not on back-to-back bookings.
Who's on it in London?
It isn't just small independents. Which? has reported London names including The Wolseley and Galvin La Chapelle on the platform, plus chains such as Pizza Express and Dishoom's Permit Room in various UK cities. Availability changes constantly, so check the app for what's live this week.
Does the fee eat the saving?
Here's a worked example. If two of you order £60 of food, First Table takes £30 off. Take away a £6 booking fee and you've saved £24. You come out ahead as soon as your food bill is more than twice the booking fee, which is almost any meal for two in London.
If you can eat at an off-peak time, it's the biggest genuine saving on a sit-down meal in London. Just budget for full-price drinks.
TheFork: free, with discounts and loyalty points
TheFork is a free booking app. Some partner restaurants offer a discount on bookings made through it, and it's applied automatically when you book, subject to that restaurant's conditions.
Yums, the loyalty scheme
- Each booking earns 100 Yums.
- 1,000 Yums gets you £20 off, and 2,000 Yums gets you £50 off. That means 10 bookings earn £20 off.
- The catch: not every restaurant accepts Yums, and users report that only a minority of listings do. Filter for restaurants that accept them before you rely on them.
No reason not to have it, and it's useful when a place you already wanted has a discount. Just don't expect the deals or Yums to be everywhere.
Tastecard: 2-for-1 at the chains
Tastecard is a paid membership that gets you 2-for-1 meals or 25% off food at participating restaurants, many of them chains such as Prezzo, Pizza Hut and Zizzi, plus discounts on coffee, cinema and days out.
What it costs
- £7.99 a month, or £79.99 a year at full price. The annual plan is the better deal if you'll use it.
- It often comes with a free trial, and is free with some NatWest and RBS accounts. Teachers and NHS staff may also be able to get it free or cheap through their discount schemes.
The catches
- Some restaurants exclude Fridays, Saturdays or other peak times.
- It renews automatically, so cancel if you stop using it.
- Ask the restaurant before you order. Not every branch applies every offer.
When does it pay for itself?
Here's another worked example. If one 2-for-1 saves you about £15, the £79.99 annual plan pays for itself after roughly six meals in a year. If you eat at chains less than that, it's a Skip. If your bank gives it to you free, it's a Bang.
Good for regular chain diners and families. Check first whether your bank account already includes it.
Too Good To Go: cheap surplus food
Too Good To Go isn't a restaurant deal in the sit-down sense. Cafés, bakeries, restaurants and hotels sell their unsold food at the end of the day as "Surprise Bags" for a fraction of the usual price. In London that includes names like GAIL's, Leon, Pret, Wenzel's and citizenM.
- When we checked the London guide, listed bags ranged from about £2.59 to £8.
- You collect at a set time. Breakfast bags tend to be late morning, and dinner bags from early evening until late.
- Bags usually open for reservation the day before, and popular ones go quickly.
Excellent value for lunches, pastries and next-day breakfast, as long as you're happy not to know exactly what you'll get.
Five free ways to cut the bill (no app needed)
- Go for lunch, not dinner. Many London restaurants run set lunch menus at a fraction of the dinner price for very similar food.
- Book pre-theatre or early-bird menus. They're the same idea as First Table, offered directly by the restaurant.
- Look for BYOB or low corkage. Drinks are where restaurant bills balloon, and First Table doesn't touch them either.
- Sign up to your favourite restaurants' newsletters. Birthday treats, launch-week freebies and offers often go to email subscribers first.
- Stack, but carefully. First Table can't be combined with other offers, but using TheFork for one meal and Tastecard for another is fine. Pick the best tool for each meal.
So which should you use?
| If you… | Use | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Want a proper meal out and can eat early | First Table | Half-price food for a small fee |
| Eat at chains like Prezzo or Zizzi often | Tastecard | 2-for-1 adds up fast, and it's free with some bank accounts |
| Book restaurants regularly anyway | TheFork | Free discounts where available, and Yums over time |
| Want cheap lunch or pastries | Too Good To Go | Surplus food for a few pounds |
Our own approach: keep First Table and TheFork on your phone, check whether your bank gives you Tastecard free, and use Too Good To Go for lunches. Combined with the free tricks above, that's how to eat out in London regularly without paying full London prices.
Get the best London food deals every week.
One email a week with the London deals that earned a BANG, and the ones to SKIP. Free. Unsubscribe whenever.
Sources (checked November 2026; apps change their terms often, so always check before you book):