The Darjeeling

The Darjeeling has held the Indian-restaurant slot in St Johns Parade — the short run of shops where the Sidcup High Street widens to meet Manor Road — for over a decade, ranking among the higher-rated curry houses in central Sidcup on Tripadvisor and Restaurantji. The dining room is a small carpeted space with linen-draped tables and a busy collection counter at the front; trade is roughly split between sit-down dinner and a strong delivery operation through the kitchen's own website and the major aggregators.

The menu sticks to the recognisable Bangladeshi-British curry-house list but pushes harder than most local rivals on the chef's specials section, where the kitchen runs dishes the regulars come back for — murgh xacuti in a Goan-style coconut and chilli sauce, malay lamb chops with cardamom and ginger, king prawn xinga peri-peri, and a slow-cooked nehari for the colder months. Traditional baltis, biryanis, masalas, pasandas, dhansaks and bhunas fill out the back of the menu, with a useful vegetarian and vegan section covering paneer, chana and aubergine. Trade runs evenings only; the kitchen takes orders up to 11:30pm seven days a week.