Mello Wine Bar & Bistro

A big round Mello sign welcomes you to the bistro at the end of Allerton Road. The small but cool Allerton library is just over the road. The pull down front shop shades make the restaurant a little dark in the day time, which is a shame as it is nice to have light pouring in. However, when there is sunshine the patio windows slide back and the restaurant is open onto the street which lets in the fresh air and light on a hot day. The restaurant is generally busy which does say something for it. But I wasn’t particularly impressed by the décor inside. Food is competively priced and settles well on the stomach.

In my experience coming here I found the place anything but Mello but it has been open now for several years and seems to attract a big crowd especially when taking advatage of its big open terrace/​patio windows in the sunshine.
The place itself is bland as hell, nothing interesting or inspiring about the look of the place and this is probably because it doesn’t really know what it wants to be. A bistro with tapas? Tapas just seems to be the default setting of any restaurant keen to make a quick buck.
The thing that got me however was the service. It was slow, the bartender/​waiter was in no rush to put my order through — he apologised later but I think he completely forgot to tell the chef!

Mello is situated in the slightly quieter end of Allerton Road, so you don’t expect it to be that busy, however it can be quite lively some nights and retains a loyal following of locals.
Its claim to be a wine bar AND bistro though is something that has never sat well with me. As a restaurant, it is very successful, and boasts breakfast, lunch and evening menus in addition to a tapas menu. The food is lovely and reasonably priced, and the service is good — everything you’d expect from a small restaurant. However, on a busy night, Mello occasionally falls a little short. Staff are torn between serving behind the bar or serving the food, and if there are large parties eating in the ‘bistro area’ and drinking in the bar area, it can become crowded and sometimes uncomfortable, with the local drunk perving down the top of the local Tesco’s manager who’s trying to enjoy a staff party.
All this aside, it is a pleasant venue, with varied music, patrons and food. Somewhere to go for a quiet lunch or mid-​afternoon snack, or a good old knees-​up and spy-​on-​the-​locals type night!