Melati (Peter Street)

I have read some pretty mixed reviews of Melati, quite surprisingly! I went there yesterday on the recommendations of friends, and i have to say it was the BEST malaysian food i have ever had!!! absolutely delicious! Me and my friend actually ordered a lot of food- three dishes each (no I'm not 20 stone!) and every dish just hung another medal on my taste buds. The waiter seemed quite amused and pleased at my very obvious and loud appreciation of the food, and was very eager to look after us. i had the lamb murtabak which is incredibly moreish, and the noodles which come with beef rendang, chicken satay, beef satay, pickled vegetables, and fried egg! this is a meal in itself for £7.80, so i was very surprised to read a review of pricey sub standard food. The food, is fresh, hot, rich, sumptuous, luxurious and soul pleasing. all they need to provide you with is a bed so you can fall asleep afterwards! Very wide menu, with a massive plethora of options to suit every taste. Regarding reports of oilyness- the food IS rich, but malaysian food can be very similar to indian food, and that has an abundance of oil! sometimes, you just have to break loose from the salad and try something that makes you smile from head to toe, and has you begging to marry the chef!! :)
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Arusha - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 9 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 8
Thursday, January 31, 2008

Went to this resturant last night, my first Malasian food! Excellent!! One of our party was Malaysian and highly recommended this place. There is a good choice of food, including much vegeterian. There was a range of spice levels!! The staff were all Malaysian and very helpful. It is small but has plenty of character and most importantly the food cannot be bettered, my Malasian friend says he always returns here when in London.
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Pam H
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 7
Sunday, October 21, 2007

Although service was good and the atmosphere very sweet, we did not at all enjoy the food. We had springrolls and noodles, both very very oily ....maybe it was just a bad choice but we wouldn't reccomend this restaurant.
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Isabelle
Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 2
Friday, September 07, 2007

I have just read the latest review of this restaurant and felt compelled to respond! As a regular customer, I have experienced dining at Melati Peter Streeet for both lunch and dinner and what brings me and my friends back is the consistantly good standard of the food and the attentive, friendly service.

Unlike many of it's counterparts, both kitchen and waiting staff are either Malaysian or Indonesian resulting in authentic, traditional food and service.

The singapore laksa is superb, I would challenge anyone to find a better version in London. The sambal dishes and rendang are also exceedingly good.

As for prices, Melati is less expensive than many of its competitors in this area. Check out the lunch specials, excellent value for money!

During a recent visit, we discovered that Melati Peter Street has successfully survived in competetive Soho for over 25 years - I think that says it all!!
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Jenny Lim
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 8 | Value for money 10
Monday, August 20, 2007

Forget Melati, you pay very high prices (around £7.50 per dish) for below average food.

On top of that, even though the menu clearly stated that 10% service charge only applied to parties of 5 and above, the waiter took the liberty of adding his own tip to the bill even though there were only 2 of us! A bit rich considering he was one of those annoying 'yes, everything is nice' flippant types, who plunked a 'Reserved' sign on our table to make us leave (admittedly we'd been there 2 hours, but how rude!)

As a food-passionate Malaysian I far recommend C&R on Rupert Court by far- bigger portions, tastier food, cheaper prices, better service!

I first went in Jan 2006 and found the Hainanese Chicken Rice bland and unauthentic although the Satay was passable... decided to give it a 2nd chance today since some of my friends still sing its praises- ordered the Prawn Mee, which was tasty but tasted nothing of prawn! The Mixed Seafood Hor Fun also tasted alright, but could have done without all the noodles being hard and stuck together.

Desserts wise, would have preferred the Sago Gula Melaka cold (C&R's version is FAR superior in size and taste).

In a nutshell: will absolutely not be back. DON'T BOTHER.
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Samantha Tan
Overall rating
Food 4 | Service 3 | Atmosphere 3 | Value for money 2
Saturday, January 20, 2007

I was taken to this restaurant by friends the other night and it is a gem. Excellent service, wonderful food and great prices. One of our party was Malaysian and she goes 2-3 times a week!
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Ewan
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 8 | Atmosphere 7 | Value for money 9
Monday, October 30, 2006

Surely the best value lunch in Central London. A bit cafe-like, but unpretentious.
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simplystax - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 9 | Service 7 | Atmosphere 2 | Value for money 10
Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Their lunch specials - noodle dishes and rice dishes are probably what they are best at. The ala carte menu though tempting as it is, can be a little disappointing if you are a Malaysian or Indonesian.
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Tigger - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 7 | Service 6 | Atmosphere 6 | Value for money 7
Wednesday, June 21, 2006

After reading the reviews on this website, we thought this resaturant sounded ideal. To begin with, the service was friendly however this did not last long. We soon noticed the staff had the tendancy to stare at us during our meal, being 2 females this made us very uncomfortable.
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Overall rating
Food 5 | Service 4 | Atmosphere 4 | Value for money 8
Thursday, January 05, 2006

Melati is one of my favourite restaurants in London. The Indonesian/Malaysian dishes are absolutely delicious and definitely the best i have tasted in London. I recommend trying the satay. Melati is one of the few places in London that serves beef satay, and does it well. the meat is thouroughly marinated and very tender. the flavours are a combination of hot and sweet. I can recommend the noodle dishes, especially the istemewa dishes which come with both satay and beef rendang (beef braised in coconut and sweet soy), which is a real delicacy if prepared right. i could eat here every day.
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Azem William - View all reviews by this user
Overall rating
Food 10 | Service 10 | Atmosphere 10 | Value for money 10
Tuesday, December 13, 2005