I visited the world's biggest curry house - it's not in India but an ordinary UK town

It's been dubbed the 'World's biggest curry restaurant' but it's not in India or Pakistan … it's a giant 120ft-high glass pyramid in Stockport! So I went along to sample the Royal Nawaab Pyramid's sizzling new buffet-style feast that in just weeks has taken the UK by storm. There's only one problem - I'm not a massive fan of spicy food!

Once the former HQ of the Co-operative Banking Group and built in 1992, the imposing 'ziggurat' shaped north-west icon has been a fixture of the Greater Manchester skyline for decades, overlooking the busy M60 motorway. Two years ago Pakistan-born businessman Mahboob Hussain, 70 - who brought his passion for southeast Asian food with him to the UK aged 15 - took on the disused glass monolith and transformed it into a gleaming cathedral of curry.

But the excited buzz around the pyramid is so loud, actually getting inside does tikka some doing.

You've got to book online and the demand is so great for tables you may need to think weeks in advance - so pre-warn your eager taste buds.

On arrival you're firstly greeted by the enormous car park, well used as the Royal Nawaab does not serve alcohol so all can drive along and purely focus on the food.

Then you're greeted by the sheer number of staff - 150 busy Manchester bees buzzing about, welcoming you, seating you and making it feel like a banquet at Buckingham Palace.

From the waiting area's chandeliered opulence you're led to your table in the vast dining area and stunned by the restaurant's main feature - a 37 metres-long open kitchen packed with chefs, all in crisp white, cooking fresh dishes.

And what a range of dishes - over 100 of them - curries of all spices, heat, meat and region; catering for all customers including vegetarian and vegan.

It's £29.99 per person for 12 year-old and over, without drinks, for the buffet - or £13.99 for those aged 11 and under, and the plates are smallish to avoid waste - but you can refill them as many times as you like!

Frankly the wide range, including Chinese food and even pizza for the less adventurous youngsters, is intimidating. I stood bewildered at the rows and rows of silver tureens.

Luckily each does have a sign explaining what it is and it's ingredients which is a useful guide - but really you just have to spoon some out and give it a go!

Okay I don't like it too spicy so after some starters of six different types of bean dishes - I was trying to be good for my diet - I selected some light pan puri. They are hollowed fried dough balls stuffed with lentils, chick peas and spice with a tangy water poured in.

Well into the experience with a few mocktails ordered, I was drawn to some curried lamb dishes cooked on the bone that I'd never tried before.

One was lamb charsi karahi (cooked with green chillies, onion, ginger and garlic) where the meat simply fell off the bone - while the other was lamb karahi, boasting tomatoes and coriander.

Attentive customer service manager Mousimali Ismaelji, who's been with Mahboob for years working in his old restaurant in Levenshulme, Manchester, insisted I try some curried lamb chops and very spicy seekh lamb kebab.

Whoa that last one was a sizzler! I needed my mango lassi fruit smoothie to cool down my throbbing taste buds and stop my eyes watering!

Mousimali was loving my eagerness by now: "We have so many dishes to choose from let me help! It's all cooked fresh and by our skilled chefs. Anything you want we do. Happy customers are my joy."

That phrase is clearly the motto of the pyramid. It could be chiselled into the walls like Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Like mind readers, the waiters regularly swoop in to clear all the plates and bring more cutlery so your table never feels messy or crowded. But one tip - if you're watching your waist line try to remember how much you've eaten!

Mousimali with his devilish twinkle was back again - I was wary of his twinkle now. It looked mischievous. This time he was armed with two innocent-looking small bowls he wanted me to try.

I was getting worried. It felt like he was holding culinary hand grenades.

One was namkeen gosht, rife with green chillies, onion, ginger and garlic and another was Royal Nawaab's signature dish haleem - a paste-like dish with wheat, barley, lamb and lentils.

I wasn't so keen on the haleem's semolina-style consistency but the namkeen gosht came topped with slices of ginger stem and lemon and packed a powerful punch, fresh and fragrant.

They were delicious and hot, hot, hot! My family love curries and joined me. They were relishing the food and my digesting discomfort - but 'heat' aside, all the dishes I tried were stratospherically good. Superb in fact.

And it really felt value for money because this is not just a night out having a curry - it's a bigger deal than that.

All around me were Brits of all backgrounds and cultures, some in casual attire but some dressed to the nines and enjoying a wonderful family night out.

I put the fire hose on my tongue with some treacle-like gulab jaman, balls cooked in rose water and covered with pistachios, and then a small serving of mango ice cream.

They have a wide range of cakes, desserts, sorbets and ice creams to match their dizzying array of main dishes.

A reviving coffee later and we were out in the rare Manchester sunshine, feeling replete and ready to be rolled home. The booking was well worth the wait.

* To book a table at the Pyramid visit - https://royalnawaab.com/pyramid/