LOVED LOVED LOVED my dinner from mela! Have already recommended it to several local friends and can't wait to order again!!

I usually request delivery but picked up tonight. Got there early and the manager was sitting at the bar, looked at me a few times without a greeting. After sitting a few minutes and watching, I asked nice cashier if he was the owner. She said, "manager." Regardless, that behavior is poor customer service!!! read more

My new favorite restaurant! Everything was delicious and wonderful customer service. So happy to have found this place, looking forward to going back to this gem! read more

I came here for the lunch buffet with my friend. The price was amazing, various curries, vegetarian options, fruit etc nice hor fresh naan. The waiter was nice! food wasn't outstanding but it was good especially for the price. The issue i did have was a funny smell which was actually kind of off-putting. read more

Really enjoy the food here, both delivery and dining in. Stopped by the first time because of a Groupon and enjoyed the food and atmosphere. The only thing that prevents me from giving them 5 stars in the price, which is a bit on the high side for what it is. read more

Good Indian food in a nicely decorated/modern restaurant. I was able to walk right in at 9pm on a Saturday night for 2 with no wait. We ordered a salad off their "organic" menu for $10 and was tasty arugla, but on the small side, but then again I suppose that's what you get for organic! Then had their tandoori lamb and goat curry. The tandoori lamb was 4 chunks of lamb; overcooked and kind of dry, but the sauce on the side (marsala sauce) was great and if I doused the lamb with the sauce, it made it good. The goat curry was yummy, but had lots of bones (not having had it elsewhere I'm not sure if that's just the way goat is). These dishes plus naan (rice comes free with the entrees) and 2 glasses of wine came out $70 (not including tip). A plus was that if you ordered your dishes as mild - it really comes out mild. Some other Indian restaurants the mild is still spicy (i.e. Bombay Club, but that might be one reason why they are no longer in business). read more

I don't know what it was about this day when we visited, but this place was absolutely hopping with a wait about 30 minutes. Since we had walked all the way out there, we decided to stick around for a bit. The only problem was there is no waiting area. The other problem of this evening was that they were either pumping heat into the joint or there was a fire in the back. Either way, it definitely was not a comfortable environment for eating food, let alone spicy food. Thankfully, the food here is very good and there is plenty of it. I ordered the rogan josh (getting the picture yet?) which was tender, had a strong yet not overpowering flavor and was the level of spiciness I had asked for. I find this to be a rare occasion when they hit what you ask for and something that is difficult to do, which saved the evening and the meal. I will have to give it another try on a cooler night without a wait. read more

WOW!! what an amazing ambience and the best food I ever had in Boston. I had ordered Mela veg dinner for 2 includes 5 course meal and that contains lots of variety for 2 person.I just loved everything in that meal which includes 2 hot and crispy veg samosas,2 delicios soups,2 vegetables, raita,naan, rice , desserts and Tea or coffee .The food was amazing. read more

We have been a quite a few times for birthdays and just dinners with friends. We love the bread and most of them are really good. We have tried the Garlic Naan, Chicken Naan, and Poori. They come onto the table fresh and hot. Also we love the decoration of the restaurant. It's both trendy and includes touches of Indian art(stone carvings in the walls). For dessert we have gotten Badami Kulfi which is very unique and we love it! Sometimes we stop for brunch and it is affordable for a tasting of what they serve for dinner. It's like a self-serve for brunch(because it's a brunch buffet) but for dinner it's more formal and waiters bring the food to you. The soups are a must try since they are amazing! The spices and ingredients go very well together that the soup is exotic. We tried this dish with talapia and it was very good. One thing to note is that during dinner it's quite loud since the restaurant is kind of small and is usually packed with conversational people(that's what dinners are for!) with Indian music playing in the background. This is the only Indian restaurant that we have really went to since it's close to our house so keep in mind we haven't tried other Indian restaurants. read more

The food is great, but the service is TERRIBLE. I would never dine in here again. Our waiter seemed very clearly annoyed that I wasn't knowledgable about Indian food and after talking to us once, he basically ignored us the rest of the night. We had to flag him down whenever we wanted to order, get a drink, check, etc. It looks like management really tried to create a nice atmosphere...and you're surely paying for it...I'm not sure why they wouldn't choose a nice staff as well. Definitely good Indian food - but ORDER OUT! read more

Had a wonderful dinner at Mela last night. The decor and ambiance of the restaurant is superb. The service is extremely fast--I was so surprised how fast the food came out! Wait staff are super friendly and pleasant. Ordered a lamb dish, a vegetarian dish, and 2 breads. All absolutely delicious, and portion sizes were spot on! I guess the food could have been a bit spicier though. I was also very happy they had a section of the menu featuring organic foods. I feel very iffy eating meat in a restaurant sometimes, so I'm glad they advertised their organic meats. Would definitely return! read more

