New Gaya Restaurant — Restaurant in Borneo

We went to this restaurant during Chinese New Year, expecting it to be busy, but the experience turned out to be really disappointing. I get that CNY is a hectic time, but the service was just not up to par.

The food took forever to come out. We waited ages just for the first dish, which was soup. A couple more dishes came out after that, but then everything just stopped. We sat there waiting again, and by the time the rest of the food finally arrived, our rice was completely cold. At that point, we were all pretty annoyed.

Things got worse when we decided to cancel the last dish that never showed up. When we went to pay, the waiter insisted it had already been served, even though our whole group of people knew it hadn’t. The waiter was so confident, claiming a specific staff had brought it out, and it felt like we were being accused of lying. It was really frustrating and unnecessary.

After some arguing, the cashier finally agreed to take the dish off the bill. Later, the in charge checked our table and admitted the dish hadn’t been served, apologizing for the mix-up. But by then, the whole situation had already left a bad taste in our mouths.

While they did sort it out in the end, the whole experience was just so off-putting. Between the long waits, cold food, and being accused of something we didn’t do, it felt like the restaurant just wasn’t prepared to handle the crowd. It’s a shame because we were really looking forward to the meal, but this experience has made me think twice about going back.

Rating: 2/10 (They fixed it, but the frustration...

The booking of a partitioned room was done through WhatsApp - response was attentive, prompt and fast - excellent service to the attending staff.

The portion served were more than enough for 10 persons and we packed after done. Cooking started one hour before our arrival as notified - an added service/attention that I personally liked.

Chinese style/way of starter dish was "4 season hot cold combination" and fish maw & lip broth to sensitize the tastebuds.

For some crunchy bite there were fried chicken (whole), beancurd & salted egg bitter guord.

For someone who was allergic to beef/lamb, the substitute was ostrich meat, cooked with ginger & onion - typical local Chinese cooking.

The Talapia fish was fresh, cooking style matched the elderly/seniors.

Broccoli mushroom & mixed vegetable dishes were added to complement the meat dishes already served.

Fried garlic rice was an indication that the dining was drawing to the completion but not without a serving of cold dessert for each person - chilled longan & peach.

The restaurant is shifted to 1st floor of the Plaza after the pandemic. There were ample parking slots at the basement levels; parking charges may apply but we had minimal rebate to our tickets as we exit within two hours.

Will come back again for other dishes on the menu.

Keep it up - New Gaya...

I was having dinner a birthday celebration for my dad on 10th March 2024 . We have total 6 adult and 2 child below 7 years old. We order 2 hot & cold combination, as the four or five hot cold combination dish need to pre order. So we decided to try their 2 hot & cold combination dish…. Delicious better than some restaurant in Kota Kinabalu . Second dish we order fresh grouper fish steam in soya sauce. The fish is very fresh and very meaty, even only gravy mix with white rice can eat 2 bowl of rice. The fish gravy is very rich of flavor. The following dish we order kailan fried with garlic and roast chicken half portion ok ok la the taste. Soup we order fin soup pricing for the soup is fair charge from the restaurant. Lastly the desert we order the longan pudding was delicious even thought my tummy was very full I will still finish the desert very delicious. Services from the Chinese lady might be the restaurant manager very attentive to serve us polite and very experience on the dish we order is enough for us. Environment of new gaya restaurant is very comfortable and cozy…. I will definitely will come back for more and will introduce to my...