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Mela

Address:152-156 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8HL
Tel:020 7836 8635
Email:
Website:Visit Mela website
Price: £36.00Wine: £11.95Champagne: £35.00
Opening Hours:Mon-Sun 12N-11.30pm (Sun -10.30pm)

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A dependable standby close to Cambridge Circus, Mela looks just right with its eye-catching wall textiles from Rajasthan & Gujarat. Decently turned-out rustic Indian food is the forte, & fans are quick to applaud the kitchen’s flavoursome efforts, right down to its freshly baked breads. Starters such as garlicky fried whitebait & bhalla papdi chaat (a cooling, tangy dish of lentil dumplings with tamarind & mint yoghurt) go down well. Mains encompass tandooris from the open kitchen, while familiar dishes of the rogan josh variety are complemented by a smattering of southern specialities: moilee from Kerala comprises mixed seafood simmered in saffron & coconut curry. It’s encouraging to see each main dish accompanied by a suggested wine match, & there’s a decent cocktail list too. Service is variable, but overall Mela is great value; set lunch & theatre menus attract the office crowd & show-goers alike (£7.95/10.95 for two/three courses).

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Reader reviews of Mela:

Daniel O.

Daniel O. ( 30s, Male, United Kingdom )

I went to Mela on the back of the review on this site and really enjoyed it. The food was delicious and fresh and it has an open kitchen which is always a good sign for me! The service was friendly and our waiter was excellent. They had run out of a well known beer served with curry, and the waiter gave us our next round free of charge which we didnt expect at all! The menu was not over bearing, yet varried and interesting. It was busy and has a good atmosphere. The naan breads were beautifully fresh. They do some curries from Kerala which I will definitely try next time I visit! Very good value.

May 2009
Overall:8
Food and Drink:8
Service:9
Atmosphere:8
Value for Money:9
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Paul W.
Reviews: 1

Paul W. ( 50s, Male, United Kingdom )

Booked a table for 4 for 8pm on Saturday 28th feb 2009 with the special 50% off food offer.

Arrived at the restaurant a few minutes after 8pm and was told our table was being set up. Asked to wait at the bar; this area is designed for serving drinks to seated customers so no real room to stand and we definitely felt we were in the way. Our proposed table was then given to another party! Some twenety minutes later we were finally shown to a table.

Service was quite slow; not an issue for us as we were in no hurry, but if you are then be warned. Our waitress looked extremely miserable throughout the evening and certainly was not concentrating as she served each of us with the wrong meal. Our bottle of white wine was warm when served. Following quite a wait after finishing our main course we had to ask for the desert menu.

When the bill arrive the 50% discount had not been given and we had to ask for the bill to be re-calculated.

Overall we enjoyed the meal, but felt if we had paid full price it would not have been good value for money, especially with the poor customer service.

March 2009
Overall:5
Food and Drink:7
Service:3
Atmosphere:5
Value for Money:5
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John J.
Reviews: 1

John J. ( 30s, Male, United Kingdom )

Having searched high and low for good Indian restaurant serving home food in London, i finally have it!!!
The starters reflected the street foods in India, be it the bhalla papdi chaat or the kachori and my favourite curry turned out to the achari lamb with plain rice. So many flavours came into my mouth (cannot compare to my mother’s cooking as she only did vegetarian) though the side order of the potatoes reminded me of my mother’s cooking
It was just a fantastic experience and I look forward for more. But guys improve the service a notch to complete the experience

January 2009
Overall:8
Food and Drink:10
Service:7
Atmosphere:7
Value for Money:8
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