The Glasshopper — Restaurant in Putrajaya

NOT WORTH EVERY PENNY!

I came here with 2 kids, one is under 5 yo. The place from outside look nice and perhaps the glasshouse concept attracted people to go there as in Putjaya could be not many choice of good eateries for frequent people.

BAD SERVICES

I asked if there is any seat for me & kids inside as it is very warm and humid outside. But the staff said no seat. They allocate us at the backyard in which just beside a working area, perhaps they are extending. Though it was covered with a black net but i dont think it is suitable to place the customers right beside there as i can smell the strong paint odour and it is really a turn off.

Staff & services The staff at the front just inform me my seating is at the backyard but no one is escorting me there, so i assume it is free seating though. But when i reached the backyard area, the empty seating was in a mess. There were left over food on the table and under the table. No staff is aware until i call them to clean up place. As the place is very hot and humid, I have asked the staff standing in front of the door for the seating inside since am having small kids, you know their level of patient when dealing with the tempreture. Again the staff there said no. But when i go inside to order food, I saw a place with 2 seats. So i called in both of my kids while im queuing to order food. As it is sure not enough seat for us, so i have to take a wooden todler chair myself, no staff came to assist me instead; while at the corner table i saw a man with the table put on reserve sitting alone with another chair placing his shoulder bag while monitoring the staff, i guess he is the store manager.

After making the order, i have requested for an extra table at least. Becos the table in front of our seating clearly not suitable for big brunch eating with plates, perhaps it is a side table for you to enjoy a cupbof coffee. Since no staff seem to care for my request, as I saw few tables upstair was emptied, so I asked my kid to go to the deck floor to get a place with a dining table which is more appropriate for the kids to have their food.

RUDENESS TO THE CORE! After we get all the food and just started to eat, one of the staff came to our table, acting as if he being polite but then harrassing me on how i shouldnt change the seating myself; instead of asking me why am doing so. He dare to teach me on the table manners?? And somehow he tried to shift me & my kids to another table with again 2 seating.. If they were to put another chair, it will expose my kids to another hazard as it is clearly obstructing the way. LACK OF CONSCIECE IS REALLY A BIG TURN OFF!

I think the manager should have been brief the staff on how they approach customer, not simply say sorry and then you started harrasing the customer. Or maybe he himself doesnt have a conscience either as he clearly place his own shoulder bag on the chair while the customer obviously doesnt have enough chair to dine in. They should be more tactful and be attentive to the customers' need especially for those came in with small kids..

Honestly, not worth every penny as the food taste is just 1/5. You can get better food with a better standard, better vibe and better services at another fine dining places...

Let me start out by stating the good points : It's situated in a lovely area in Taman Botani, Putrajaya. Lush surroundings do give out a nice ambience to eat here. The waiters really tried their best to accommodate customers during peak hours. I've been here twice, and my first experience with the food was delicious. Second time, not so much. Is it because it was too hectic for them to handle?

Okay moving on to our experience at Glasshopper today :

My mother, sister, children and I went to this cafe earlier today at 9:30am on a Sunday for a breakfast as it was highly recommended. We queued up for about 20 minutes before we were seated upstairs in the balcony area. We ordered 2 big breakfast sets, 1 Belgian waffle, 1 tuna croissant, 1 cheesy croissant and 1 butter croissant. For drinks, we ordered 1 iced chocolate, 1 hot chocolate, 1 latte and 1 hazelnut latte. Firstly, the drinks and food did not arrive altogether. I understand, as the kitchen might be busy, it's quite hard to bring the dishes together. However, even the drinks arrived one by one with 5-15 minutes interval.

The first meal to arrive was the butter croissant, as it was already pre-made and then it was 1 Big Breakfast set (we ordered two, the second one came about 20 minutes later). Half an hour after ordering, we were informed that the croissant for our tuna croissant and cheesy croissant are finished and to be replaced with white toast. I cancelled the tuna croissant order but still would like to try the cheesy croissant, or at least, it would have been a cheesy white toast. 20 minutes later, they came with the bill to refund for the cheesy one. Again, I cancelled the tuna croissant, not the cheesy croissant.

By this time, it has been almost an hour of waiting, and we are hungry and cranky. I went down to cancel both of the croissant dishes. And while I was doing this, the belgian waffle finally arrived. AN HOUR LATER.

We left after we were done, our priority was getting the children to eat up as they were really hungry. Of what we ordered, we only received the 2 Big Breakfast sets and 1 Belgian waffle.

We asked the staff to talk to the manager to which he replied "Whats the problem?" and we informed him of our experience. He then replied "Oh, its because its usually like this and we're short staffed." I do believe this was such an unprofessional response. Regardless whether it's the peak hour or not having enough staff, it's the cafe's management job to ensure that everything would have gone smoothly for customers who wanted to eat here.

I do strongly believe that they need to improve their system and organisation. I am not sure whether this place has gone viral on social media but from what I have witnessed, I dont think that they're able to handle the large scale capacity of customers during the weekends/peak hours yet. I hope...

-Frustrating Service Experience Due to Poor Communication and Management-

When my family and I first arrived at the cafe, a female staff was managing the seating arrangements. I specifically requested to sit inside. However, due to the high number of customers, no indoor seats were available. She informed us that if we wanted an indoor table, we would need to wait 20 minutes. But in the meantime, we could sit outdoors to review the menu and place our order before being seated inside. We agreed and went to the outdoor table to view the menu while waiting for an indoor seat.

However, after waiting for a long time, no one came to attend to us, and it felt as though we had been forgotten. We noticed that other customers were being seated inside before us. Curious, we went back to ask the hostess about the situation. She then gave a different explanation, saying that we had to wait in line to get a seat inside, otherwise, we could only sit outside. She insisted that we had to rejoin the queue, which wasted about an hour of our time just standing in line. We found this situation unreasonable, as her unclear instructions led us to wait twice under the scorching sun.

My mother suggested to the same staff member that the cafe should have a noticeboard at the entrance to clearly inform customers about the queueing rules. In response, she suddenly became very angry, shouting, "YE YE AKU SALAH AKU SALAH" with a really frightening expression and crazy wide-open eyes. This reaction scared us and made us feel that the service was extremely poor. Our mood was significantly affected, and our family gathering was spoiled by the inadequate service. Fortunately, the food was decent and provided some comfort. While the environment and food quality were good, the service, particularly from that female staff, was subpar. The cafe should consider assigning a more capable and courteous person to manage guest seating and provide clear instructions.

In summary, our experience at this cafe was marred by poor service and confusing instructions from the staff. The unprofessional behavior of the hostess significantly impacted our visit, turning what should have been an enjoyable family meal into a frustrating ordeal. Despite the quality of the food providing some solace, the overall service left much to be desired. To improve future experiences, the cafe should consider having a more competent and courteous staff member handle guest arrangements and provide clearer instructions. A noticeboard detailing the queue or adopting a more systematic approach like queue numbers to improve fairness and efficiency would also help to avoid similar issues...