MELA-The flavour of India
Sometime in the beginning of last year- a busy morning in office (those WERE my busy days-yeah) , its going to be lunch time, and boss tells me we have to take our guests out to lunch, there were 3 of them,2 German and 1 American and our group of 5 set off to MELA-which was just a hop skip and jump from my office then.
I generally enjoy my food, making it a fulfilling experience, quite agree that lunch times are better off without animated talks, or cracking jokes with a mouthful of food, or trying to play holi by laughing out loud with a swig of water.
My first visit to MELA- I had to talk more and work less, meaning, the Germans and American were so intrigued with the colors, flavors, ambience, that it was quite a culture overdose and they were bombarding me questions about everything around, how different is this Roti from that longish bread, what flour is used, how is it made ? How do you cook this gravy ? What the specialty about that dessert? By the time lunch was through, I was wondering, did I eat any food at all? In trying to be a good Indian Hostess, eating was forgotten, happens VERY rarely to me !
Did I forget to tell you that Firangs are welcomed with garlands (gendhe ka haar / marigolds), and as we stepped out of Mela, the American removed the garland from his neck (yeah, he had kept it on all along ), and was just heading towards me…I was wondering…Yeh kya ho raha hai/????????He said-I would like to gift this garland to you for being so patient with our questions, so saying he was just going to garland me with that Haar, I politely ( smilingly) pushed it aside, saying we Indians interpret these things in a slightly different manner- when a guy garlands a gal ( LOLL), and promptly took the garland from his hands and hung it on a branch of the tree that happened to be next to us !
My next visit to Mela was more relaxed and food-intensive ( I had to make up for last time ). This time No boss and no firangi guests !!
A little about Mela-the Restaurant :
Located at Worli, near the seaface, actually at the corner of the road leading to the Worli Seaface next to Sanstache Art Gallery. The bar is detached from the restaurant, total seating is around 150. It is a THEME Restaurant, colorful as the name suggests. They also have Magicians, Astrologers, Mehendi Artists, Potrait Painters to entertain you while you dine.. A pretty interesting concept I should say !
As you enter, the corridors have flashy colorful kites mounted on the walls that look painted by the colored water coming out of Pichkaaris. The entry to the bar is just as soon as you enter, looked nice and plush from the small peep I had once.
I haven’t actually been to the bar-side, so wouldn’t be able to comment on their stock of booze and the damages.
The restaurant is further down the corridor, a riot of color, with a clock tower in the center, a hoarding of a cardboard BEST bus on one site, the buffet lay out occupies one side of the room. The room looks warm and cozy with polished cane and red upholstery. Music sometimes gets irritating.
Getting down to business- The Food :
Mela – famous for its Kababs and Lunch Buffets. Buffet costs Rs.280 with taxes. It is quite elaborate without being exhaustive. The layout is uncluttered with the vegetarian and non-vegetarian menus laid separately.
One special mention about the kababs- Last year, Mela launched Kebab Zone - an special menu of an assortment of delicious kebabs-which had anyway been the USP of the restaurant and the dawaat of the Kebab Zone features 20 varieties of kebabs like galoti, murg malai, kakori, fish anarkali, kheema papad, ajwaini fish tikka, aloo corn tikka, tandoori gobi, veg sheek malai, kaju etc with accompaniments.
I have sampled the veg. sheekh kababs, Harra kabab (made from spinach-what a Fun way to eat green vegetables), Paneer Tikkas staright from the skewers- with green mint chutney, they all taste awesome. But make sure you only have a sampling of each or you wont be left with much appetite to attack the yummy main courses that await your attention.
Soup section has one veg and other chicken or so, I generally go straight to main course ( Impatient me !! )
My memory fails me here, growing older you see, but surely remember from this Sunday buffet. In the main course-there was, Peas-Mushroom in gravy, Malai Kofta, Kadai Paneer, Palak gravy, Baingan Bharta for you Brinjal Lovers, Black Dal and Yellow Dal. Mushrooms were fresh and tasty, retaining their crispness even as they were coated by thick brown gravy. Paneer was soft and the green Capsicums in red gravy of Kadai Paneer was a real treat.
There were also 4 items on the carnivores’ menu, not sure of their names.
Rotis / breads are served piping hot on the table, in a cane basket. The smaller ones are made of wheat and the longer ones in maida. I stick to the wheat, don’t like maida- too refined a flour to be of any good to the body.
Rice is either plain or Jeera Rice or Pulao. Long grained, fragrant, you have the choice of eating it with yellow or black dal.
Here I must mention that my all time favorite item at Mela’s is their Dal Tadka, the one that they serve a-la-carte is of much better flavor that the one in buffet. Rick golden yellow chana & tur dal, each grain of dal separate, not sticking to each other, with a smattering of red chillis, and shahi zeera in pure ghee, the aroma and the taste is truly a ummmm….amazing experience. Just few things get better than this in life.
Through with the main courses, filled already! But few can resist from succumbing to the sinful desserts. Here its all Indian desserts. Gajjar ka halwa, moong dal halwa, Rabdi, Jalebis, Rasagulla and fresh fruit.
I swear , I only took a serving of fruits ! Didn’t even venture near the others. Thank God , I don’t have a sweet tooth, except for Bengali sweets, chocolates, icecreams, pastries, and …did I miss anything?
The buffet at Jewel of India (Nehru Center) has an even better dessert collection, you would have to forego the main course to have a guilt free post-lunch conscience.
All this and a complimentary beer (which is not much of an incentive for a beer-hater like me) for Rs.280 seems very much worth it.
Apart from the buffet, they also serve food -a-la-carte . But for office goers, people who cant decide what to eat, the buffet seems a good option.
For those of you who haven’t been there yet, go there after a good long walk by the sea face and just sit back and enjoy the taste of India.
