An acclaimed Indian restaurant known for its home-style Bengali cuisine and all-female kitchen team, reopening or moving to a new location in Kingly Court in January 2023.
Asma Khan is an Indian-British chef, cookbook author, and restaurant owner known for her work with Indian cuisine. She is a Chef Advocate for the World Food Programme and has been featured on Netflix's 'Chef's Table'...
Darjeeling Express is an Indian restaurant in London, known for its authentic flavors and dishes cooked from the heart by Chef Asma Khan. It is located on the upper floor of Kingly Court, offering a lovely and cozy ambiance.
Customer Perception
Customers consistently praise the delicious food, authentic flavors, and excellent service. Many highlight the wide range of smaller dishes and the cozy ambiance. Specific favorites include chicken methi curry, aloo paratha, mango lassi, chicken momo, prawn curry, kosha mangsho, fish chop, puchka, and gajar ka halwa. While most reviews are highly positive, some note that the flavors, while good, might not be as 'bold' as other high-end Indian restaurants, and a few dishes like daal were considered underwhelming by some. The restaurant is generally seen as a wonderful dining experience worth the hype.
The restaurant's founder, Asma Khan, was featured in an episode of Netflix's 'Chef's Table' series, highlighting her inspiring story and culinary philosophy. The restaurant is known for its focus on home-style Indian cooking.
Based on reviews mentioning birthday celebrations and dinner experiences, evenings are popular. Reservations are recommended, especially for special occasions.
Awards & Recognition
Netflix Chef's Table Feature (Asma Khan)
5
We went to Darjeeling Express on 16th May 2026 to celebrate my wife’s birthday. It was a wonderful experience
Reservation: we reserved a week earlier using Opentable. The process was very easy. They request credit card details and will take £40 per person if you do not show up or cancel less than 24 hours before
Service: very nice service. Devika was serving us and she was always smiling. We requested her if we can meet with Asma Khan and Asma came to our table within 10 minutes.
The only gremlin was that I requested if we can celebrate my wife’s birthday with a desert. Mario wrote back saying they will put a candle on the dessert. That never materialised
Food: The chicken momo as a starter was brilliant. It was steaming hot and there was a sauce that was a perfect companion
For drink - both the mango lassi and cumin & green lassi were outstanding
Mains - The prawn curry and kosha mangsho (beef curry) were nice. All the mains come with Pulao rice as standard.
Food was good, not great and something you crave for. Chutnies were good with complex flavours, along with shrimp dish and desserts. Beef was a little too sweet for my taste, and daal was the most underwhelming dish. It was bland both in terms of taste and presentation. Respect for Chef khan and her story truly is inspiring, but at the end it’s all about food. People visiting high end Desi restaurants expect bold flavours like gymkhana and dishoom, but didn’t get any of that here. Service overall was good and place is cozy and well maintained. Good to experience once but food isn’t special enough to come back
We had an amazing experience at Darjeeling Express. From the atmosphere to the service and the food itself, everything exceeded our expectations—which were already quite high. We ordered puchkas (which were extremely tasty) and pakoras as starters. For the main course, we had paneer korma and kosha mangsho, both served with plain rice. All the dishes were slightly spicy—just the perfect level for us. We finished with two delicious cups of masala chai. Definitely worth a visit; we will be back for sure!
You can tell a place is going to be great when every minor detail is on point, and this is one of those places. The masala chai hits super strong. The paratha bread smells amazing and distinct even next to strong curries. The fried onions in the free rice leave you craving more. That's when you know they're putting care into the entire menu.
Curries were out of this world. Spicy, sweet, savory, creamy - you can get every flavor up and down the menu. The goat especially stood out: tender, flavorful, and fatty in the best way.
Staff was helpful, friendly, and humble. I would be bragging if I were putting out food like this.
A must try!!
Incredible food, lots of spices and absolutely scrumptious. The staff was gracious and really recommended good food.
Keema toastie, ma chingri (prawns), chaiiiii, chicken momos and the rose and cardamom soda are some of the best dishes I tried, and probably something I would recommend. What I really loved bout the food was it had not toned down the heat and spice that Indian food is rich in, something I've noticed in most Indian restaurants in London.
P.s keema toastie for the win :)
