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✔️Breakfast ✔️Brunch ✔️Lunch ✔️Dinner ✔️Dine in ✔️Take out
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Open 24/7/365..Cha Sha..Lassi Vassi.. Mela serves the best Parathas and Samosas that one could get anywhere in the world. Our Butter Chicken stands out amongst the Desi (Indian) restaurants. We offer a variety of Indian Sweets. Indian Street Food. ALa Carte Indian dishes 24/7/365
No-frills counter-serve with eclectic global fare, from Asian food to gyros to breakfast.
Address and Contact Information
Address: 45250 Catalina Ct, Sterling, VA 20166
Phone: (703) 429-1914
Website: https://raunaqmela.square.site/
Menu Photos
Order and Reservations
Order: Order online
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Related Web Results
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Raunaq Mela (Market Fresh Deli): Home
… food and street food; made with a crunchy base of papadi, chutneys … Location & Hours. Raunaq Mela (Market Fresh Deli) 45250 Catalina Ct Sterling …
About | Raunaq Mela (Market Fresh Deli)
It is the sister restaurant to Bombay Cafe, a casual North Indian eatery located in Fairfax, VA. Currently Mela serves a wide variety of food including …
Reviews
kits VA
5 stars for Samosa. I don’t know about the rest. Place looks messy. Order samosa for take out and run home to enjoy them.
Update 1: Their radish paratha is insanely good. Can’t wait to try others. Dine in for fresh taste of paratha. Chicken Tikka masala is awesome as well. Skip on Naan as it’s average compared to other items.
… moreUpdate 1: Their radish paratha is insanely good. Can’t wait to try others. Dine in for fresh taste of paratha. Chicken Tikka masala is awesome as well. Skip on Naan as it’s average compared to other items.
Simmie K
Abuelita said she loves Punjabi Food and it was late after work, they were open 24/7 so we decided to go and I am so glad we did !
She loves this place and comes here frequently but it was my first time. The staff was super friendly and accommodating, even though it was 3 am in the morning. We ordered Sarson da saag and Makki di Roti, a popular Punjabi staple. It was so delicious and reminded me of authentic Punjabi cuisine. Mama also ordered a Chicken Biryani with Egg in it.
The food was made fresh to order, and we were really happy with the taste and spice level.
We also got Chai and Samosas, which we shared.
Mama loves the Gulab Jamun here so she got enough to last her a whole week, and I got some delicious Jalebi for dessert.
The food and the ambience was a 10/10.
They also have a Buffet in the day time.
The restrooms were also very clean.
If Mama wouldn’t have brought me here, I wouldn’t have known that such a nice place was open 24/7 so close to the airport.
Guys, please dont sleep on this restaurant’s Punjabi food, its a northern Indian cuisine and will not disappoint you, I promise !
… moreShe loves this place and comes here frequently but it was my first time. The staff was super friendly and accommodating, even though it was 3 am in the morning. We ordered Sarson da saag and Makki di Roti, a popular Punjabi staple. It was so delicious and reminded me of authentic Punjabi cuisine. Mama also ordered a Chicken Biryani with Egg in it.
The food was made fresh to order, and we were really happy with the taste and spice level.
We also got Chai and Samosas, which we shared.
Mama loves the Gulab Jamun here so she got enough to last her a whole week, and I got some delicious Jalebi for dessert.
The food and the ambience was a 10/10.
They also have a Buffet in the day time.
The restrooms were also very clean.
If Mama wouldn’t have brought me here, I wouldn’t have known that such a nice place was open 24/7 so close to the airport.
Guys, please dont sleep on this restaurant’s Punjabi food, its a northern Indian cuisine and will not disappoint you, I promise !
Nikita B
Update: paratha taste and quality degraded over time. We used to recommend this place to everyone and now we don’t want to come here anymore.
Amazing food, slow service
We were happy to find a place that’s open 24/7 and serves Indian food, especially parathas. The paneer paratha, samosa, and tikki chaat are all amazing here.
Cons: The service is slow. It takes 45-50 minutes to serve a paratha, even when there are only 2-3 other customers in the restaurant. I understand they make it fresh, but 45 minutes is a long wait. Also, I’ve noticed they seem to be understaffed. For example, they made tikki and left it open, serving it after 40 minutes once it became cold. A suggestion: if they could improve the service, it would make a huge difference.
Also, when we gave them feedback about low filling and little raw paratha during last visit and asked them to make sure of filling in new order, the server became super defensive and rude.
The paratha used to be 5 stars—amazingly soft with a good filling (4-5 months ago). Recently, they have reduced the size, and the taste has degraded slightly.