I love this place awesome Indian food.... I work near by I wish they delivered lunch as well.....they only deliver after 5pm.... read more

Ordered take out food for delivery, a day head. Ordered arrived on-time. Food was excellent and was still warm and did not require reheating. We had vegetable samosas, tandoori chicken, lamb vindaloo, breads and a dessert. All were excellent. read more

I'm currently visiting Boston with my mother and she suggested we try some Indian food. We were walking down this pretty street and noticed Mela immediately. We were greeted by Supreet, who was incredibly kind, helpful and patient with us -- we had a lot of questions and she knew every answer! The food tasted amazing and every dish is authentic and we could taste that the ingredients were fresh. We started off with some naan bread and some dipping sauces and yogurt, ordered an eggplant dish called Baingan Bhartha, the tandoori mixed grill, and two desserts called Badami Kulfi and Kheer. The naan bread is the best I've ever tasted and the dipping sauces were amazing. The sauces and the yogurt that accompanied the mixed grill were also amazing and definitely flavorful as well. Lastly, the desserts were out of this worldddddd. Order both the rice pudding and the almond ice cream!! They have different flavors but they're both worth trying. Plus everything is home made and the rice pudding was amazing especially compared to the fake one sold at a grocery store. Anyways, please eat here if you're craving Indian food! Good prices, great customer-service, food is prepared quickly and they take walk-ins. They are also dispensing hand sanitizer if anyone is worried about COVID. I had a great time eating here tonight. read more

Mediocre, expensive indian food. An entree and lassi together come out to nearly $30.

I could probably eat the lamb korma here everyday of the week. ok that may be a slight exaggeration but i really love the lamb korma here. i've also had the tikka masala and it's stellar. they have the typical indian dishes here, so that's a minor knock that i have on mela. However, even though they only have the standard fare, everything they make they make extremely well. everything I've tried is extremely flavorful and and well seasoned. It's easily my favorite indian restaurant in boston. read more

I'm Indian. I got this. The food was good, let's not deny. But, there's a big stock range of good Indian food in the city. What is "good?" There's naan that fills you up and is bready. The sauces for the butter chicken are very bright orange, taste creamy, and have bits of chicken that are a little dry scattered within. There is a vegetable dish that has cauliflower and okra, and it glistens with oil and curry powder. And there's a spinach sabji of some kind, that has the consistency of the butter chicken and makes your naan nice and soggy. All well and good, but not necessarily particularly delicious. Notable exceptions from other indian buffets in town? No chai tea, no papad, not particularly spicy (NB: spicy doesn't mean intense peri-oral inflammation; it means flavor... and plenty of it), the keer wasn't fully prepared (vermicelli wasn't gelatinous enough, could have used more cardamom), and nothing particularly memorable. The price was great, the waitress was sweet, the decor was a bit dated but the neighborhood was fun (South End). Three star on the weekday lunch buffet. Probably three star even if you're white. Even if you don't have a single indian friend. read more

Indian food + Buffet-style + 10 minute walk from work = Win. This is my favorite place to go when I want to take a long/special lunch break on a workday. Come here ONLY for the buffet. And the garlic naan. I've never had trouble getting a good seat. Usually we get seated right next to the window, which is great for lunchtime people-watching. The restaurant is small, but cute and well-decorated. They like to play Arabic music for some reason. The waitstaff are very eager to serve you water. The all-you-can-eat buffet is fantastic and not too expensive (I think around $10-$12 / person?) Typically they offer about 7-10 entrees, rice, samosas, and rice pudding. They always have chicken tikka masala and some version of a paneer dish. There are always at least 2 vegetarian options. Their food is flavorful--but quite mild--which I like. With a typical meal, I usually love about 85% of what I'm trying and feel "meh" about the rest. I've never outright hated anything I've tried. And hey, if you don't like something, just leave it on your plate and get something else. That's the beauty of a buffet. When I come to Mela, I can't help but eat until exhaustion. There's nothing better than spending the rest of the workday in a happy Mela food coma. read more

Had a delightful dinner here without needing reservations. Service was thoughtful, courteous and intuitive. I had a mild curry dish, my spouse had the medium spicy curry. We made the mistake of ordering what became a four course meal for two for $50 and it was too much food for us to eat. My first experience with Indian cuisine and I will definitely go back again. Delightful wooden, ornate, hand carved wall hanging about 3'x3'. It's worth the trip itself. read more

