Merah 238 High Street, Northcote, Victoria 3070

"Merah is a restaurant that reflects a modern Nonya menu done exceptionally well. A good selection of Malaysian favourites, quality ingredients and simple clean flavours. Starting with the Satay chicken bytes of succulent thigh deep fried covered in a crisp seasoned crust served with a rich peanut dipping sauce. A delightful take on chicken Satay with a contemporary twist. I’m a Laksa aficionado so hard to please. The Laksa has a deep flavour yet light bone broth base, house curry paste that’s not too oily or spicy. I had the seafood Laksa that had generous serve of fresh prawns, crab cake, tofu, squid. There is options to add ingredients so I added chicken, egg and slaw as an opinion. The Laksa is served with a beautiful home made Ramen noodle and finished with a Roti wedge. Beef Rendang was delightful with a succulent slow cooked beef in a gravy that had a perfect balance of sweet, salt and sour. The vegetable acha was wonderfully pickled and had a sweet balance that cleansed the pallet. I did however miss the addition of traditional cucumber, a minor criticism. The decor is bright and uptempo, comfortable and casual. The ambiance is great with appropriate music that enables conversation. Service was friendly, attentive and accomodating Price point is medium however reflects the quality. I recommend Merah as a foodie destination of quality."

"Jesse was a proper good sort! A little too enthusiastic but he made up for it with several absolutely awesome drinks! Just tell him what spirit you want and he’ll sort you out. I just said double vodka and he whipped something up and it was delicious! It didn’t even have a name What a gc"

"Had a great meal in a nice spot down the back. Apart from a small music hiccup it was a great meal, if I write a review useually it’s the night I eat but it popped into my head after because we got a cool waiter named Jess or Jessie who when I said what I felt like gave me the perfect reccomendation of a dish loaded with veg which hit the spot. I’ll definitely be going back for a follow up meal, nice to see someone who clearly loves what they do."

"Loved the modern fitout of this restaurant in Northcote! The cocktails were excellent, we had the margarita and the passion ginger martini. The food was also great - seafood laksa had a wonderful mix of spices and was very creamy (not sure if I could taste truffle though). The tofu nuggets were amazing, we could have eaten a bucket. Fried chicken had a delicious spiced coating. We also really enjoyed the house made sambal on the side!"

"Read so many reviews about this place so decided to try it out. It is Malaysian cuisine with some modern twists and innovations. Instead of all the conventional Msian taste we are used to we find the spices to be abit milder but still surprisingly well balanced. It was a good night out and a great feast. We hope to be back soon. Yum!"