Bengali & Mughlai Home Cooking · Rupert Street, Soho
By Monty Khas, Anonymous Critic. Pays every bill.
Few restaurant stories in London are as well told, or as well earned, as Asma Khan's. She began with supper clubs cooked in her own home, moved into a pop-up, then into Kingly Court off Carnaby Street, then to Covent Garden, and in June 2026 opened the fourth version of Darjeeling Express on Rupert Street in Soho. Along the way she became one of the most recognizable faces in British food, the first British chef to feature on Netflix's Chef's Table, without losing the thing that made the restaurant special: a kitchen run entirely by women, many of whom started out as home cooks.
The room
The new site is the biggest yet, spread across two floors for the first time, with an open-plan dining room inspired by the restaurants of Kolkata, earthy colors, outdoor tables and a dedicated private dining room. It's the first time Darjeeling Express has had space to breathe, and it suits the food, which has always been built for sharing and lingering. This is not white-tablecloth dining. It feels more like eating at Khan's own table, if her table happened to seat well over a hundred.
What to eat
Khan's cooking draws on her Bengali and Mughlai heritage, and the menu reads like a family album. Start with puchkas, Kolkata's answer to pani puri, crisp shells filled with spiced chickpeas and potato and flooded with tamarind water, eaten in a single, messy bite. Saag pakora and badami baingan, eggplant in a nutty sauce, are good company for them.
Then the main event. Kosha mangsho, the slow-cooked Bengali mutton curry, is dark, glossy and deeply spiced, the kind of dish that tastes like a long Sunday afternoon in a Kolkata home. Prawn malaikari is gentle and coconut-rich, perfumed rather than hot. Methi chicken is earthy with fenugreek. A tamarind dal, sour and soothing, ties everything together.
The lunch menu is where the street food shines: Calcutta kati rolls, the paratha-wrapped snack Kolkata is famous for; pan-fried momos that nod to the restaurant's Himalayan name; and a keema toastie that is worth the trip on its own.
Then there's biryani. Khan's version has a devoted following, and her biryani nights have long been the hottest ticket in the house. With the bigger kitchen, the midweek biryani evenings are back. If one is running during your visit, book it and don't think twice.
Drinks and dessert
Masala chai here is properly milky, sweet and spice-laden, and the mango and cumin lassis are worth the detour. The cocktail list is a quiet delight: the Darjeeling Old Fashioned uses ghee-washed bourbon with garam masala and saffron, and Kulfi on Ice blends pistachio kulfi with saffron vodka, rose and cardamom. The wine list celebrates women winemakers, which is exactly on brand.
Save room for something sweet. Bengalis take dessert seriously, and a meal here that ends without a little sugar feels unfinished, like leaving a dawat before the mishti comes out. Bhapa doi, the steamed Bengali yogurt pudding, is the classic; gajjar ka halwa, slow-cooked carrot pudding with cardamom and cream, is the cozy one.
Before you go
Lunch runs Monday to Saturday, with a pre-theater set menu in the late afternoon that's the best value in the house and an easy fit before a West End show. Dinner wraps up relatively early, and the restaurant is closed to the public on Sundays for private events. Book online, though the larger space means walk-ins have a better shot than they ever did at Kingly Court. Many dishes are vegan or vegetarian, so it's an easy pick for mixed tables.
Service has a warmth that can't be trained. Khan herself is often in the room, and the team treats you less like a cover and more like a guest who has finally made it to dinner. London has plenty of restaurants calling themselves Bengali, many of them hidden behind curry-house menus that tell a different story. Darjeeling Express is where you go for the real thing, in a room that finally matches the size of its reputation.
The Quick Fix
What to order: Puchkas; kosha mangsho; prawn malaikari; methi chicken; tamarind dal; Calcutta kati roll or keema toastie at lunch; biryani on biryani nights; bhapa doi; masala chai
Pricing: Mid-range. Pre-theater is the best value.
Best for: Bengali food seekers, long lunches, pre-theater dinners, family meals, and anyone who wants cooking with a story
How it compares: London's best Bengali home cooking; more personal than Dishoom; more soulful, if less polished, than Gymkhana; the only all-women kitchen on this list
See where Darjeeling Express ranks: The Best Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi Restaurants in London: Our Top 10 for 2026
The food was always this good. We're just paying attention.