Darjeeling Express

Above the buzz of Carnaby Street, tucked away on the top floor of Kingly Court, the home-style Indian restaurant, Darj eeling Express made its grand debut on the London restaurant scene in late 2017.

Owner and mastermind chef Asma Khan introduces authentic Indian cuisines rarely found in restaurants —partition-era Mughlai food and Kolkata street food— in a space reminiscent of ancestral Havelis in India.

Alessio Nardi of A-nrd Studio studied the traditional architecture and home decor from Asma‘s heritage to put together the natural look of Darjeeling Express.

The colour palette of the intimate space comes from golden hour scenery of India, where warm, earthy soft tones come alive. This palette is complimented with the cerulean blue of Indian train stations and of Darjeeling Express’s namesake train. This colour combination is also reflected on the table tops and the Chai bar, all made in polished dyed concrete true to one of India most used materials alongside brass which is also used for table tops, light fixtures, and ironmongery.

All the picture frames exhibited in the restaurant are part of a photographic series by Ming Tang Evan, a dear friend of Asma. The photos capture moments of a trip the two friends took together through Asma‘s growing up places in India.

The chai pots that adorn the shelves are also a dear gift from one of Asma‘s friends which hand-made every single one. Look up and you’ll see the simplicity of Indo-Victorian architecture. The ceiling features fans, hardwood beams, greenery and pottery typical of Asma’s ancestral home and India in general.

When your host or hostess guides you to your table, you may be seated at bench-like booths, inspired by the typical seating of the Darjeeling Express train. But these seats are also adorned with mismatched textiles in the same earthy tones of he restaurant and hand-dyed fabrics that remind Asma of home. The variety of prints represent the richness of pattern and design found in India.

Darjeeling Express started as a dinner for 12 guests at home, serving Indian food lovingly cooked from family recipes that go back to generations. The food is a true homage to our founder Asma’s royal Mughlai ancestry and the busy streets of Calcutta, where she grew up. What results is a lovely mélange of street food like papri chaat and royal recipes like lamb dum biryani, that take you on a journey from Calcutta in the east of India to Hyderabad in the south.

An all-women team of housewives runs the kitchen at Darjeeling Express, and have been doing so from day one. What you will taste is home-style food, cooked with passion and the aim to nourish your body and soul. Top critics from the Evening Standard, Conde Nast and the Financial Times have hailed the food at Darjeeling Express which already appears in many London hot-spot lists.

A-nrd Studio