Asma Khan Is Moving Darjeeling Express Again
This will be the restaurant’s fourth relocationHas a restaurant ever moved around as much as Darjeeling Express? The popular Indian spot, founded by Asma Khan and inspired by her royal Indian ancestry and her time growing up in the Bengali streets of Calcutta, is preparing to relocate for the fourth time in 2026.Khan started Darjeeling Express as a pop-up at Soho pub The Sun & 13 Cantons in 2014 before taking on a permanent site in Kingly Court. She decided not to reopen there post-lockdown and chose instead to move the restaurant to a bigger site in Covent Garden, where she stayed until the summer of 2022. Following another pop-up stint, this time in west London, Khan moved Darjeeling Express back to Kingly Court at the beginning of 2023. Now she’s leaving the Carnaby venue once more and taking over the old Horvada site on Rupert Street in Chinatown.Darjeeling Express 4.0 will be much bigger and set over two floors, with a bigger dining area and more room for Khan’s all-female team in the kitchen. As she has said on Instagram, that means more food like “kathi rolls, keema, samosa, vada pav, falooda, all the things that are your favourites. Maybe bring back a midweek biryani”. The space is currently being designed, so it’s at least a few months away from opening, but we’ll bring you more updates as we have them.Key InformationOpening date | spring / summer 2026Address | 36-40 Rupert St, London W1D 6DWFor more information | darjeeling-express.com