I came here on a Monday night for dinner with four friends. When I first walked in, I noticed there was a thin cloud of food smoke that permeated throughout the entire restaurant. By the end of our meal my entire outfit wreaked of indian food for the next two days. Even spraying my parka with febreze didn't get rid of the smell so every time I put on that jacket the next day I had a weird craving for indian food. I would say the food was overrated and just okay, but the portions were decent. Food ordered amongst five: - Chicken Tikka Masala - Sauce was flavorful and creamy, but the chicken was diced a little too big so it wasn't as tender as I would have liked. - Lamb Biryani - Good, nothing special. - Tandoori Combination - An assortment of tandoori meats that included chicken, lamb, and other meats that I don't really remember anymore. (Obviously not memorable.) Everything was SO DRY. Comes with sauce that tasted like tikka masala, but the meat was so dry that it was practically inedible without the sauce. - Paneer Palek - I love spinach and paneer so I was really excited for this dish, but I was disappointed when I tried it. I felt like it was missing some spices that would have made it a bit more flavorful. - Okra dish (forget the indian name) - Good if you like okra! - Garlic Naan and Onion Naan - You really can't go wrong with naan! I would recommend the garlic over the onion if you're deciding between the two. I'm a garlic fiend, so the more garlic the better! Pros: Service was great. Nice ambiance. Decent sized portions. Cons: Food was just okay and overpriced. FOOD SMOKE that made everything including my bag smell of indian food. read more

Hey vegans! This is what you can eat on the menu. I asked so you don't have to. :) -subz panchmael -aloo choley -gobhi charchi Have to disagree with the person who said the spice level is nothing to write home about. I get "medium" at every Indian restaurant, and this "medium" was definitely spicier. Our friends who got "extra hot" were sweating a bit. read more

Good food and service, I was pleasantly surprised by the buffet. I went in at the end yes they didn't have much stuff left but the chicken tikka Masala was on point. The naan was done right. The place is pleasant too and I wouldn't mind sitting there and eat with couple of friends. read more

My wife and I ate here on a Monday night. The service was friendly and prompt; the venue was quiet and clean. My order of spicy goad vindaloo was excellent. Her order of pallak paneer was flavorless. The masala chai (tea) was very average. The roti we ordered was warm and tasty. The dessert menu did not offer guljahkahalva, so we passed. read more

My boyfriend and I visited Mela for our first time (although we have been living in Boston for more than 5 years now) for the weekend brunch buffet. Given the fact that it is Boston Marathon Weekend, we went early at 11:30am sharp. Surprisingly, there were already 4 parties there waiting for the buffet to start. Once the buffet was served, we were delighted! Every dish was fresh, hot and delicious. We both especially enjoyed the Palak Paneer, Tandoori Chicken, Chick pea curry, bean curry, kheer and the samosas. Of course, the Chicken Tikka Masala and Basmati rice were delicious too. Honestly, I tried every dish there and loved every bit of it! The garlic naan we ordered were very fresh, crispy yet chewy. Mmm! We've tried many Indian restaurants with our friends from India both in Boston and Cambridge but this is now our favourite! The service at Mela which we experienced today was superb as well. Water was always refilled, plates were always replaced and everybody was considerate. Although the price for this buffet is pricey compared to those on Newbury and Cambridge ($13.80 incl. tax), it is definitely worth every bit of it! read more

I have been here 2x when visiting Boston and have loved it both times. The first time was for the lunch buffet, which was great and included champagne and watermelon juice (which matches the sparkley pink tables). Then I went back for dinner another time. My favorite thing was the goan shrimp curry, the shrimp were great and the sauce was perfectly spicey, the heat didn't overwhelm the other flavors but it had a nice warming after effect. read more

Mela is a kind of place that makes the South End cute. I loved sitting by the windows and just enjoying the typical postcard architecture of the South End. 5 stars for the ambiance. Our waiter was so gay, sweet, and friendly. He really made us feel like two princesses. I totally wanted to box him up and take him home. 5 stars for the waiter. The food was good, I think. Though I need to go back one more time when I am not sick to determine if it is really a 5 star place. read more

