Merah

Looks trendy inside and atmosphere was nice but food was not very authentic and very salty. Portions of rice were small for the price. Ok experience but also quite expensive for the quality.

Merah in Northcote has been my spot for over a year now, and let me tell you, it's a Malaysian food haven that never disappoints.

The star of the show for me? The Vegan Laksa. It's not just tasty; it's a flavor explosion. And here's the secret – they'll spice it up for you if you ask. Trust me; it takes the deliciousness up a notch.

Now, let's talk about the Vegan Bao. Tasty doesn't quite cover it; it's a delightful combo of flavors that keeps me coming back for more. A must-try if you swing by.

The vibes at Merah are on point too. The ambiance adds that extra touch to the dining experience, making it more than just a meal. And shoutout to the servers – friendly, on the ball, and always ready with a recommendation or a smile.

Service? Check. Ambiance? Check. Flavor-packed Malaysian goodness? Double-check. Merah in Northcote ticks all the boxes for a solid dining experience. If you're in the mood for Malaysian delights served up with a side of friendly vibes, this place is the real deal. Can't wait for my next flavor-filled visit!

We use to frequent Merah quite often and enjoyed the laksa and tofu nugget the most. Tonight we ordered our usual but it tasted so different and no where as good as it used to be. I wonder if there are new owners or chefs here?
The food tonight was rather disappointing.

I had high hopes for Merah Laksa, but I was left feeling utterly let down. First of all, the laksa is grossly overpriced. You'd expect something extraordinary for that price tag, but what you get is a dish that tastes like a quick, store-bought version. It's as if they're trying to mask the lack of quality by presenting it in a fancy manner—perhaps to justify the exorbitant cost.

Then there's the fried chicken—another disappointment. Not only was it not fried properly, but it was also completely flavourless. I was left questioning whether their chef even tasted it before serving and was also advise but the staff it was cooked properly. I had to send it back and requested a refund.

In summary, Merah Laksa seems more interested in appearances and high prices than in delivering quality food. I won't be returning and can't recommend it to anyone else.

A regular customer of Merah and have never left without being very satisfied with the food and service. However, recently I ordered takeaway and one of the meals was inedible. I followed this up with an email requesting a credit, and never received a response, which was disappointing.

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.

Had the most amazing Laksa of my life! My partner and I ordered the Vegan Laksa and the Pork Laksa and they were both amazing. They both had so much flavour and depth to them. The staff were lovely and friendly. We’ll be back every week!

The front area was promisingly busy. Once seated in the courtyard out the back we ordered drinks, chilli pork dumplings & a barra curry as a light meal to share.
OMG! The "chilli" dumplings were tasteless, dry and generally pretty sub standard but they were completely overshadowed by the fish.
We briefly picked at the tough, dry, chewy, very smelly barramundi smothered in some kind of sickly sweet sauce (presumably the "curry"). Once we were able to saw off a piece, we were surprised with how the sauce teased the palette, making it somehow tasteless yet simultaneously awful.
I felt like Gordon Ramsay on Kitchen Nightmares. After about 5 minutes of disbelief and a brief, polite (if a little defensive) chat with the waitress then manager, we left. Almost $50 lighter having eaten 1.5 dumplings and a mouthful of magnificently disgusting (yet assertedly fresh) fish, we were grateful the service was disorganised enough that our drinks never arrived and so did not contribute to the bill.

Mercifully our stay was short enough that, unusually, the rap music wasn't the most annoying part of our experience.

To each their own, so although the place seemed popular, it's a "yeah, nah" from us.

We love Merah. The food is beautiful and tonight we had such a lovely dinner served by the gorgeous Jesse who looked after us and entertained us. A beautiful night. Thank you Jess for being such a wonderful host!

It is the best Malaysian restaurant! The food is awesome!
The staff are friendly and very helpful with menu recommendations!
I’d definitely recommend this restaurant and will return soon!

What a meal! The best Pork Laksa I’ve had in Melbourne. I also have to add how impressed I was with the service by Jesse, I was never without a drink in my hand and a smile on both mine and my friends faces. Great food accompanied by great service by Jesse

Went to Merah tonight for dinner. Food was excellent. Our kids had a few food allergies and our waiter, Jesse, made extra sure that all the food was appropriate for them. Excellent service and food. Highly recommended.

The food here is amazing! Everything we ordered was delicious. We were served by Jesse who was lovely and attentive. Thanks Jesse.

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.

We were here tonight for a meal. The food was good, the rendang did need a bit more sauce though but other than that it was yummy and full of flavour.

The service on the other hand, terrible! We were seated and had a server named Jesse (according to the name on the receipt) He was lovely when he sat us down at our table and even wished me a Happy St. Patrick's Day (I'm Irish so thought it was a nice touch). We went through the menu and then went to put our orders in and the braised pork and also coconut rice were sold out - that's fine but it would be good to let customers know this when they are first given the menus.

Our server spent his whole time with a table of customers that were obviously his friends as he was sitting on a chair at the table with them and not really giving attention to any other tables.

My partner had just finished and I had a mouthful of food when he came over and asked if we were both finished. I was clearly chewing and not quite done yet as I still had food in my bowl. We both just said yes and he grabbed our plates and then 2 minutes later came back and slammed a bill on our table!

We weren't asked if we wanted dessert or another drink or anything really. We just got our plates removed and a bill slammed down. Very disappointing and for the price of the food you would expect a half decent service. It was only 9.30pm and the place was not packed so I'm unsure why he wanted to get rid of us so quickly. It left a bad taste in our mouths and we won't be back. You'd get better service in KFC. It's a pity because the food was tasty but such unfriendly service. There's too many gorgeous restaurants on High St with much friendlier and professional service that I would rather give my hard earned to. It's a big no from me.

I ordered two laksas, one gluten free. Was very disappointed to see how little broth was provided. It barely filled the bowl or covered the food. Also they didn't label which one was gluten free. The flavour was good, but I'm sitting here still hungry having spent 27 bucks for one laksa! Mind blown. Dont expect to get your moneys worth. Should I order pizza?

Unfortunately I didn’t have the best experience at Merah. The food was
really good and all five of us enjoyed it. On the other hand, the service was average - the waiter appeared to be rushed and gave us little attention. We ordered two of the same dish but it was served as one dish combined, which wasn’t communicated and therefor caused confusion and we had to order an extra dish. Instead of being understanding and rectifying the issue free of charge, the staff became incredibly defensive and quite rude - even after attempting to charge us for things we never ordered. I understand they were busy but at the end of the day we left feeling very unsatisfied. The prices of dishes imply a good level of service which unfortunately, does not currently exist.

Lovely food. Service was good except they were in a hurry to close so we handed our bill as soon as we finished eating. Other than that lovely restaurant

Welcoming, friendly, responsive staff. Delicious food Seafood Nasi Goreng and Sambal Chinese Broccoli. Yummy cocktails.
Very busy. Good vibe.

Couldn’t fault the food, so yummy.
Experience was average. No greeting, 3 staff walked past me without saying a word, no “hi, how are you, we’ll be with you in a moment”. I stood inside the door for a good 3 mins awkwardly. Ended up just walking through the restaurant and found our table. Same thing happened to second group of friends who arrived after. Don’t get why a greeting and warm welcome is so difficult.