About Us

Situated in the heart of Londons theatreland Melati restaurant first opened its doors offering the exotic and tantalising flavours of Indonesian and Malaysian cuisine 30 years ago. Gaining rave reviews and many loyal customers over the years Melati is well established in Soho and the West End. Melati is a warm, welcoming restaurant set over three floors, including a private hire room with own bar on the top floor. and can comfortably seat over 120 people in total. Melati offers a superb lunch, pre and post theatre menu, with a tasting menu available for those wanting to sample a little bit of everything. Bookings can be made via our Reservations page on the website, with all enquiries including private hire via email to info@melati.co.uk

Chefs of Malaysia

Chef Dato' Ismail Ahmad was born in rural Malaysia and learnt to cook helping his grandmother in his village or kampong. Ismail's love of cooking led him to Malaysia's Mara University of Technology for chef training. He then joined the Hilton International Kitchen Apprentice program for three years. Once qualified, Ismail worked as a lecturer in Food Technology and then as an industrial kitchen chef before becoming Executive Chef at Restoran Yasmin. Next came a stint as host for various cooking programs for Malaysian television as well as an active role in promoting Malaysian cuisine and products internationally with Tourism Malaysia and the Malaysian Ministry of Agriculture. Today Chef Ismail runs his own highly regarded restaurant Rebung in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur.

Chef Florence Tan grew up as a Malaccan Nyonya, (Straits Chinese) in a household of generations of excellent cooks. Their exacting standards and creative use of aromatic herbs in the kitchen inspired her passion for cooking. A home economist in her earlier teaching years, Florence is now a chef by profession. As a Nyonya chef she has worked in five star hotels in Kuala Lumpur and Malacca. Her other accomplishments include developing recipes for food and kitchen equipment companies, presenting TV cooking shows and judging cooking competitions. She is also widely known for her contribution of recipes to popular women's magazines and has travelled extensively, both at home and abroad promoting her country's varied cuisines. Florence is a passionate ambassador for all things Nyonya and for over 25 years has strived to preserve for posterity, the cuisine of her Straits Chinese heritage.