Without a doubt, this is some of the best Indian in town. I've eaten at this establishment more times than I can count, and I have yet to have a dish that I cannot recommend. Last evening I decided to order from them via Foodler.com (free delivery!). I ordered the chicken tikka masala, aloo choley, a chapati and the coconut sorbet. The chicken tikka masala is wonderful. The masala is rich and full of flavor. I ordered it medium hotness, and it was great. If this is your first time having Indian, just an FYI, its not jam packed full of meat. But the portion is just enough for one person. It was the first time I ever ordered the aloo choley (I usually stick with the dal makhani--which is just absolutely amazing btw if you love lentils). The dish was very tasty. I had enough to bring to work today for lunch too. The chapati was ok. It was supposed to be served with butter but they didn't give me any or didn't butter it as far as I could tell. But it was fine nonetheless. The coconut sorbet was WOW. I've sampled the cardamon chocolate mousse before (its ok), but I just wanted something light to top off my meal so I thought I'd give it a shot. I'll be honest here... every time I go to this place, from now on I'll be ordering the coconut sorbet! It was served in a half coconut shell. It was rich and creamy and extremely refreshing. Has to be the best sorbet I've ever had in my life. Definitely highly recommended! If you happen to stroll over to the restaurant on Tremont, its well-kept, with an exceptionally friendly staff. Two thumbs up high for this place! read more

I went there last week after looking at the reviews here. I have eaten indian food at lot of other places. This place is mediocre at best. I was there during afternoon, non-rush hour on the weekend, slow service, unfriendly staff etc. Food didn't impress at all. There are a lot of other options in the area. read more

6 minutes away from my place. 2 1/2 years and a days upon days of yearning for mom's food and I resisted the urge to go to this place. Horrible decision. The mango lassi was mango-ey and oh so yummy. The garlic naan was soft and the basmati rice melted in my mouth. The paneer was fresh and the curry it was cooked in was amazingly tasty and they did not joke around when I said to make the Chicken do-piaza spicy (which I loved). And the portions are great for the price - easily have some left over for another meal. Lastly, the badam kulfi for dessert - not great, but good enough to close out the meal. Total? 9.22 + tip. My only regret? Not buying enough buywithme's to have more of these less than $10 bills for a feast. Regardless, my indian food cravings will know where to go from now on :) read more

My colleagues and I love to come to Mela for the lunch buffet. Mela is a 10 minute walk from our office and we can walk there, have lunch and walk back in our allotted hour lunch. The buffet is varied and has 5 or 6 entree options as well as vegetable pakora, basmati rice, soup and salad. I really enjoy the beef kofta and saag paneer. The servers bring your choice of fresh naan to the table and there is even rice pudding for dessert. The restaurant is comfortable and always able to serve our ever expanding group as we get more and more coworkers wanting to come with. The buffet is only $9.95, but look for their Groupon for only $7. read more

Stopped in on valentines day w my girlfriend, armed w a Livingsocial coupon. We had reservations, which was good at it was packed. First, initial service was slow as hell, but once he came to take our orders, he was around pretty frequently. I'll chalk it up to it being so busy. But after that, better service than you stereotypically get at Indian places. We shared a non-vegetarian combo, $50 for 2 soups, 2 meat samosas, 2 currie entrees, a plate of mixed tandoori meats, naan, rice, and 2 desserts. They had a similar $55 valentines deal with less food and options, which I think was overpriced. Smart guys. Overall, food was quite good and I think matched the higher than typical prices for Indian, especially considering that it's in a pricey chique area. Regarding the food: -lychee martini: excellent -mulligatawny soup: quite tasty -meat (lamb?) and veggie samosas: good, typical -mixed tandoori platter: lots of tasty tandoori meats -chicken saag: quite good, though asked for medium spicy and it was weak. But he brought extra out, which helped quite a bit. Not too oily or dry -shrimp curry w coconut: a few big shrimp in there, curry was quite tasty -kulfi ice cream: quite good, though pretty darn frozen -galub jamun: tasty and sweet as expected -naan: good combo of light, thick, and not greasy Overall quite good quality food worth the price. Yay good Indian! read more

I've been to Mela several times, both for the buffet and ordering off the menu. The buffet is a bit more limited in options than I've experienced elsewhere; for today's buffet, there were only three meat options, tandoori chicken, chicken tikka masala, and beef kofta. Other options were saag paneer, daal, a mixed veggie stew, garlic/potato soup and veggie pakora. The garlic/potato soup was my favorite thing. It'd be the perfect thing to eat if you were stuck home with a cold. The veggie pakora was pretty tasty as well. But everything else was just a little...off.. I've eaten a lot of Indian food, and it's usually pretty consistent from restaurant to restaurant, in every city I've visited. But Mela's spicing/seasoning is different.. Super-ginger-y daal.. Powerfully coriander-ed saag. And I love heavily-spiced food (hello, I'm at an Indian restaurant), but the flavors just aren't right. The tikka masala was watery and too vinegar-y. Even the chutneys, sauces, and raita were weird; the tamarind sauce was over-sweetened and the onion chutney was missing something. Nothing really satisfied, other than the soup, because the flavors were so off. For whatever reason, whenever I come to Mela, it's pretty much deserted, and the staff seem irritated to have to serve someone. At today's visit, the busser was good about clearing our plates, but it was one glass of water to drink, and we were never asked about ordering an additional drink. And the cook, behind the buffet set-up, as well as the manager (?) were scowling at us our entire meal. I felt intimidated to actually go back up to the buffet because they looked so annoyed. Not sure what was up with that. I hesitate to return to Mela since the food is mediocre and the service is so unwelcoming. Ordering off of the menu, versus the buffet, was better, but still not great. Maybe if I'm desperate, and in the area, I'll stop in. read more

