‘I ate at the Royal Nawaab at Stockport Pyramid and it was a bit of a manic experience’

The Stockport Pyramid[1] is a Greater Manchester institution. It's somewhere I always wanted to visit as a child, admiring its sheer scale. Let's not forget the bizarre fact there's a giant blue pyramid in the middle of the M60.

I finally got to achieve that life-long ambition on Good Friday (April 18) as I managed to wrangle a table for the Royal Nawaab's soft launch[2]. Staff at the Indian and Pakistani restaurant have been working tirelessly behind the scenes for the past few months, transforming the triangular wonder from disused office to glamorous restaurant.[3] The huge ?15m venue consists of a 400-cover restaurant[4] on the ground floor; a 800-capacity first-floor banqueting space for weddings and events; and an additional banqueting area for 400 on the second floor.

There's decadent lighting hanging from the ceiling, polished marble floors and dancing water fountains - and that's just the lobby area. It's luxurious and far from subtle. While it isn't officially open to the public just yet, the soft opening has clearly caught on with loyal fans.

When I visited, it was packed, with queues, full tables - and, well, a little bit of a manic energy. The concept for the restaurant is that it's a one-price-fits-all buffet situation. It costs ?29.99 for an adult and ?13.99 for children under the age of 12.

Drinks cost extra, but everything else is included. We're talking unlimited curry, breads, chips, salads, puddings and ice cream.

Having turned up for our allocated booking time (it's bookings only during the soft opening), we're cheerily escorted to our table by a server who tells us how busy it has been. He's not lying.

Walking into the restaurant, servers are rushing around with drinks and collecting plates. Customers are dashing up for seconds. As soon as a plate is emptied, it's scooped up.

That's where the chaotic energy began. There's a feeling you're just as much on a conveyer belt as the dishes constantly being replenished on the counters. There's never really much of a chance to feel properly settled or able to take your time.

But, I guess, we're really all here to stock up on an endless supply of lamb Rogan josh and chicken korma than really socialise, aren't we?

Many of the tables, ours included, were positioned quite close. Being elbowed by children is something that got tiresome quite quickly. But I can let it go on this occasion - it has only just opened, after all.

The food on offer was impressive. You can work your way from the likes of potato salad and hummus all the way to Gulab Jamun and apple crumble. Or, of course, go straight in for the curry - of which there are many.

Alongside steaks, kebabs and lamb chops, there's butter chicken, aloo patak, Achari Baingan, and chicken dansak. There's also, if you really want it, chicken lasagne, chili con carne, egg fried rice and pizza.

It's certainly daunting when the row of people is constantly kept moving and you don't want to hold the line by considering whether the chicken biryani is going to be too hot for you or not (it was a little bit, if I'm being honest). I kept my plate pretty straight-forward, going for a main selection of butter chicken, lamb rogan josh and chicken korma.

Undoubtedly a very basic choice, but I know what I like and I like what I know. It was really nice.

The korma was done right, with big chunks of chicken and a nice sweet sauce. The butter chicken wasn't too hot, and the lamb rogan josh was flavoursome.

I sneaked back up to try a couple of other curries, and I could see staff constantly working in the open-plan kitchen to ensure each dish was restocked and kept fresh. Staff were also happy to make their own suggestions and offer up some extra dishes not on the main counter - like lamb chops, tawa chicken and fish specials. The front-of-house staff were constantly on-the-go and certainly able to keep up with the steady pace of the venue.

Just like the plates being taken away, as soon as a party had finished with their table, it was cleaned, reset and ready to go with a new group of customers.

But that, sometimes, also often came at the expense of my own enjoyment. On a few occasions, it felt like there were barrages of staff - all equipped with walkie-talkies - ready to pounce in on your table after any sudden movement. It meant I never really was able to feel like I was 100 per cent able to relax.

It would have just been nice to have not felt like I was constantly being rushed. But with the restaurant only just in its early phase, it's potentially something that will be toned down as the venue establishes itself - and it's nice to see that procedures were trying to be adhered to and staff were taking their roles seriously. You don't get that everywhere.

The place is really a thing of beauty, it's glamorous, luxurious and so, so easy to forget that you're actually sat in the middle of the M60 and not in some luxury hotel in Pakistan. But realising that I was actually inside the grand pyramid having my tea just sort of added to the whole evening - in the best way possible.

The reaction to the soft opening has already shown that there is a big, loyal fanbase for Royal Nawaab. As we left, there were queues of people still coming through the doors, meaning many have been keen to try it out for themselves early.

It bodes well for when the venue actually opens and, with a few minor tweaks here and there, I find it hard to imagine how it's not going to be a highlight for many - even just for the opportunity to be able to say they have had a korma inside the famed blue pyramid of Stockport.

Bookings for Royal Nawaab's soft opening can be made here[5].

Royal Nawaab is at The Pyramid Building, Stockport, SK4 2JZ.

References

1. ^ Stockport Pyramid (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
2. ^ Royal Nawaab's soft launch (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
3. ^ transforming the triangular wonder from disused office to glamorous restaurant. (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
4. ^ restaurant (www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk)
5. ^ here (booking.stampede.ai)