Eat With Your Eyes

I heard this phrase for the first time recently, ‘eat with your eyes.’ We all do it, when we watch the Food Network, Great British Baking Show (still need to actually watch this one), or scroll through our favorite foodie influencers’ Instagram feeds. I’ve never written about food before, but I feel compelled to share the meal we had at Darjeeling Express in London. It’s hands down one of the best meals I’ve ever experienced, and it wasn’t only because of the food.

Dan and I love food. Anyone who knows us is well aware of this little fact. We’ve been watching Chef’s Table, a show on Netflix that highlights award-winning, well renowned restaurants, owned or run by chefs who have overcome various hardships in their life and career. It’s an inspiring show (I usually cry at the end of every episode, prob also not a surprise to anyone who knows me lol), and I highly recommend checking it out if you have any appreciation for food, passion and perseverance.  Any way, we watched an episode in April that really resonated with me. It was about Asma Kahn, a second daughter, born in India, who loved to cook. I won’t get into too many details, I encourage you to watch the episode, but second daughters in traditional India are generally mourned, not celebrated, and have very little rights.  However, Asma went on to open Darjeeling Express, a Michelin Star restaurant, and hired only women, many of whom are second daughters themselves. And let me tell you, they can cook.

Breaking Bread

After we watched the episode in April, I immediately made reservations because we had already had our trip to London planned. Reservations as far in advance are highly recommended. Even then in April, I had limited options for a night in July.

The food is traditional, not like the Indian food you get over here in the U.S., and cozy. It’s comfort food at its finest. And the best part, it’s a shared menu, so you order a bunch of plates for the table. I love dining experiences like this. In my opinion, sharing a meal with those you love is one of the most intimate experiences. My fondest memories involve sharing meals with close family and friends, in both familiar and unfamiliar places.

Food Coma

It’s hard to pick one dish that was a highlight, but some of my favorites were the Tangra Chilli Prawns, Puchkas (a spicy chickpea dish) and Goat Kosha Mangsho. Also, the naan bread and Basmati rice were to die for. “Basics” but cooked so well, I dream about them today. LOL.

We went with two people in our group who never had Indian food (and were a bit hesitant to try it), and they loved it all. The shared plates gave them the opportunity to try some of the foods they wouldn’t have ordered on their own. And the white wine, oh my, the white wine. Paired perfectly with the meal and made everything go down easy.

Girl Power

The kitchen is open, so you can see the chefs cooking and let me just say, the ladies were HUSTLING. And yet, they were so appreciative of us, and you could see the love they put into their food. They wanted to cook for us and they wanted to share their culture with us through food.

If anything, I hope this post inspires you to try new food, because you really never know what you might be missing until you try it. I’ve also made it very clear to Dan that any trip to Europe will now require a stop over in London so that we can have a meal at Darjeeling Express, and I have yet to hear any objections from him because it was that good.

-Steph, xx