I visited an award-winning Indian restaurant to try a new concept meal which is traditional across south Asia

I love a good curry.

I've eaten at some very nice Indian and Bangladeshi restaurants over the years, taking in the different tastes, textures, flavours and smells and enjoying the masterpieces created by the chefs: rich and creamy sauces, properly cooked meat with onions, peppers and chillies and complemented by soft naans, rotis and fluffy rice.

From the different places I've been to, I've been able to say which places are better than others in terms of the welcome from staff, the ambience and atmosphere of the restaurant and, most importantly, the quality of the food.

From the far north of Scotland to the south west of England, there are plenty of places that I've visited, but one of the best ones, one which always provides a top quality meal, is one about a 10 minute walk from my house in Penn in Wolverhampton.

Penn Tandoori has been a regular haunt for myself and my family for years, located on Penn Road near the Mount Tavern pub and set inside a very heavily populated area.

It's an award-winning restaurant, with the most recent award being named Best Indian Takeaway Restaurant in the Midlands by Euro Asia Curry Awards in 2024, while it was also named the Express & Star's Indian Restaurant of the Year in 2017.

However, it has become a restaurant which is very popular at the end of the week and throughout the weekend, but which has found itself struggling for customers at the start of the week.

In a bid to attract more people into the restaurant at the start of the week, it has introduced a traditional combination meal popular across south Asia on what it is calling Thali Nights.

The thali in question is a traditional Indian meal, served as a selection of complementary dishes on a single platter, often featuring a variety of curries, rice, bread, yogurt, and pickles, designed to offer a taste of different flavours and textures.

Speaking to manager Rahan Hussain, I learned more about the traditions of the thali and how it is seen as a balanced meal, with smaller portions of rice and curries, in katuras, or pots, as well as something that is enjoyed by people from the poorest families right up to the wealthy classes.

He said that it was something very common in Bangladesh, where he came from, with it being a tradition when a guest comes over to offer them a thali, which is the large plate that the different pots come in.

The restaurant has created the set menu for Thali nights, which will run on Mondays and Tuesdays and have six option available, all costing £14.95 and themed around either traditional tastes or a theme for a certain area.

The Penn Thali has a selection of chicken tikka, sheek kebab, lamb bhuna, chicken tikka masala, sag aloo, pilau rice and a garlic naan, as well as a choice of either chips, masala chips, raitha (a type of yogurt) or salad.

The four choices are also included with four of the other five dishes, with the Wolves Thali being a combination of chicken pakora, sheek kebab, chicken balti, chicken tikka masala, bombay aloo, pilau rice and a plain naan and, according to Mr Hussain, being based on what locals would often order.

The countries of India and Bangladesh are also represented, with the Delhi Thalli a combination of chicken tikka, vegetable samosa, chicken jalfrezi, naga chicken, tarka dhall, pilau rice and coriander nan, while the Deshi Thali has sheek kebab, onion bhajee, chicken balti, Bangladeshi lamb, tarka dhall, pilau rice and garlic nan.

Finally, the Veggie Thali is a mix of vegetable samosa, onion bhaji, vegetable korahi, vegetable balti, tarka dhall, plain rice and plain naan and the Vegan Thali is full of aloo pakora, garlic mushrooms, vegetable bhuna, vegetable pathia, chana bhuna, plain rice and a chapati, as well as not having the raitha available.

For the indecisive or the person who wants to create their own, there is also the option to create your own thali with any of the options on the other dishes, although the cost will increase depending on choice of dishes.

It all seemed really good and, being a bit of a spice-head, I chose the Delhi Thali due to the presence of jalfrezi and naga spices, with a side of masala chips to go with it.

Sitting with some poppodoms and a range of sauces, I was able to take in the cosy surroundings of Penn Tandoori as I hadn't been there for a while. It still felt warm and cosy, with a nice backdrop of Indian music and a lighting scheme which made you feel comfortable.

My reverie was interrupted by the arrival of my thali, a large silver flat bowl filled with six smaller bowls and a sizeable portion of coriander naan bread and which smelled amazing, full of spice and flavour.

I was also given some advice by Mr Hussain on what is considered the traditional way to eat a thali where, rather that just picking at each bowl, you pour everything into the thali for its purpose as a bowl and then eat the meal as it's combined together.

While it's not compulsory, it's certainly worth trying and so I poured the different contents into the thali, mixing the spice of the naga and jalfrezi with the cooling edge of the tarka dhall and the lovely crunch of the samosa, and then set to eating my Delhi Thali.

I would heartily recommend eating this way as you get the nice experience of all the different dishes coming together to create a range of flavours that give your taste buds something to think about, complemented by the fluffy and soft naan, which helped me mop everything up.

It didn't seem a lot, but I was nicely full at the end, and if you look at the concept, it's a really good way to try different dishes if you're not sure about a full curry and form an opinion from there.

Also, for £14.95, it's a cost-effective way of eating out as a normal curry at Penn Tandoori would cost between £10.95 and £14.95, so a thali and a few drinks would not exactly break the bank.

Penn Tandoori is an excellent restaurant which keeps a high standard for its food and its service. This new concept is another way of looking at its presentation and ensuring the ongoing success of the restaurant, so get yourself down there and give the thali a try.