I used to work here as a server 10 years ago. When I visited Boston a couple of weeks ago, I decided to come here for lunch with two of my close friends who were also my Mela colleagues back then. We ordered the non-vegetarian platter, butter chicken, chicken korma, mustard lamb chop, and some naan. All the foods were fresh and delicious. I am glad they still have the tamarind Margarita on the menu which happens to be one of my favorite drinks of all time. Not a lot of restaurants that I know of serve this type of margarita. I happened to drink two of those during this trip. It is sweet, refreshing, and gives you that buzz that you are looking for. Lychee martini is another cool drink that they serve here. For our dessert, we got some kulfis and a coconut sorbet (which is actually served in a coconut shell...mind-blowing, right?). We were glad to see Jatinder Paji (who used to be the manager when we used to work there) still running this place. He came every now and then to check on us and also agreed to take some pictures. He also introduced his daughter who was helping him in the restaurant. Jatinder Paji is a nice human being and we are glad that his daughter was very friendly as well. This place brings back so many memories and will always have a special place in my heart. I am glad the quality of the food has stayed the same over the years. Keep it up, Mela Fam!

Beautiful restaurant interior. Excellent Indian food and pistachio shake. My favorite dishes are the lamb entrées, especially the lamb vindaloo. Staff will replenish plain rice for free if you ask, but it was hard to get a hold of server. Service was not attentive. One time, several months ago, a customer at the table next to mine (a large group) chastised the server for not checking on them during the meal or refilling the water glasses. I've been coming to this restaurant for more than 10 years, but service has noticeably lapsed since 2020. Food is still delicious, but please improve the service.

Enjoyed a delicious dinner here! We sat outside, which was very socially distanced. They also had heaters which were needed on a chilly night. Would come back if I were in Boston again!

The food was so-so. Everything was steeply priced. Had ordered rice, chole and gulab jamun and food was very average. It’s not value for money.

Food is delicious, good serving size, Lassi and was amazing. I wish there was a little more space, it was easy to bump into other guests.

Very much enjoyed the food as it was my first time trying Indian food. The Kheer was absolutely delicious. While most of the service workers were very kind spirited, I find that my experience was slightly tainted because of our server. I don’t know if she was having a bad day or something but her attitude was standoffish, she wasn’t very attentive, and we had to rely on other workers busy with other tasks for service. This place is great I just think customer service can be improved.

This is definitely a cute and cozy Indian restaurant in Tremont street. Delicious food and all ingredients are fresh and you can really get the fragnance of the fresh spices . This is only one of our fav Indian restaurant in Boston. I highly recommend this place if you in Tremont street and would like to taste a good Indian food !!

The food is always fresh and flavorsome. Utilizing a variety of traditional Indian spices, you can expect that the dishes you know and love will be made in an authentic manor by masterful chef's, that are also quite agreeable and flexible when it comes to special request. Mela is a phenomenal experience and I would highly recommend it for dates or even families. The cocktails and liquor selection is quite nice as well. There's also a buffet! Definitely visit and allow the Mela staff to provide you with a pleasant and satiating experience.

Went there on Monday night, place was not too busy but a steady stream. About half full all the time which may be due to the proximity to 2 major colleges in town. The Good: Nice ambiance and atmosphere, quick service, great staff (college kids). Good amount of menu choices to satiate most palates. Don't recall seeing South Indian fare on the menu. Food - Breads (Naan, Kulcha) were the best among all courses. Vegetarian Entrees could have been better. Malai kofta was more like veg pakora in a very tomato dominant gravy, didn't give the "Malai" feel of the dish. Okra seemed made with frozen stuff. My son loved the butter chicken and polished off the whole thing. Dessert: Chocolate souffle was frozen stiff like icecream. Not good: Parking....luckily I was able to snag a spot in front as there was a Construction vehicle only sign banning other vehicles there which was only until 4 pm.

Nice atmosphere. Once you order and have your food you're forgotten about. You have to track down the waiter to get your bill. Butter chicken curry was alright. Bottom 5 I've ever had though. Naan was top tier though.

