A year ago I enjoyed the food if not the entire experience at Mela Indian restaurant on William St in Perth, and it was with some bemusement that I found myself there again earlier in the week. The best Chinese and Vietnamese restaurants in the are were closed, and my friend and I had already eaten at those that were open. Indian seemed like the best option.

We began with entrees: the amristi fish fry (above) and the harra barra kebabs (below). The fish was salmon in a Tandoori masala and deep fried. The kebabs were similar to falafel and both were delicious.

We made some safe choices with the larger dishes, but both we good: the butter chicken (above) was typical of the dish and the lamb saag gosht (below) was actually very good and the meat very tender.

The rice (above) was perfectly cooked and the paratha (below) was also good although it was not the one we ordered.

Mela is the kind of place that polarises consumer opinions: some people love it and some hate it. Before my first visit, Yelpar recommended it, but subsequent reviews have been varied, with Wino sapien criticising the haphazard service while Wey is more enthusiastic.