Mela

I've been using tastecard for a few months now and this is the first time that I feel like I was 'tricked'. I called to make a reservation at Mela Restaurant and asked if they accept tastecard and if they do 50% off instead of 2-4-1 because we were more than 2 people and they said yes. But when we got there, not only did they not honour what they said on the phone, but they made us feel stupid for wanting them to honour it. They said they would give us 50% off food only if we order 4 main meals and 4 appetizers, but that deal is not with the tastecard, it’s their own in-house deal. But we didn’t really want to eat that much food, so instead we asked about the 2-4-1 deal. And the deal is actually only 2-4-1 if each person orders a main meal and an appetizer. It doesn't say that anywhere on the site, and they didn't specify that when I called, so we were caught a little off-guard there. The site just says it's 2-4-1 "across all courses ordered". They wouldn't count rice, popadoms, or nan bread as an appetizer, so we basically ended up ordering more food than we intended to eat, just to get the discount, which didn't end up really being worth it. In the end, after ‘negotiating’ with them, which no one wants to do on a pleasant night out, they agreed to us ordering 4 main meals and 2 appetizers to get 50% off all food. It just wasn’t really worth the hassle of all that. I don’t think they really got the concept of the tastecard. The food was ok, but the experience was ‘less than stellar.’

NB: tastecard is great, but it doesn’t let you post any negative reviews, so here you go!
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Don''t go here!
2 Overall rating
Food 6 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Thursday, January 06, 2011

Visited here last night and was very disappointed. Service was good and waiters were friendly enough but the standard of the food considering the prices you're paying is disgraceful. Main courses came out within 5mins and contained poor pieces of meat in both mine and my partner's dishes. Charged 4 pound for a bottle of mineral water we didnt ask for or drink and the wine wasn't up to much either.
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4 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, October 27, 2010

This was by far the worst restaurant I have ever eaten in! I do not usually write reviews on websites like this, but I felt so passionately against anyone making the mistake of visiting this restaurant that I had to write something. Myself and three other friends ate at this restaurant last weekend and were extremely disappointed. The service was rude and at times slow. The atmosphere was aweful as we were put downstairs with only one other table that was a very large party. But by far and large, the worst thing was the food! I have eaten at many Indian restaurants in my time and I do not feel this could even be described as such. The "extremely hot" jalfrezzi tasted more like a liquidised roast dinner and had absolutley no heat to it at all. The Tikka main tasted like stale tomato soup with a few herbs thrown in for good measure, and again had no spice at all.

I would strongly advise against visiting this restaurant and giving them the pleasure of ripping you off!
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Alyson
1 Overall rating
Food 0 | Service 2 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 0
Thursday, September 02, 2010

Visited the Mela last week (shaftesbury Avenue) prior to a West End Show. This was the worst experience of asian cooking possible. Poor attendance from the waiters,the dishes ordered were tastless and like water, other dishes ordered never arrived--the waiter refused to write our order down stating he had a good memory, dirty toilets and tables. There was no variation from the menu ie adding a little coriander to the garlic naan--sorry only garlic was the same answer--Chef really was that too difficult a task or were you let down by your waiters(loose term).

I visited Pescatoris the night before and had the best Italian experience in food , I frequent class asian restuarants and this was not one of them--time to move on Mela, maybe sell hot dogs on a corner street in East end
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Charlie Wright
1 Overall rating
Food 1 | Service 1 | Atmosphere 1 | Value for money 1
Sunday, August 29, 2010

Disappointed with this restaurant. Although the staff are friendly the food is not fresh and lacks flavour. The curries do not use authentic spice blends nor good cuts of meat or fresh vegetables which you would expect at the prices they charge.

£7 for sag aloo made from canned spinach, re-heated new potatoes and raw ginger is shameful as is charging £16 for some frozen prawns. Avoid.
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Alison
3 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 5 | Atmosphere 5 | Value for money 1
Wednesday, August 11, 2010

I took my parents and my nephew (4.5yrs) to Mela for their first Indian meal ever. We've chosen our meals from the set lunch menu – a very good variety of food for everyone: lamb, chicken, fish or vegetarian. For my father as a lover of lamb and me as a vegetarian – excellent!

The service was very attentive and enormously friendly to my little nephew, who is likely to be very energetic, as well.

The food was authentic and really nice – plenty as well: dips, starters, the main meal was served with dal, naan, rice and a delicious vegetable side dish; in the end you can choose between chikoo or mango flavoured ice cream! Also, they cooked an extra non-spicy sauce for my nephew – out of charge!

All in all, one of the best restaurants I've known – and my mum's a chef herself, my parents run two restaurants.

Highly recommended!
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9 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, August 05, 2010

This must be one of the top restaurants in its category in London. We went on a Saturday evening without booking. It was very busy but nevertheless the staff got us seated very quickly. And we didn't have to hang around for the wonderful food either. Full marks to the kitchen and front of house people!
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Sean
9 Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 9 | Value for money 9
Thursday, June 03, 2010

This is the second time we go to Mela restaurant. Even though we were half an hour late to our original booking at 8pm, the staff were very friendly and they had kept our romantic seats right by the window. The food was Fantastic! The service was great but a little slow. The restaurant was very busy and it took a while to recieve our order, however, that was ok as the atmosphere was nice and lively.

We ordered a number of things and all were extremly delicious. I especially loved the Chicken Tikka Masala and their deserts. All the waiters were very friendly and hospitable.

I was a little concerned about getting the bill as I had booked for the 50% off and was not sure If I had to mention anything but I didn't. When we received our bill it stated clearley the discount without having to remind them of anything. This was a great experience and will certainly go there again.
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AAQ
10 Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Sunday, May 09, 2010

Beware of the full a la carte menu!! Very pricey. You have to order from this menu if using Tesco vouchers. Also you are charged a 15% service charge even for 5 people dining.
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Jeddi Lowsi
6 Overall rating
Food 8 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 1
Tuesday, February 02, 2010

Service attentive, but the quality of the food didn't reach average Indian Restaurant standards, whilst the prices were astromonical! £180 for two courses for 6 people with soft drinks.
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Simon
4 Overall rating
Food 3 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 2
Sunday, January 17, 2010