Planet Spies

The shop the directory still lists as Planet Spies has long since rebranded as Roots of India, trading from Front Street in Stanhope — the central Weardale market town that sits beneath the Pennine moors halfway between Wolsingham and Alston. The kitchen runs a south-Asian menu of authentic curries — pathia, dopiaza, korma, butter chicken and the usual chef-special range — alongside an unexpected pizza section that turns up in reviewer photos as a useful add-on for mixed family orders. Vegetarian and gluten-free options run through the menu in genuine breadth rather than as token additions. Restaurant Guru aggregates around 294 reviews at 4.6 out of 5, an unusually strong score for a rural Weardale takeaway, with reviewers picking out the freshness of the cooking and the friendliness of the counter staff as the recurring themes; a smaller share of reviews flag occasional delays at peak Friday-and-Saturday collection times, which is unsurprising given the shop runs a single-kitchen operation. Online ordering runs through the shop's own roots-of-india platform, with delivery covering Stanhope itself and the surrounding upper-Weardale villages — Eastgate, Westgate, Frosterley and Wolsingham — a wide rural catchment that the area's thin spread of takeaway options leaves under-served.