A Return Visit to Shalimar Indian Restaurant, Darley Dale - A Firm Favourite for Good Reason

Sunday 4 Jan 2026 by Sticky Beak
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I can’t believe the speed at which 2025 has whizzed by – it’s very nearly over already! Each year we kick off our Christmas countdown with a visit to Darwin Forest with the Bestie, her hubster and their daughter, collectively known as BB, TBW, and The Ginger. Another tradition is the Saturday night curry and our favourite local [to Darwin Forest] place to go is Shalimar Indian Restaurant at Darley Dale.

Over the years, we have seen the restaurant at varying levels of busyness, but this year was exceptional – especially since we had booked an early table that would allow us to be all cosy in our villa in plenty of time to watch ‘Cyclone Saturday’ on ‘I’m a Celebrity Get Me Out of Here’! As usual, the phone never stopped ringing with orders for takeaways, which is always nice to hear.

Given the larger size of our group, we had a table with a lazy Susan at the centre to minimise the amount of reaching over needing to be done. Last year, we had a mixed platter/Tawa for the five of us and enjoyed it so much that we asked for it again on this occasion, as well as the obligatory Poppadom and Pickle Tray.

It wasn’t long before the chaps were supping their King Cobra lagers (their yearly treat!) and our server was placing the huge cast iron skillet on the twirling food carousel for us, and we all sighed happily as the sizzling aromas wafted over the table. Ginger isn’t the most adventurous member of our party but, having been brave and tried the Chicken Tikka pieces, decided that they were right up her street and swiped the lot! Can’t blame her, I would’ve done the same if I’d discovered something new that I loved.

A deep bed of softened Onions was gorgeously sweet and some had beautifully charred bits that added a layer of smokiness in the mouth. My personal favourite on the mixed platter was the Vegetable Samosas; not only were they tasty and crisp on the outside, they were absolutely stuffed to bursting with flavoursome veggies. I have to say that the Onion Bhajee’s came a very close second - very close. His Nibs and TBW both rated the spiced, marinated mixed meats, and BB was enamoured with how tender the Tandoori Chicken Pieces were. The only morsels left were a few bits of the Onion, so we were all feeling pretty chuffed with our efforts, as you can imagine!

Clearing away the multitude of plates, dishes and bowls, the team asked if we’d like a small interlude before our mains were brought out, which I thought was a really nice touch. We did say that, yes, five minutes respite would be very much appreciated. Glasses were refreshed with an assortment of beverages: TBW and The Man cheekily had another bottle of King Cobra each, I had a sparkling water, BB had a Pepsi Max and Ginge had her beloved Apple and Raspberry J2O.

Ginger is that stage of life where her palate is evolving and expanding…just not quite to curries. However, she is a fully paid-up member of the carnivore club and ordered a Sirloin Steak with Chips for her main (£16.95). When she came up for air, I asked her what the steak was like and she replied “delish” – she reminded me just how succinct Fledge was at that age with her answers to questions!! So, all I can tell you is that the Sirloin Steak at Shalimar is tasty, according to a mid-teenager.

We, meaning His Maj, TBW, BB and myself, are creatures of [broad] habit in that, if we find a dish we really like, we’ll remember it and reorder it; exactly what happened with our curry choices at Shalimar. I revisited that taste sensation of the Kanghan curry that melds juicy King Prawns with Mushrooms, fresh Mint, and a touch of Cream, requesting that it was made spicier and with more fresh Coriander on it than usual (£19.95). If you’ve never had this type of dish before and its Kanghani-spice charms, I can highly recommend it to you. His Nibs chose the Lamb Sharabi (£14.95), a mouth-watering combo of tender Lamb chunks that are cooked in Red Wine, with Spices and Herbs, Tomatoes and Onions to produce a rich, sumptuous dish.

BB and TBW both had Handi Curries (the Handi is a copper pot used to serve the food in): BB had a spicier base to her Lamb curry, and TBW zhuzhed his Chicken up with Chickpeas and Spinach. Both curries were splendid, tantalising the palate with their multiple layers of spice and flavour. I tried a bit of everyone’s food (purely for research!) and you truly could distinguish each one from the other – no homogenous ‘one-size-fits-all’ curries here!

We ordered Lemon and Cashew Rice (£4.95), Mushroom Pilau Rice (£4.95), Garlic Naan (£3.95) and Peshwari Naan (£3.95) to provide tasty means with which to scoop up all the delicious sauces of the curries. The Peshwari Naan was beautifully sweet and fragrant, making Bestie and TBW lick their fingers to remove the sticky Coconut shreds from them. Both Naans were soft and pillowy and so sizeable that none of us managed to finish them! Fluffy Rice was pimped with either Mushrooms for an earthy taste, or the fresher, zingier notes of Lemon Zest and crunchy Cashew nuts.

I probably don’t need to say it, but we didn’t order desserts! It wasn’t for lack of temptation, but we seriously didn’t have room for anything else – not even my Ginger Ninja! There were several birthday celebrations going on in the restaurant, and they were making up for our lack of sweets, and there is a really good choice at Shalimar.

Hot Wings happily given to this great Darley Dale establishment yet again. To book a table call 01629 735999 or visit www.theshalimar.co.uk and hit the ‘book now’ button on the right side of the homepage. The Shalimar is open Mon-Thurs 5pm-11pm, Friday and Saturday 5pm-Midnight, and Sunday Noon-11pm.