10 cheap student meals in Cardiff under £7
Every price below was read off the venue's own published menu.
Yumma editorial — assembled from 10 venues' published menus, prices checked 2026-09-12
Finding a genuinely solid, filling meal in Cardiff when your bank account is running dry takes a bit of digging. When appetite hits mid-afternoon, you do not need overpriced small plates or atmospheric fluff, you just need serious volume, decent quality, and a an affordable price.
A pizza and fries, a steaming bowl of rice and vegetable curry, or a bacon cheeseburger handed over the counter in greaseproof paper, these are three straightforward, substantial options built to actually fill you up without draining your wallet.
This list tracks down ten dependable spots across the city’s major food corridors, stretching from Cowbridge Road East out to City Road. They deliver proper portions, heavy carbohydrates, and value - when you need a reliable meal that does not break the bank.
How Cardiff breaks down
Yumma tracks 215 priced meals across Cardiff, at 73 places. The cheapest meal in this list is £5; the dearest is £6.95, and 6 of the 10 are £6.25 or less.
Lunch Time Special at Caprinos Pizza, Cowbridge Road East — £5
A personal-sized pizza topped with melted cheese, served hot alongside a pile of salted fries and a cold canned drink in a single cardboard box.
Best for: eating off your lap while reading seminar notes in a hallway
164 Cowbridge Road East, Cardiff, CF11 9NE price source
Rice & Vegetable Curry at Bab AL-Yemen Restaurant and Takeaway, Clare Road — £5
A warm, spice-fragrant bowl of vegetable curry served over a mound of cooked rice, steam rising off the plate as soon as it hits the table.
Best for: sitting out the cold gap between lectures when your library desk gets taken
132 Clare Road, Cardiff, CF11 6RU price source
Chicken Fillet Burger at KBS Kebab House, City Road — £5.50
A grilled chicken fillet tucked inside a soft burger bun, wrapped in paper that keeps the heat in while you walk.
Best for: eating quickly while walking to the bus stop on City Road
242 City Road, Cardiff, CF24 3JJ price source
Classic Cheese & Bacon at The Butchers Arms, High Street — £6
A beef patty layered with melted cheese and strips of bacon, served hot on a plate at a pub table.
Best for: a long sit-down meal when you want to get out of the wind
High Street, Cardiff, CF5 2DZ price source
146. Mixed Vegetables Curry at Great China, Whitchurch Road — £6.20
A thick, steaming bowl of curry loaded with cooked mixed vegetables, cooked to order and brought to your table.
Best for: warming up your hands after walking the full length of Whitchurch Road
186 Whitchurch Road, Cardiff, CF14 3NB price source
IDLI at Mattancherry, Cowbridge Road East — £6.25
Soft, pale, steamed rice and lentil cakes served warm, light enough to break apart easily with a spoon.
Best for: a quick quiet meal when heavy fried food feels like too much
153 Cowbridge Road East, Cardiff, CF11 9AH price source
7" Vegetarian Pizza at Diamond Grill, Tweedsmuir Road — £6.50
A small seven-inch pizza base covered in tomato sauce, cheese, slices of pepper, mushrooms, and black olives, handed over in a small square box.
Best for: carrying back to your desk when you have an evening deadline
51 Tweedsmuir Road, Cardiff, CF24 2QZ price source
Singapore Spicy Fried Rice with diced ham, roast pork, shrimp. at Summer Palace, 2 — £6.50
Wok-fried spicy rice tossed with ham, roast pork, and small shrimp, packed tightly into a container that steams when opened.
Best for: reheating your hands over the takeaway box before walking home
2,4 High Street, Cardiff, CF5 2DZ price source
Vegetable Curry at Dalchini, Mackintosh Place — £6.50
A bowl of mixed vegetables simmered in a spiced curry sauce, served hot at a dining table on Mackintosh Place.
Best for: an early dinner when you need a sit-down meal near your accommodation
10 Mackintosh Place, Cardiff, CF24 4RQ price source
Veg Stew at Keralacafe Cardiff, Crwys Road — £6.95
Mixed vegetables simmered in a pale, fragrant coconut milk broth, served hot in a deep bowl.
Best for: ending a rainy trek along Crwys Road with something warm and mild
153-155 Crwys Road, Cardiff, CF24 4NH price source
What the list adds up to
All 10 together come to £60.40. 7 are at places you can sit down in; 3 you carry away. That gives you seven places to get out of the rain and sit at a table, and three for when you just want a cardboard box to carry home in your coat pocket.
Prices change over time. Every entry in this guide links directly back to the venue's own published menu so you can check the current listing before you walk out the door.
How this list was made
Nobody at Yumma has eaten these. Every price here was read off the venue's own published menu and each entry links back to the page it came from, so you can check before you go. The 10 were chosen from the 215 priced meals on our Cardiff map by price and by how many readers have Yummed them. No venue paid to appear here, and none can. How we choose.
Prices checked 2026-09-12. Menus move — the link on each entry shows what it says now.