To say that he has built up this Punjabi restaurant is something of an understatement – owner Mohammed Akram actually constructed the building too.

And enshrined within it is his deep love and admiration for his parents who instilled such a strong work ethic into him which he has now passed on to his children. His son’s a doctor, one of his daughters is about to qualify as a doctor and the other is studying to be an architect.

So expect something special when you step into Jannat restaurant which must have one of the most unusual locations in Huddersfield.

For you have to go through the bus entrance off Westgate into Huddersfield bus station to reach it – but there again you can hardly miss it.

For Mohammed has festooned it in bright lights that can be spotted as far away as the ring road, right in the face of the thousands of bus passengers who pass every day probably wondering what it's like inside. Well, now they know.

There are more lights inside but this time a tad more discreet with tiny bulbs that really do twinkle and are set above the diners.

Mohammed has gone all out to make this a restaurant experience to remember. The tables are intricately carved wood with large glass tops – no worries struggling for space to put all the dishes here – and the chairs are comfortable, a basic, simple need which some restaurants fail to deliver.

The menu is traditional home cooked Punjabi. You'll face flavours here you'll never have had before and that's what makes it stand out along with the friendly, personal service that Mohammed brings to his customers.

He's clearly proud of his restaurant, the menu and his Punjabi heritage and absolutely insisted that we tried a traditional Punjabi drink, Dee Lasi, which blends together honey, yoghurt and milk.

Don't leave your sweet tooth at home for this one but with Punjabi food not exactly being short on spice it can have a soothing effect.

It's not a large menu and that can certainly be a good thing but even so we have to own up to choosing three starters even though there were only two of us. The kusuri murgh dee boti is chicken chunks marinated with green spices, curd, garlic and ginger paste. So that's why the coating around the tender chicken had such a fiery kick. The shahjahani tikka is chicken marinated with garlic and ginger with white pepper, salt and cream and was cooked on a charcoal grill. Totally different taste and texture to the coating – more subtle and subdued but no less interesting.

Third starter was kabab-e-mahi, a large cube of fish marinated in Punjabi spices and lemon juice before going into close contact with our by now old friends of the garlic and ginger paste. A crispy skin on the outside yet the fish had stayed tender on the inside.

It had to be curries for the mains and we've never seen one so red before nor the other so green. All we needed was an amber one and we’d have had a full set of traffic lights on the table.

In the red corner was gulabi murgh, boneless pieces of chicken cooked in fresh tomato puree, capsicum, coconut cream and garnished with cashew nuts and fresh ginger. Not so much a tiptoe on the taste buds, more a river dance.

And in the green corner saag ghost, a combination of mustard leaves, spring onions, spinach, green chillies and fresh coriander. That's why it was so green, robust and well-rounded yet with an undeniably underlying smoothness.

It's an alcohol-free zone and it may just be the sweetness of the drink that takes away that another-mouthful-and-I'll-explode feeling but we had room for dessert.

The galab jaman – fried fresh dry milk balls dipped in rose water and sugar syrup, garnished with almond slices and pistachio – literally melts in the mouth, fading away to nothing in an almost magical manner.

While the Punjabi badami kheer – rice cooked in fresh milk, cream and sugar, garnished with crushed almonds – is served cold and far lighter than it sounds.

And it was all rounded off with Punjabi tea. Not just the tea in the pot and then add your own milk and sugar. It was all in the pot along with cinnamon, cloves and cardamom for company. Whatever would the Tetley tea folk think.

And as we left Mohammed asked if there was any chance of us doing a review for Trip Adviser.

Little did he know ...

Jannat

Gamma House, Henry Street, Huddersfield, HD1 4AA

Tel: 01484 548001

Website: www.jannatrestaurant.com Opening hours: Monday to Friday, lunchtime 12pm-4pm; evening 5pm-11pm; Weekends 2pm-11pm

Children: Yes and the restaurant has high chairs

Disabled: Yes and a disabled toilet

The bill: £41.50

Would you go back? Certainly