Mela at Shaftsbury Avenue

Mela
152-156 Shaftesbury Avenue
London WC2H 8HL

020 7836 8635

Last weekend I went on a mid-afternoon party on a Routemaster bus to play London landmark bingo and join in a raucous sing-song in company with a pearly king and queen and a small synthesiser. Worn out with several enthusiastic renditions of ‘It’s a Long Way to Tipperary’ and ‘Maybe it’s because I’m a Londoner’, we finally staggered off the bus and down Embankment searching for sustenance. We ended up at Mela in Shaftsbury Avenue.

According to Wikipedia, the word ‘mela’ is a Sanskrit word meaning ‘gathering’ or ‘to meet’, and from my experience it seems an ideal place to get together over a curry and a few drinks. It was six o’clock on a Saturday afternoon and the restaurant was already buzzing.

Despite this, and our party of nine, we were ushered straight in by a friendly maitre d’ and installed in a corner of the lower floor. Mela say that their dishes reflect all parts of India from the Himalayas to the tip of the Peninsula and the bible-like menu certainly reflected that. Poppadoms appeared swiftly; the only complaint here was that the servings of sauce were rather stingy and barely made it round the table. We were a bit concerned that our main dishes might also be presented along ‘nouvelle cuisine’ standards but happily, there were plentiful helpings of everything. To start with I had the Lehsooni white bait which was fresh, spicy and crunchy and followed with a lovely, creamy seafood moilee: mussels, prawns, scallops and fish cooked in coconut and saffron which was just hot enough without being overpowering.

Others at the table enjoyed methi murgh (chicken thigh and fresh spinach), lamb chop korma and garlic calamari, all accompanied by generous portions of rice. Although there was a slight mix-up with the service right at the start, by and large it was prompt and friendly and they gave us free access to the sound system which was towering above my friend’s head.

The bill came to around £33 each for a starter, main, poppadoms and wine. It was a good, hearty dinner in a pleasant atmosphere which offers something a little different from the Pizza Express/All Bar One type of places. I left happily full and will definitely be back to try out some of the other dishes.