Velaa Cafe — Restaurant in Gold Coast City

My visit to Velaa was made based on the review but had been made utterly disappointed. Negative stars would have been my preference.

Bland food; this place marketed itself as a fusion cafe but staffed by Thai so I thought they would pay some respect to Thai flavours; I tried out their Tom Yom prawn Omurice which was also recommended by staff. The flavour was lacking, full stop. I’ve never had Tom Yom flavoured food so terribly done in the past. Generous amount of rice with very little sauce to the point where my mouth was completely dried up by the rice; when I asked if I could have more sauce coz it was bland and dry, I received a single comment of: it’s extra charge. Absolutely no interest in knowing how I thought about the food. When I made payment at the counter, I was greeted with the question of how the food was to which I gave my genuine answer of it being the worst food I’ve had in a very long while and my negative thought about their customer service. The waitress, surprisingly, didn’t appear bothered by my strongly worded and disappointed feedback. No apology at all and simply took the payment and I left the premise.

Leaving negative comments like the above is something difficult to do given how depressive the food hospitality field is feeling but the combination of the above was legit and I heavily regretted ever stepping foot in this cafe.

Those who are after decent food with some understanding and practice of customer service and care at Surfers paradise, you have been warned. Tread with good amount of caution and steer clear...

I had a disappointing experience at Velaa. I was really excited to visit and went there without knowing if it was pet-friendly or not. When I arrived, I noticed there were no outdoor tables, so I held my dog in my lap and went in to buy a takeaway drink. No one at the bar gave me any attention. Then a waiter basically rushed me out of there because I had my dog in my lap, almost kicking me out, with no delicacy whatsoever. Obviously, if there had been someone at the door or at the bar to greet me, this wouldn’t have happened. He then took the card machine and charged me for my drink. TEN MINUTES LATER, I was still outside STANDING, waiting for an iced matcha. I had to wave insistently at a waitress (through the door) to get any update on my drink. My dog was fed up, and so was I! Ten minutes for a takeaway drink is beyond ridiculous. Obviously, they prioritized all the other drinks ahead of mine, but those people were sitting comfortably waiting, unlike me, who was standing in the sun. Anyway, if they don’t know how to handle takeaway orders, they shouldn’t offer them. Good thing I didn’t order food; I would’ve starved. To top it all off, the matcha was really bad. It was way too strong and had powder residue. I’m used to drinking matcha, especially iced matcha with strawberry, and this one was completely bitter and way too strong. I really want to go back to try the food, but my first experience was very disappointing. I was quite upset, and I think it’s worth pointing out for anyone considering just a...

Visited Velaa Cafe over the weekend, and while the desserts were good, the overall experience left much to be desired. Upon arrival, there was no greeting or offer to seat us, and after waiting for a couple of minutes, I had to ask for a table for 3. The staff simply said, "just take a sit first." It took another 10 minutes before we were handed a QR code for the menu, and I noticed that other tables already had both the QR code and physical menus. I had to specifically request a menu.

To make things more confusing, about 5 minutes later, a staff member came around to all the tables and quickly removed the lunch special menus, announcing that the lunch specials were unavailable, even though some tables had already ordered from that menu. We were told the food would be served at regular prices, which would’ve been helpful to know earlier.

I ordered the Tom Yum Omurice, but it was disappointing. Too much sauce, and the Tom Yum flavor wasn't as strong as expected. The egg was overcooked, and the rice was not cooked to the right consistency.

On a positive note, the desserts were much better. The Mango Bingsu was delicious, and the Signature Toast was warm and fragrant. The pandan dip was lovely, though I would have preferred the condensed milk to be served separately, as it made the dish a bit too sweet. Coffee was decent.

While I might return for dessert, I'm not sure about the savory dishes or...