Darjeeling Express: On the way to homemade heaven

People love stories; and beyond the food, this is what you get at Darjeeling Express. It certainly has novelty: an all-female kitchen peopled by chefs with no formal experience. Perhaps this is the way it should be, cutting away from a lot of hype and pretension that surrounds many of the nearby venues in Carnaby Street. The founder originally began to cook dinners for homesick Indian guests in her house and such was the success of this venture, that in 2015, Darjeeling Express opened. Drawing on culinary influences from Calcutta to Hyderabad, the restaurant celebrates the diversity that the country has to offer and, arguably, provides a more authentic experience than many Indian wannabees in London. Our experience, on a recent weekday lunchtime visit, was a positive one. We were charmed by the light and airy venue at the top of Kingly Court, enhanced by lots of natural greenery. Service was friendly and staff did not hesitate to offer explanations or suggestions in terms of food and drink pairings. The menu was mercifully brief, with just six starters and eight mains from which to choose. My comrade and I opted to share across both the first and main courses. The vegetarian puchkas – mini wheat and semolina shells filled with spiced black chickpeas, potatoes and tamarind water – were a masterpiece creation, one which may not have been out of place in a much higher-end venue. The puchkas demonstrated impressive culinary dexterity, being both light yet flavoursome at the same time. Our tangra chilli garlic prawns, by contrast, were much more pedestrian and instantly forgettable. Mains did prove satisfying both my slow cooked goat curry and a wonderfully earthy minced beef dish, where the addition of black pepper and dried chillies really added texture. At £6-8 for starters and £12-15 for mains, this is a great value local option: informal and (mostly) good-quality Indian cooking