Gula Cakery @ IOI Mall Damansara — Restaurant in Petaling Jaya

Today I visited the Gula Cakery outlet at IOI Damansara. I ordered the Chili Butter Cream Clams and the Chef’s Signature Tiramisu Cake. Overall, the food was tasty, and the outlet was clean. It was also not busy at the time of my visit, which made the experience more relaxed. However, there are a few key areas that I feel require serious improvement.

Firstly, I understand the need to hire foreign workers to manage labor costs, and I have no issue with that. However, it’s important that your staff—especially the waiters—receive proper training in basic English communication. As a Malaysian who speaks both Bahasa Malaysia and English, I found it quite difficult to communicate with your foreign waiter. He didn’t seem to understand English well and was also not fluent in Bahasa Malaysia. It raises the question: how are customers supposed to give instructions if the staff cannot understand either language? If your outlet prefers that customers communicate in English, please ensure your staff are trained to do so effectively.

Secondly, I specifically requested for my tiramisu to be served after my meal. When I was done eating, I reminded the waiter to bring the dessert. However, it took 15 minutes for the chef to come out and serve the cake. Given that the outlet wasn’t even half full and there was no queue for takeaway orders, this delay was unexpected and unnecessary.

The tiramisu, being a “Chef’s Signature” item, is served by the chef who scoops it and sprinkles cocoa powder on top. While I appreciate the presentation effort, it seems the delay happened because the chef wasn’t available. Worse, the chef came out looking visibly unhappy, as if she was forced to serve the dessert. Honestly, if such service cannot be provided efficiently or cheerfully, I would suggest removing this option from the menu and serving the regular tiramisu-in-a-jar like the ones at your counter.

Additionally, before the dessert was served, I asked the waiter to clear my plates to make space on the table. He nodded as if he understood, but the plates weren’t cleared until the dessert was finally served. Considering the table size is quite small, it’s not ideal for customers to have to ask for basic service like clearing plates.

All in all, I would strongly recommend that your staff undergo proper food service training to improve customer experience. There are many cafes offering similar menus to Gula Cakery, and you can certainly learn a lot from customer feedback and other establishments. After reading other negative reviews online, I now understand that little to no action has been taken to address these concerns.

Delicious food alone is not enough to bring customers back—it’s the warm, friendly, and attentive service that creates a lasting impression. It’s time to understand the difference.

To be honest, I don’t feel compelled to return after this experience. One bad visit is enough. Wishing you the best, and good luck...

I’ve visited Gula Cakery IOI Mall Damansara multiple times. I actually liked the place before this whole Check-In Rewards Promo experience turned into a complete joke.

On my first visit in April, I checked in (using my husband’s phone) and got the free iced latte. Great. The system said on the second visit, I could redeem a Buy 1 Free 1 cake within 2 months. So I came back for the second visit (which was a week after), tried to redeem — and was told, “Cannot redeem yet. Come back next visit.” Okay fine. Annoying, but I gave the benefit of the doubt.

Third visit (on May) — this time at Elmina outlet. Couldn’t redeem again because “you must redeem at the same branch where you checked in”. No mention of this rule in the promo, by the way.

Today was the FOURTH visit (yes still on May), back at IOI Mall, and once again… STILL couldn’t redeem. Now the excuse is “system bug” — like I never checked in before. I asked the cashier, but she said the redemption had already expired (which was clearly NOT true). So I asked the supervisor (Aleeyah Natasya) to clarify nicely, and not only was she unhelpful and rude, she also told me I could check in again (using my phone this time), and redeem next visit.

So let me get this straight — I have to come AGAIN, a fifth time, just to redeem a slice of cake? What about today? We came, sat down, about to order some drinks. That’s not enough? What exactly is the point of the second-visit reward if I have to make five separate visits to finally claim it?

Also, threatening me to not write a review just because I mentioned I’d report this to HR? Really????? Aleeyah Natasya???? Look, I can afford to buy the cake — that’s not the issue. But your promo creates false hope, and your team seems untrained in handling it. It’s not just about me; what about customers who came from far, on a special day out with their loved ones? Gula Cakery, if you’re going to run a promo, make sure: • It’s clear. • It works. • Your staff are trained to handle it properly.

This whole experience feels like a bait-and-switch. Disappointed doesn’t even begin...

Came during lunch hour - it was full house so you had to wait a bit as the restaurant is quite small - but that’s okay, the foreign waiter kindly assist to clean the table as soon as the previous patron left.

Ordered tiramisu at cashier - those working at the counter were not so friendly like the waiter. Not rude or anything, just not friendly. Wouldn’t attend to you unless you talk to them first, so one person who came after me but was attended first as she went straight to the other side of the counter though there were some of us queuing at the opposite side.

Tiramisu - the viral in thing right now. I like theirs, sweet. They have two ver - Chef’s version and normal version. But really don’t understand why the chef needs to come serve for the Chef’s Tiramisu because she just puts it on our table and sprinkle some cocoa powder… just get the normal cheaper one because cheaper by RM 4 (albeit slightlyyyy smaller) 😆 My friend who doesn’t like sweet doesn’t prefer this Gula Cakery’s one though.

Spaghetti spicy buttermilk chicken - just skip it. It was bland and comes with a price tag of RM 29, before taxes.

Fish and chips - another skip. Ridiculously priced at RM 39, small sized, fries were cold when we received it, and it wasn’t even fresh or tasty, overcooked. The tartar sauce was really good though.

Crispy Chicken Burger - RM 35, this is big and tasted decent. Fries is cold when meal...