We visited one of Birmingham's oldest and most historically important Indian restaurants

There was a time when every High Street, usually staggering distance from a pub, had an Indian Restaurant, or Curry House to me and you, writes Adam Smith.

The other food option open to our Mild drinking forefathers was Chinese, but they only had a shelf to sit on, so Chinese was the takeaway, curries were for funtimes with friends.

Blessed with the first waves of South Asian immigration, Birmingham and the Black Country quickly became the best place in the country for a curry.

The ingenious owners knew their customers palates better than they did themselves and instead of actual Bengali and Punjabi dishes, Anglicised Asian offerings became favourites.

The Balti was invented, washing up reduced and gave us a place on the culinary map.

They were the late 20th Century's culinary success story but the 21st Century has been a different story.

First there was a shortage of chefs as European immigration was favoured over our old Commonwealth friends.

Then came the "Fusion" craze, gone were the carpeted walls, in came minimalist chic and higher prices.

And then came the desi-pub, as if lightning struck, why not bring the curry house in the pub? It wasn't a stroke of genius but a desperate survival play from rapidly closing pubs to stay relevant.

And as we fell in love with the perfect marriage of a pint and mixed grill so many of us forgot our old friends in the curry house.

They closed in their thousands, often replaced by the chicken shop. Like replacing a lovingly tendered hanging basket with a bunch of petrol station flowers.

But those that still survive, are either the Michelin star standard places Tom Cruise eats at before being mugged or family run gems kept alive by a loyal clientele whose grandchildren now call the owner uncle.

The family of Omar Khayam's owners opened the first curry house in the West Midlands, in Selly Oak in 1963.

They since relocated further up the Bristol Road, Mr Dey opened Omar Khayam in 1982.

At his empire's height he had four restaurants but now just Northfield remains, and Mr Dey passed away three years ago, a couple of years before the business - known as Omar Khayam Indian Cuisine - won its latest award.

George was there, George the catfish, who has been watching diners wolf down curries for 36 years, he is a bit of a celebrity in Northfield.

Staring at a curry house menu is like a football coupon for me, I know the winning combination is in there but after ordering so many chicken tikkas and mixed grill I've forgotten where the magic lies.

So I normally order a chicken balti because I'll like it but still kick myself I can’t remember what I love.

We were there the other day as a family to celebrate the boy finishing his exams.

The poppadoms came out quick, and it was a relief when the mint sauce hit the spot. I can't help but make an instant judgement on an entire restaurant, even its reputation on the quality of their mint sauce.

After all, if they can't that right, how can you trust the rest of their menu. It is similar to anything pretending to be American and not making their own slaw.

Thankfully, 42 years proves practice makes perfect, more poppadoms were needed because of my delight with the mint sauce.

Starters was an easy pick for me, I've chosen same one since 1994 - sheek kebab (£6.25) the marinated lamb, was instantly drizzled with the remaining mint sauce from the poppadoms.

They had the spicy kick which imitators on superstore shelves can never master.

The lady went for onion bhajis, a gentle slap on the back of my hand reminded me we were not sharing tapas.

But I can tell you they looked fantastic, delicate and invited. She proclaimed they were her favourite onion bhajis anywhere, they always were, and always will be, so they must have tasted as good as they looked.

When it came to mains, she knew what she was having before we even got there. Omar Khayam knows its customers are knowledgeable.

So a page of the menu is for people who know what they liked, and what they want.

Traditional Favourites - the main ingredient first, chicken (£7.95), lamb (9.95), prawn, king prawn (£11.95), chicken tikka (£9.95) etc.

And then the style (no extra charge) curry, balti, madras, vindaloo, phaal, ceylon etc, and there is a little chilli next to them, signifying how long you will spend on the toilet the next morning.

Oh, hang on, no its how hot it is, which in my mind is basically the same thing, vindaloo has three chillies.

The lady went for chicken sagwala (£7.95), which is finely chopped fresh spinach, garlic and herbs. The dish always looks to have too much green for me, I'm not a fan of greens in curries, just like breakfasts.

The spinach in sagwala looks a lot like more dense than "finely chopped" but the Lady loves it, perhaps because of the greenery you feel you are eating something healthy.

Omar Khayam is proud of its "exclusives" menu, which best seller is chicken tikka jainta (£10.95), which is chicken tikka cooked with onion, tomato and green chillies in an exclusive spicy sauce.

And lasan lamb, which is a "mouth-watering blend of lamb and roasted garlic" (£12.95).

However, time was ticking with the unfailingly polite waiter stood at the table pen and notepad at the ready.

It was either the chicken dhansak, or chicken balti. The dhansak is lentils, pineapple, lemon and spices hot, sweet and sour flavours.

When I lived in Manchester and frequented their smaller version of Brum's Balti Triangle, Rusholme, I loved the dhansak, whatever the restaurant it was always bright yellow and wrecked a few baggy shirts.

However, dhansak elsewhere is not yellow, where the lentils were an afterthought in Manchester they are the be all and end all in Brummie dhansaks.

I could not subject The Lady and her children to, the "what kind of dhansak is the dhansak?" conversation, which is excruciating to everyone involved and listening.

So I went for chicken balti (£7.95), which is cooked and served in a metal bowl, with chopped onions and sauces, and as the menu said: "Invented in Birmingham, for the people of Birmingham."

Keeping with the straight down the middle, take no chances, unimaginative theme I went for a normal naan, eschewing Keema (£3.95), stuffed with spicy minced lamb, the sweet delight of peshwari (£3.95) stuffed with almonds, sultanas, coconut and syrup or coriander, onion or chilli variations of naans.

Which is the idea of a balti. I can never trust anyone who orders a balti, then asks for plate and tips it on. I devoured it as so many have before me, I could have done with another naan, but it always hard to judge.

There was no film of fat you see in poor efforts at baltis, it felt like a treat not a workmanlike dish.

Indian desserts are so often not on curry house menus, and Omar Khayam is no different. Only Mango/Pistachio Kulfi (£4.95) made it through to join the English classics of sticky toffee pudding, chocolate and coconut ice cream (all £4.95).

I went for the banana split (£4.95), a classic which is a button buster of indulgence and an American creation rooted in 20th Century popular culture. About as far away from a country which spawns civilisations over millennia we can assume worked out how to make a pudding.

When curry houses first opened the thought of the curry being one poorly baked Yorkshire pudding away from being our national dish as insane.

Indian food has outgrown its first delivery method, the curry house, but it is everywhere.

And will adapt, those curry houses which survived the barren years are thriving again because of JustEat, UberEats and other new methods which would have blown Mr Dey's mind.

However, being served freshly cooked curries and eating them metres away from the chefs who created it, is the best way to consume this remarkable food.

What you need to know:

Omar Khayam Indian Restaurant, Northfield, Birmingham 711 Bristol Rd S, Northfield, Birmingham B31 2JT

Our rating: Five stars

Starters Onion Bhaji £3.95 Sheek Kebab £5.95 Mains Chicken Balti £7.95 Chicken Sagwarla £7.95 Two Plain Naans £5.90 Pilau Rice £3.95 Dessert Banana Split £4.95 Drinks - Aspall Cider - £4.45 Merlot Red £12.95