Andra By Gula Cakery — Restaurant in Shah Alam

A Bitter Taste: My Disgusting Food Poisoning Experience

It started like any normal day. My mom and I decided to order from Brand Gula by Andrea Ecoardence, Setia Alam—a place we thought was decent. We got roti jala with beef curry, and drinks: coffee milk for my mom and a mint coffee for me.

The moment I sipped the mint coffee, I knew something was wrong. The taste was off—disgusting, even. It had this awful, synthetic aftertaste that lingered unpleasantly. As someone who has worked with over 300 different flavours over the years, I’ve developed a sensitivity to chemical and artificial notes. This was unmistakably cheap, synthetic flavouring gone horribly wrong.

By the time we got home, my mom already felt unwell. She took a Panadol and seemed to feel a bit better. But me? I wasn’t so lucky. Around 10pm, I told her, “I’m feeling funny.” My heart was racing, I was sweating, and my stomach felt twisted. I knew it—this was food poisoning.

I suspect it wasn’t just the food—it was the water and that horrible mint coffee. The taste haunted me. Later, when I vomited, the roti jala came up—but so did the mint coffee. It was revolting, and confirmed my suspicion.

What makes this worse is knowing why I felt this way. I’ve spent years testing flavours, and I hate artificial ones, especially the kinds that are overused or poorly masked. They leave a sharp, chemical sting that your body knows doesn’t belong.

And that’s exactly what happened here. This wasn’t just a bad meal. This was negligence. A business cutting corners on flavour and safety, and endangering customers.

So that’s it for me. No more Gula by Andrea Ecoardence. Ever. And yes, I got an MC for today and tomorrow because of this. That’s...

I’ve visited Andra a few times before and was really hoping for a pleasant experience again, but unfortunately, this visit was a bit disappointing.

We waited almost 30 minutes for our food to arrive. When it finally came, the nasi goreng was burnt, and the grilled lamb was undercooked inside while charred on the outside, which made it hard to enjoy the meal. We get replacement after 15 min of waiting. We also ordered the blackout cake, but it never arrived, even after we finished eating.

Another point that affected our experience was the service. The staff at the cashier — I believe her name is Arina/Erina— came across as unfriendly and unapproachable, similar to my previous visit. I wasn’t assisted with the check-in app, and only realized afterward that I could’ve gotten RM10 off for this visit since it’s my third time dining here. It’s a small gesture, but it would have meant something.

Lastly, the outlet was quite warm inside — my husband was visibly sweating throughout the meal, which made dining a bit uncomfortable.

I really do hope to see improvements in the future, especially in food quality, service, and outlet comfort. I love the concept and hope to return for a better...

This place is a far cry compared to their original location. Their service level is really poor and their staff is inexperienced. Food quality is mediocre. And to add salt to the wound, we are paying premium prices (not including 5% service tax) for everything.

We scanned to enter Andra. Asked to wait but when we finally got our table it was at the other shop called ‘Roti Jala’. We were assured we could order just by quoting our table number.

After paying the cost of our meal through Beep, we waited. A while later a server came and said one dish was not available. In fact all pasta dishes had finished. Talk about late info. Apparently due to too many customers today. Our dishes came slowly, one by one. Then we wanted to add rice so we asked the server. He promptly told us to take a walk to Andra to order. What rubbish. What poor excuses.

The entire experience has left a foul taste in my mouth and I cannot recommend such a place. In fact I feel the Gula Cakery name is tainted by it. Premium prices but novice experience. And if you check the other negative/poor comments they all centre around poor service too. Seems they don’t really...