Its had a face-lift and its worked wonders. Same friendly service with a little more of a 'mod' feel to the music and decor. Just as welcoming as it was before just cleaner and fresher. Good move Mel!

Decent little all rounder. Food is good and reasonably priced. Perfect for lunch and early evening eating. Staff are friendly enough to make you feel welcome but not all over you while you eat. Not sure about its potential in the evening as it seems a little 'yummy mummy' orientated (plenty of prams at lunch-time).
But if you can get past the ocassional child's wail, you'll get one of the better eating experiences in the area

I visited Mel's Bar with a group of friends one evening just before Christmas celebrate a friend's birthday.

The bar is a relaxing place, although the drinks are pricey - 12 quid for a Guinness and a glass of Shiraz! Mel's Bar displays the 'Cask Marque', but I was disappointed to find that the only 'ale' they had was 'Spindrift' - a slightly fizzy keg offering from Adnams.

The meal was tasty and good value as we took advantage of their offer of two courses for a tenner.

Sadly, a damper was put of our evening when the rather brusque (South African?) duty manager informed us that they would be closing early because there we're many people in! Despite two of our group trying their best to persuade him to put customer service ahead of his desire to slope off, he had made up his mind. We left in disgust and vowed not to return.

Luckily, Willie Gunn's, just across the road, was much more welcoming and provided an friendly location for a late drink - I know were we'll be going next time!

Went in early in evening for family meal, at a time when it wasn't busy. Starter (leek and potato soup) very good, although served scalding hot.

Main course however......veggie burger (fried mush in a bun) with some Iceland chips chucked on the side, and for nine quid, THAT'S IT.

No other garnish, no interesting presentation. Just these items slung on a plate and served up. I could have got the same from Seahorse Fish Bar just down the road, at a fraction of the price with a much more friendly welcome from the staff. Disappointing.

Someone else had potato skins dish, very nice but again bland presentation, no thought at all, food lost in a huge white plate.

Dessert - great, outstanding. Sticky toffee pudding saved the day. Nothing held back, very nice.

Been down before for supposedly "veggie" breakfast - best part of a tenner for bubble and squeak with hash browns.....never again.

Mel's is a very nice looking place and certainly advertises itself well, but food can be a let down. The the way it is presented and served is much more "greasy spoon" than actual restaurant. No imagination or flair.

We spent over £120 for what was basically bog standard pub grub in a nice setting. Next time we'll be heading a bit further afield, maybe Wimbledon or Putney!

I went to Mel's last friday for dinner with my sister and my brother-in-law. We (quite sensibly it turns out) booked in advance as the resturant was packed! The atmosphere was buzzing and friendly and full of locals seemily having fun as one should on a friday night! The staff were great. The lady who served us was extremly efficient and very good at recommending dishes to us. I went with the lamb shank and a side of mash, and i'm telling you it was the best dish i've had in years!! I got up to go to the bar to get another round in after the meal and didn't get very far as the waitress was straight on me asking what I wanted and would bring it straight over - which she did very efficiently! THe bill was very reasonable too - the food for the 3 of us came to around £40 ... however as we enjoyed the atmosphere so much our drinks bill was considerable more, and we ended up being one of the last to leave!

I hear that they do a great breakfast so i will be back very soon!