“Darbar” offers cheap and hearty Indian curry and a wide selection of popular Asian dishes.
Located a three-minute walk from Ichigaya Station, Durbar is a dining bar offering popular Asian dishes, primarily Indian, including Nepalese and Thai cuisine. “Darbar” means “castle” in Nepali. We aim to create a restaurant that impresses our customers through a diverse selection of Asian cuisine. Our skilled chefs preserve the authentic flavors of Indian cuisine while adjusting the amount and combination of spices to suit Japanese tastes. Our Thai cuisine, meanwhile, makes extensive use of spices, aromatic vegetables, and herbs that strike an exquisite balance of spiciness, sourness, and sweetness.
Although it’s hard to imagine from the narrow entrance, the restaurant is incredibly spacious, with seating on the terrace suitable for parties of up to 100 people. With Wi-Fi, a projector, and a screen, it’s also perfect for wedding receptions and social gatherings.
Exterior
The interior walls are decorated with paintings of Tokyo Skytree, the Indian god Ganesha, the Taj Mahal, and Nepalese landscapes. It’s fascinating how the atmosphere changes depending on where you sit.
Inside the Restaurant
Inside the Restaurant
As the picture on the restaurant wall suggests, the menu features Asian cuisine from India, Nepal, Thailand, and other regions. Because the owner and chef are Hindus from Nepal, there are no beef options. The chicken and lamb are halal. The tandoor-grilled chicken and seekh kebabs are delicious, attracting many repeat customers!
Saag Paneer
Seekh Kebab
They also offer some pork dishes, such as prosciutto salads and Thai dishes that are popular with women. While their main focus is Indian cuisine, their Thai cuisine has also received rave reviews, with reviews citing “exquisite gapao.” In addition to curry, they also offer Japanese-style snacks like edamame and mild dishes, making them popular with families.
Gapao Rice
Fresh Spring Rolls
Enjoy lunch with excellent service in a spacious restaurant, and the course menu is perfect for women and students, offering great value for money!
Durbar’s lunchtime is longer than other restaurants, lasting until 5:00 PM, and their lunch set menus are incredibly affordable and filling! Their generous B set, which might even make customers feel a bit uneasy, includes two curries, grilled dishes, pickles, dessert, a drink, and all-you-can-eat naan and rice. The naan is so huge, you won’t even need refills—1,000 yen is enough to fill you up. While lunch is already a great deal, you can get an even bigger discount by showing a flyer and your student ID.
Lunch Set
Chai
All-you-can-eat dinner courses with all-you-can-eat food and drinks start at just 3,000 yen, surprisingly affordable for a Tokyo restaurant. The 55-item all-you-can-eat order menu offers a truly special value, featuring popular dishes like charcoal-grilled tandoori chicken and chicken wings, curries like butter chicken, mutton masala, and saag chicken, salads like glass noodles and Caesar salad, stir-fried meats and vegetables, and papad and other deep-fried vegetables, perfect with beer. An all-you-can-eat option allows you to try dishes that are hard to imagine or order individually, making it a great choice for first-timers. There are also over 15 different curry dishes on the menu, making it fun to share and compare them. There are also several other reasonably priced courses, such as a girls’ night out course and a student course.
All-You-Can-Eat + All-You-Can-Drink Course: ¥3,380 (2.5 hours of all-you-can-drink)
– Fresh spring rolls with plenty of salmon roe
– Shrimp and avocado salad
– Crispy vegetable tempura platter
– Lemon fried chicken
– Gapao rice
(After the above five dishes, you can order 55 other all-you-can-eat dishes.)
While not all staff are fluent in Japanese, they are friendly and eager to communicate, creating a slightly exotic atmosphere that makes this a recommended restaurant.
Supervisor / Recommender
- Halal Supervisor and Foreigner Food Coordinator (Cooking, Consulting, Public Relations)
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Click here for introduction
I currently work as an editor, but my previous job was as a chef, with many years of experience working in hospitals, restaurants, and the food service industry. Looking back, I think my connection to halal may have already been there.
Decades ago, I once worked in a cafeteria at an auction venue. Over 60% of the visitors were foreigners. Many Muslims were present, and the venue had a mosque-like prayer space. I remember being frequently asked questions about whether the meat was halal and what kind of meat it was. At certain times, the cafeteria would become as lively as a festival. The Indian restaurant next door would generously serve free biryani, curry, and sweet drinks to everyone who came. Over 100 people, including people wearing bright red turbans, galabeyas, and traditional attire, gathered in the cafeteria, all sitting around the same table and enjoying a truly enjoyable time. Looking back, it was iftar, the end of fasting, and I understand the significance of sharing, but at the time I was ignorant of halal and Islam, and didn't even consider how to respond. They only ate the curry made by the Indians in the restaurant. As I studied halal, I realized, "I wanted to eat Japanese food, but I couldn't." I regret not doing anything even though there was something I could have done.
If only it didn't contain pork! If only it didn't contain wheat or buckwheat! I could eat it... Food insecurity is different for each person.
That's why I think it's important to learn about the differences in culture, religion, and lifestyle that underlie it, and to create an environment where everyone can enjoy delicious meals in comfort.
The desire for delicious, safe, and secure food is universal. The times are calling for people to live in new ways that transcend borders and religions. I hope that halal can be a gateway to eliminating food insecurity, contributing even in some small way to a society where people can coexist and prosper with more liberal thinking, and to global harmony beyond.
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