The Royal Naz

Wilmslow Road
Manchester

So it’s official: we’re a nation of alcoholics. The latest survey reveals that we 18-35 year olds are downing the recommended weekly limit before Tuesday - and we haven’t even noticed. Too pissed, no doubt. This is, of course, great news for curry houses up and down Wilmslow Road, since Baltis and booze go together like Posh (Spice) and (a bottle of) Becks.

But the Royal Naz, one of the "curry mile's" most prominent eateries, is by no means a Balti and booze kind of place. As manager Fazal Parveen will tell you, – whether you ask him or you don’t – the Naz is the best on the strip; though, in all fairness, he does have the awards to back up his claim - or rather his wife Azra does having been declared Manchester Curry Chef of the Year for five years running. (See their double-decker ads on the No. 42 bus.)

It isn’t just the food that the Naz does well, though. The team has managed to achieve the perfect combination of friendly and efficient waiters, a relaxed, homely atmosphere and a bloody good curry. And the welcome is wonderfully over-the-top: en route to the table, the waiters politely stand to the side, waiting to shake your hand and wish you an enjoyable evening. We felt like celebrities. Indeed, our group of loan-holding students with a taste for Indian lager certainly took priority over the funny-looking ginger bloke on the next table. Poor Mick Hucknall.

Of course, if there’s anything to match the attentive - though never intrusive - service, it’s the food; and in terms of choice, the world is your Aloo Gobi. However, should you be unable to find anything to your liking from the 40 freshly prepared dishes on offer as standard, then talk to waiter Rashid. Simply tell him what you like and how hot you like it and you’ll be amazed at what post-Poppadum delights he delivers.

And while Rashid serves the food, Fazal serves up some entertaining insights into his culture.

"I Haven’t seen you for a while," he said to me en route to our table. "Mind you, I have been away …spending some time back home, seeing the family and all that…it’s such a poor part of the world …so much poverty…"

Ben’s social conscience was about to kick in with a rant about how the USA’s daily defence budget could feed the third world for a year when Fazal revealed that home wasn’t as close to Bombay as we’d realised. "But that's Birmingham for you!"

Back on the curry mile and after eight poppadums, a couple of Tandoori Chickens, two Samosas, four customised curries – each with Pilau rice – and a Paratha bread, we were stuffed; not in an uncomfortable, bloated way, but enough to want to relax with a refreshing Murree Beer and soak up the atmosphere.

That was another attractive feature of the Royal Naz: having spent over two hours dining, we never once felt pressurised to vacate the table, despite the growing queue at the door. In fact, Rashid seemed genuinely upset that we didn’t want dessert or coffee. To please him, we each ordered a Murree Beer…or three. Well we can’t let our age group down now, can we?

Though ironically it was the curry - and not the drink - that almost killed us. Dashing across Wilmslow Road, we failed to notice one of the Royal Naz’s sponsored buses speeding towards us, which – emblazoned with a giant picture of Fazal, his Award Winning wife and a Chicken Karahi – can normally be spotted a mile away.

We were seconds from ending up in a Korma.