My friend and I ate here last weekend and we had such a weird experience that I feel like I have to write a review. It was tightly packed but had a cozy and warm atmosphere that I really enjoyed. Everything was fine until we tried to order drinks, at which point our server asked if we had read the ingredients. We said we had and they sounded good to us, but then he said that most diners prefer two of the other drinks they offer and gestured to them on menu. We looked at them and told him no, we think we're gonna stick with the ones we picked out. We were kind of baffled by this and definitely got the impression that he was trying to warn us away from getting the cocktails we wanted without outright saying it but if that's the case we would have preferred if he had just told us he didn't recommend them rather than trying to insinuate it and not taking "no" for an answer. As for our food, I ordered garlic naan to start and one of their vegan dishes as an entree (I was very impressed by the selection of vegan and vegetarian options - as well as the reasonable prices - and found it hard to choose!) and my friend ordered two appetizers in lieu of an entree. The naan and appetizers came right out, but we never received our drinks and I never received my entree. We would have asked our server whether those things were on the way but he didn't come by to check in on us. We found this kind of strange because not only had he repeated our entire order back to us when we placed it but we also saw him enter it into the tablet he was holding. At this point we were at peace with the fact that he/the universe just did not want us to have these GD cocktails but I was still hoping to get my entree. After we finished what we had someone finally came around to ask if we wanted to order anything else (no comment on my missing entree). Having basically filled up on naan I wasn't in the mood to have to reorder my dish, wait for it to be made, and then eat it while my friend sat there and watched me, and we were both over it and wanted to leave anyway. We said we would just take the check - when it came, we saw that we had been charged for the entree but incongruously not for the drinks. When we told our server that we never received the entree he looked confused, apologized, and took it off the bill. In sum (did not realize this would turn into a dissertation), the ambiance was nice but our server must have been having an off night to say the least. Very appealing menu. We enjoyed what we got but it would have been nice to have received more than 50% of the items we ordered. read more

Went to Mela because every other place had a 2 hour wait in south end and it ended up being s good decision. The place is designed nicely and the wait staff was nice and prompt. We had a chicken curry and vegetarian dish, which were both excellent and the Samosas were delicious. Would definitely be going bs k here. read more

My favorite Indian restaurant anywhere. This is *the* go-to place for my fiancée and I. Beef, chicken, lamb, and vegetarian dishes are all great. The frequent Groupon promotions they run ($20 for $40 worth of food) are good deals, as is the lunch. Kind of a hidden gem in that it's rare you run into a long wait. Service is usually great but on rare occasions it's been very slow. read more

I ordered from this place yesterday and based on the reviews on here I was expecting more. It was OK. Good but not great and definitely not as authentic as I'm used to eating in South Florida. The Vegetable Samosa was decent but the Malai Kofta left a lot to be desired. I love spicy food so I asked for their hottest sauce and it was mild compared to the more authentic Indian restaurants I've frequented. I'll definitely be looking for a better Indian establishment in Boston. read more

Beautiful atmosphere, food, and service. There's nothing Boston needs more than a this genuine treasure.

Awesome food and great variety. I had the weekend lunch buffet The varitey of apperizers was really great. Got the plain naan which was really soft and freshly baked. The watermelong juice was exquisite as were the desserts (gulab jamun and kheer). The only problem is that it's not that easy/convenient to get to, one has to either walk down from copley or take the 43 from park st. read more

Twice I have gone with the intention of eating a little and bringing home leftovers and both times they take my almost full dishes and package less than half of it for me to take away. I feel ripped off. The first time I thought that maybe I misjudged what I had remaining. This time I took one small bite of my dish and didn't get hardly any of it in the take away. Why would they do that? read more

Food here is generally really good but fair warning: do NOT order delivery! I've made the mistake of ordering delivery from here a few times and every time it takes over 90 minutes (we live less than a mile away) and the food arrives cold. Once our order was wrong, too. Looking for a place to eat in or pick up yourself? Go for it! But definitely don't order delivery. The Grubhub/seamless reviews will tell you the same thing. read more