Courteous staff and pleasant no nonsense modern dining room. Uneven fare, Small portions, often overcooked or over re-heated most likely…seems pricey for quality. Enjoyed it when there was a buffet. It was varied, you could pick out what looked good at least and weren’t obligated to eat the flops. Will change rating if they bring buffet back. Can’t recommend. Had digestive issues every time. Questioning freshness. Only Indian food choice in area so we’re stuck with them and they know it. Sad.

Everything here is awesome here except the food. The servers could not stop rolling her eyes when I didn’t like the food. This restaurant serves for white people who hardly know how Indian food should taste. I ordered muter paneer and asked them to make it spicy to which they just poured chili extract to the common gravy for everything. It was so hot that I couldn’t keep it on my tongue. Apparently spicy meant only chili for the chef. Then I ordered butter chicken which was even more disappointing. Even my non Indian Latino friend could tell that Indian food tastes better than this. They even messed up the pin-a colada. I gave two stars for the nice ambience and for the fact that they did not charge us for the food we didn’t like. There are many small restaurants in Boston who know how to make Indian food. Go here for ambience and pics not for food and also if you can tolerate the rolling eyes of the staff.

Horrible Food.. NEVER eat here !! They served rotten food…uncooked Naan and rotten Pakora. Pakora was smelling so bad. No customer service. When I called to complain about the rotten food, they said call Uber eats. Horrible Horrible food. If you love your health never eat here.

Mela was a great place to go to for that Indian food craving with a friend! The staff was very friendly and the food was absolutely tasty and hit the spot. The ambiance was delightful and relaxed. 10/10 would recommend!

Great spot located in the south end on Tremont St. I haven't been to many Indian restaurants so I didn't have any expectations walking in. But I'm really glad my girlfriend suggested this place. The food was delicious and service was great. Liked having the table next to the window to have a view of the neighborhood while eating delicious food.

Mela should be an option for those who don't know Indian food well. They gave salad on a plate of oil dripping samosas and chutneys also on the same plate. Making the samosa difficult to hold. The lemonade for$ 4 was just water and lemon. I would not recommend this restaurant. They had more staff/servers than people coming in probably more for online orders. I asked them to make my lemonade without ice and sugar and they could not understand it at once. Came twice to my seat to ask what I meant? The photo is good because I click good photos.

Cozy and busy. The restaurant had an offer $52 dinner for two if it’s meat and $45 if it’s vegetarian. We went for the meat options. The menu was endless with lots of choices between curry , grill , and Biryanis. Our starters were lentils soup and meat samosas with spicy sauce and tamarind sauce, loved the sauces. However the lentil soup lacked the flavor and need to be thicker. We had two carry the chicken butter an d lamb roush Rogan, the lamb dish was bland but the butter chicken had a good test to it. The mixed grill was dry specially the chicken and came with white rice. The set menu came with a dessert however none of the staff care to serve and they were busy chatting to each other even though the costumers cleared and only one table left other than ours. Service were slow and it’s hard to ask for a mango chutney as we had to ask three waiters till we had it.

Food is utterly delicious !!!! Certainly coming back here again, highly recommend. The service could be improved slightly: We went around 8:30 pm on 5 September 2021. We were welcomed by a gentleman and we were asked if we wanted to dine in or dine out and we choose to dine outside. Water bottles were brought and the menu is to be scanned from your phone. We ordered two non-vegetarian Thalis ( you need to select two entrees and not from tandoor). First we were brought the samosa (it was meant to be non vegetarian Samosa but we were brought the vegetarian Samosas), followed by Kebabs and then the main course. For the desert, we had to ask them since they didn't ask us about the desert as they did for the other items and I hope this was just an aberration as most of the reviews seem to be very good.

I had to wait for 30+ minutes before I had to walk out. Understand there are a lot of delivery orders, but I think you need to prioritize in person folks

5/5 for service. Food quality can be improved though

Absolutely delicious menu items-there is something for everyone. One of us ordered a vegetarian option, asking for very spicy and it was perfect! Our other meal was ordered as very low heat spice and that need was also met. The very delicate taste buds of our no heat spice friend was exactly that-full of flavor but no spicy heat at all. Employees were all masked and it seemed most patrons were as well, only removing masks when food was served. The restaurant is small and comfortable with a great window and view of the street-lots to watch even on a rainy day. Everyone was friendly and service was perfectly prompt. An all around 5 star experience.