Overall, it’s still a great place to get good parathas and samosas. Just be prepared for a longggg wait!
… moreAmazing food, slow service
We were happy to find a place that’s open 24/7 and serves Indian food, especially parathas. The paneer paratha, samosa, and tikki chaat are all amazing here.
Cons: The service is slow. It takes 45-50 minutes to serve a paratha, even when there are only 2-3 other customers in the restaurant. I understand they make it fresh, but 45 minutes is a long wait. Also, I’ve noticed they seem to be understaffed. For example, they made tikki and left it open, serving it after 40 minutes once it became cold. A suggestion: if they could improve the service, it would make a huge difference.
Also, when we gave them feedback about low filling and little raw paratha during last visit and asked them to make sure of filling in new order, the server became super defensive and rude.
The paratha used to be 5 stars—amazingly soft with a good filling (4-5 months ago). Recently, they have reduced the size, and the taste has degraded slightly.
Overall, it’s still a great place to get good parathas and samosas. Just be prepared for a longggg wait!
A S
Became our favorite Indian restaurant. We went there 3 times for the past 1 week. Staffs are always with great smiles and friendliness. Food is always fresh as it seems they are sometimes made to order. I love it. For us, waiting is so worth it for great food Love Indian snacks and sweets (ohhh, I love jalabi so much, yum ❤️) Thank you for your hard work and amazing food! See you often!
… morePats Um
Retro style Indian dhaba for quick bites or lazy lounging/hangouts. Their aloo paratha is a must have. So is Tikki chat. Recently I tried their dahi poori and it was awesome . Full marks and genuine taste. They even have beers and now seems to have full bar. Open 24/7 it’s the best hangout place and must visit
… moreSSW
Do not eat the kachori. It’s not worth it. It’s bland and has no taste at all. Feels like eating fried besan. No stuffing in it. Waste of money
Samosa chat was okay.
… moreSamosa chat was okay.
Snay-Ha
Amazing food, value for money but a lil disappointed with the service and the wait time. Hence most of the dishes pictures are missing as we were so hungry that when the food came we just did not have any more patience to click for this review.
But the taste of the food just melted our hearts and. Parathas are okay but the platter/Thalis are the best. Pro-tip: order thalis as they come out faster than the parathas.
They have chaats, sweets, Tea and some farsan. I like the limited options they have hence the quality of the food s maintained.
Dishes we ordered:
Puri thali : takes you back to the thalis we eat at the halwai’s in India. Pumpkin sabzi is yum yum yum I felt better than what I had in India. Sheera was lil less on sugar so healthy version .
Platter/thali with 3 entrees : the Malai chicken is so creamy buttery and soft melted chicken very well cooked and yum. The medium spicy chicken was good too and beautifully cooked meat surely. Sarson ka saag was decent as well.
Aalu paratha : the white Makhan that came with it yum but I would have preferred a mango pickle than like but everyone has their preferences ☺️. Paratha was lil bland to my palate hence was missing the mango pickle
Gur ki Jalebi and Rabadi : yum
Definitely a place you will keep repeating for the price point, quality and taste of the food!!!!!
… moreBut the taste of the food just melted our hearts and. Parathas are okay but the platter/Thalis are the best. Pro-tip: order thalis as they come out faster than the parathas.
They have chaats, sweets, Tea and some farsan. I like the limited options they have hence the quality of the food s maintained.
Dishes we ordered:
Puri thali : takes you back to the thalis we eat at the halwai’s in India. Pumpkin sabzi is yum yum yum I felt better than what I had in India. Sheera was lil less on sugar so healthy version .
Platter/thali with 3 entrees : the Malai chicken is so creamy buttery and soft melted chicken very well cooked and yum. The medium spicy chicken was good too and beautifully cooked meat surely. Sarson ka saag was decent as well.
Aalu paratha : the white Makhan that came with it yum but I would have preferred a mango pickle than like but everyone has their preferences ☺️. Paratha was lil bland to my palate hence was missing the mango pickle
Gur ki Jalebi and Rabadi : yum
Definitely a place you will keep repeating for the price point, quality and taste of the food!!!!!
Nikhil Dogra
Serving True Punjabi food.
Reviewed this place a year ago. Visited a few times and always ate similar food so no updates.
However tried panipoori and papri chat for the 1st time today and they lived up to expectations too. Especially the papri chat. Panipuri a 4/5 but papri chat a solid 5/5.
And had to get a stuffed parantha, which like always was excellent.
Will try something new next time!
