I have visited many a legendary place on my travels but it was time to see if orgininality counts for anything in these testing times.

The Nile can be spotted from a distance on that long winding road which is Preston New Road in Blackburn.

The first Nile opened up back in 1991 in Preston and there were soon six of them across the region. However, whilst four have been sold on, two remain in the hands of the orginal owners who opened their first in Blackburn last year under now trademarked name - The Original Nile'.

Enough of the history lesson, down to the basics. Now, if there is one thing to notice about a Nile Takeway it is that it is clean and looks more like a posh person's kitchen than your average take away.

The menu, the seating, the grills all look as if they were bought yesterday. The staff here even have uniforms on with none of those grubby stains down the front.

A massive menu on the wall saves me having to look through a leaflet and I'm taken aback at first by its detail. Hmmmm, I think it's time to go lethal on these boys.

I order an Asian style pizza, a large mixed grill (chicken, shish and donner kebabs), chicken wings and chips, a large chicken kebab and some lamb chops.

My host Dalawar Hussain looks at me and then goes about his business.

As a mull around on a muggy summer Northern evening I envisage a long wait with plenty of questions about my order.

But surprisingly no. The Nile staff are polite and before you can say Gujrat CC should have batted first' I've got the food in front of me. I was bowled over.

I peered over the counter to see if they had some Umpah Lumpahs' working behind there.

The food lived up expectation, particularly the chicken wings which were made with dedication and care - a quality lacking these days.

There are pretenders to the throne but I can tell you one thing for sure. There's nothing like the Original.