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

The Stockport Pyramid 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.

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.

The huge £15m venue consists of a 400-cover restaurant 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