Early 2024 review –
Ive heard from friends in the past, but today was my first time here. The menu diaplayed above the counter was already mouthwatering for my north Indian tastebuds.
We decided to order paranthas Gobi and Muli.
The parnthas were huge and I was not able to eat a whole parantha.
They were served with yogurt, white butter and pickle. Reminding of how we eat them back home.
For those who know their parabthas, having Gobi and muli parantha with stuffing in 1 dough ball ( 1 आटे के पेड़े में 1 परांठा) certainly takes a lot exprerience, especially when paranthas are large and stuffed well ( usually people make those in 2 dough balls topped on one another (a work around for the newbies at the art of parantha making). The stuffing was very generous too.
Yogurt and butter were very fresh.
And there was complimentary lentil soup, which was super delicious. Made with freshly ground ginger, garlic and green chilly mixed with cumin seeds for tempring and some green corriender added.
The jalebis ( 2 varities, sugar and jaggery sweetened) are amazingly good too.
The owners were very warm and friendly. Knowing that the lady who co-owns the place is from Amritsar, we discussed amritsari food and felt like talking with personal friends rather than an owner of a business that we were customers at.
Next time to try more stuff like pooris and may be makki roti with Saag.
… moreReviewed this place a year ago. Visited a few times and always ate similar food so no updates.
However tried panipoori and papri chat for the 1st time today and they lived up to expectations too. Especially the papri chat. Panipuri a 4/5 but papri chat a solid 5/5.
And had to get a stuffed parantha, which like always was excellent.
Will try something new next time!
Early 2024 review –
Ive heard from friends in the past, but today was my first time here. The menu diaplayed above the counter was already mouthwatering for my north Indian tastebuds.
We decided to order paranthas Gobi and Muli.
The parnthas were huge and I was not able to eat a whole parantha.
They were served with yogurt, white butter and pickle. Reminding of how we eat them back home.
For those who know their parabthas, having Gobi and muli parantha with stuffing in 1 dough ball ( 1 आटे के पेड़े में 1 परांठा) certainly takes a lot exprerience, especially when paranthas are large and stuffed well ( usually people make those in 2 dough balls topped on one another (a work around for the newbies at the art of parantha making). The stuffing was very generous too.
Yogurt and butter were very fresh.
And there was complimentary lentil soup, which was super delicious. Made with freshly ground ginger, garlic and green chilly mixed with cumin seeds for tempring and some green corriender added.
The jalebis ( 2 varities, sugar and jaggery sweetened) are amazingly good too.
The owners were very warm and friendly. Knowing that the lady who co-owns the place is from Amritsar, we discussed amritsari food and felt like talking with personal friends rather than an owner of a business that we were customers at.
Next time to try more stuff like pooris and may be makki roti with Saag.
Daniel H
I have mixed feelings about the restaurant. The samosa was very good. They were crispy and light. While the butter chicken and chicken Tikka masala are good , their portion was small. I can understand why some comments on prices.
… moreRamya Raj
I visited Mela the other day, and it was a bit of a mixed bag. The place is pretty big, two levels with a dhaba style ambiance, and you can’t beat the prices. They’ve got a decent selection of Punjabi food, but the execution was inconsistent.
I started with the aloo paratha, which everyone raves about, but honestly, it was a letdown. Undercooked and bland, plus the pickle that came with it was surprisingly bitter – not a good combo.
We also got the platter with rice, naan, butter chicken, chicken gravy, and saag. The curries were actually really tasty, and they were perfect for a chilly night since they came out steaming hot.
Also tried their jalebi, and what a disappointment. It tasted like straight-up solidified, sweet oil – not what you want after a decent meal.
It’s self-service, but the food came out pretty quickly. So, overall, Mela is okay if you’re on a budget and craving some Punjabi food, but be prepared for some hits and misses. The curries are worth a shot, but they seriously need to work on their consistency.
… moreI started with the aloo paratha, which everyone raves about, but honestly, it was a letdown. Undercooked and bland, plus the pickle that came with it was surprisingly bitter – not a good combo.
We also got the platter with rice, naan, butter chicken, chicken gravy, and saag. The curries were actually really tasty, and they were perfect for a chilly night since they came out steaming hot.
Also tried their jalebi, and what a disappointment. It tasted like straight-up solidified, sweet oil – not what you want after a decent meal.
It’s self-service, but the food came out pretty quickly. So, overall, Mela is okay if you’re on a budget and craving some Punjabi food, but be prepared for some hits and misses. The curries are worth a shot, but they seriously need to work on their consistency.