Pete Fenelon
2005-01-17 01:14:22 UTC
Decided to go to Mela as I was in London this afternoon - it's had such
good press that I had to see if it lived up to the hype. It does.
Mela is located on the "far" end of Shaftesbury Avenue, past Cambridge
Circus as it trundles towards the tedium of Holborn. Hence it's a little
off the beaten track and started off very quiet at lunchtime, although
it did gradually fill up.
Anyway, it's quite probably the best Indian food I've had in ages. It's
described as "Indian Cooking - Country Style" - and I suspect it's
an upmarket restaurant take on (mostly Northern) street/snack food,
with breads, interesting starters and lots of grills and kebabs taking
up most of the menu.
The gosht utthapams I had to start were superb, with the pancakes
feather-light and the chopped lamb on top wonderfully charred and
spiced. The accompanying salad was fresh and crisp and zingy and the
accompanying coconut/mint chutney very moreish.
For mains, the "banno kebab" - two grilled chicken breast quarters
marinaded and stuffed with all manner of interesting things (paneer,
onion, fruit) and powerfully seasoned with a lot of very fresh herbs and
spices with cardamom very prominent) was absolutely superb, with strong
but not overwhelming tastes and perfectly cooked meat. Accompanied by an
excellent feather-light, non-greasy paratha liberally dusted with chopped
mint, yet more salad, and a fierce brown dip this was a wonderfully
refresing meal, a great mix of textures and tastes.
This is cooking with a wonderfully light touch - the tastes are strong,
clean, and distinctive, the grill clearly under masterful control, the
ingredients fresh, the presentation impressive without being fussy, and
most of all a selection of tastes, textures and attitudes light-years
away from the vast majority of BIR food.
Service was friendly, surroundings perfectly acceptable, drinks prices a
bit silly (a fiver for a 660ml Cobra?). It's not cheap - 25 quid including
service charge for two courses and the aforementioned expensive beer -
but when you consider the prices of competing (and much more ordinary)
Indian and other restaurants nearby and the sheer quality of what you're
getting it's extremely reasonable.
And if you're after cheaper food lunchtime food there, the "Paratha
Pavilion" will get you lunch for as little as 2-3 quid - I'm sure the
quality's the same, as everything comes from the same highly visible
kitchen, merely the choice and level of exoticism is reduced.
All in all a very memorable place to eat. Mela isn't just an outstanding
Indian restaurant - the cooking is so distinctive and assured that
it certainly gets into the top dozen or so places I've ever eaten. I
shall return.
pete
good press that I had to see if it lived up to the hype. It does.
Mela is located on the "far" end of Shaftesbury Avenue, past Cambridge
Circus as it trundles towards the tedium of Holborn. Hence it's a little
off the beaten track and started off very quiet at lunchtime, although
it did gradually fill up.
Anyway, it's quite probably the best Indian food I've had in ages. It's
described as "Indian Cooking - Country Style" - and I suspect it's
an upmarket restaurant take on (mostly Northern) street/snack food,
with breads, interesting starters and lots of grills and kebabs taking
up most of the menu.
The gosht utthapams I had to start were superb, with the pancakes
feather-light and the chopped lamb on top wonderfully charred and
spiced. The accompanying salad was fresh and crisp and zingy and the
accompanying coconut/mint chutney very moreish.
For mains, the "banno kebab" - two grilled chicken breast quarters
marinaded and stuffed with all manner of interesting things (paneer,
onion, fruit) and powerfully seasoned with a lot of very fresh herbs and
spices with cardamom very prominent) was absolutely superb, with strong
but not overwhelming tastes and perfectly cooked meat. Accompanied by an
excellent feather-light, non-greasy paratha liberally dusted with chopped
mint, yet more salad, and a fierce brown dip this was a wonderfully
refresing meal, a great mix of textures and tastes.
This is cooking with a wonderfully light touch - the tastes are strong,
clean, and distinctive, the grill clearly under masterful control, the
ingredients fresh, the presentation impressive without being fussy, and
most of all a selection of tastes, textures and attitudes light-years
away from the vast majority of BIR food.
Service was friendly, surroundings perfectly acceptable, drinks prices a
bit silly (a fiver for a 660ml Cobra?). It's not cheap - 25 quid including
service charge for two courses and the aforementioned expensive beer -
but when you consider the prices of competing (and much more ordinary)
Indian and other restaurants nearby and the sheer quality of what you're
getting it's extremely reasonable.
And if you're after cheaper food lunchtime food there, the "Paratha
Pavilion" will get you lunch for as little as 2-3 quid - I'm sure the
quality's the same, as everything comes from the same highly visible
kitchen, merely the choice and level of exoticism is reduced.
All in all a very memorable place to eat. Mela isn't just an outstanding
Indian restaurant - the cooking is so distinctive and assured that
it certainly gets into the top dozen or so places I've ever eaten. I
shall return.
pete
--
***@fenelon.com "there's no room for enigmas in built-up areas"
***@fenelon.com "there's no room for enigmas in built-up areas"