Akara Bakery — Restaurant in Scotland

Sent photo of a traffic cone orange birthday cake for my partners 40th inspiration. When I arrived to collect I was shocked to see a pinky / red cake. The writing was also the same colour as the cake and could not be seen. They rectified this and iced over the original writing which helped but it made it difficult to read.

One member of staff told me it was more ‘brick red’ when I was upset at how it looked and saying it was pink, another member of staff told me it was ‘coral’ later telling me that ‘coral is technically a shade of orange’

I understand things will never be exactly as you send but a coral / brick red cake is very different to a traffic cone orange cake and being told that ‘sometimes you don’t get the desired colour when mixing food dye’ was simply unacceptable to me:

The staff then told me they knew how the issue had happened as the shop tablet screen was ‘much darker’ and again the staff agreed that it was not my fault the original picture was not traffic cone orange when it had been sent over to their tablet (display issue setting their end)

I contacted the owner who was not there and did not see the cake, and sent her a photo to only be told the cake is orange. Again, her own staff twice told me they thought it was ‘brick red’ and ‘coral’ in addition to this even my friends who were attempting to make me feel better agreed they couldn’t even say it’s ’not that bad’ as it was very clearly pink! Too much red was used when mixing the colour and no attention paid to what I had asked - the ‘drip’ was none existent as it was an exact colour match to the pink buttercream when the photo i sent used 2 VERY different shades of orange. There might aswell not be a drip, you couldn’t see it.

She told me I had asked them to put thier own stamp on, I had not, I had asked for input on the size and the height - said they were the expert to advise on this matter and said if they have any ideas I’m happy to collaborate and see what they think. My ONLY specification was the cake was to be orange I had mentioned orange multiple times in email and the photo was bright orange cake with lighter orange drip.

Extremely disappointed to have spent £130 on this cake and even a token gesture £10 off would have gone a long way, but the owner doubled down and passed on via her staff that ‘alot of time had been spent on the cake’ - not my issue!!

This picture attached actually makes it look more orange than it does in real life and even then you can see it’s not traffic cone orange it’s most definitely on the pink / red side of things!

The cake tastes great but it completely put a dampener on the day as I didn’t really want to give him this pink cake and be £130 worse off for it

As mentioned I have spoken to the owner via email and would not have left this review had she been forthcoming, instead telling me as the owner of the store she is TELLING me it is orange!!! Yet everyone who saw the cake, her own staff included very much agreed on any colour apart...

I was with my friend when she collected her cake. She asked for bright orange and instead got a red/pink one. Your reply to her review says remedies were offered in-store. Nothing was offered.

Staff themselves admitted it looked brick red or coral. In your reply you call it a “darker shade of orange.” All of which are not the bright orange asked for, the only clear specification.

The problems didn’t stop there. The writing was wrong, then iced over to cover the mistake, which only made it harder to read. That is not a remedy. It just shows the lack of care from the start, despite the high price charged. There was pooling of icing and no real attention to the inspiration photos provided.

You also say free rein was given. It wasn’t. Suggestions were asked for, but the only one you gave was that a taller cake would be better for a drip effect. That drip can hardly be seen. Suggestions are one thing, but changing an entire colour scheme is another. If you want to make that kind of change, you check with the buyer first.

Your own staff clearly recognised the cake wasn’t right. After speaking to you on the phone, they looked visibly awkward relaying your message that a lot of time had been spent on the cake and suggested my friend email you directly. They even said she should ask for a part refund because they agreed it was not what was ordered. When she did email, she was told it was a “darker shade of orange.” The reference photo was traffic-cone orange. The brief was an orange cake. It wasn’t delivered. It’s that simple.

And let’s be honest: the real issue seems to be your tablet settings. If it looked red on your screen showed to us by staff; they said the screen in store was darker than the iPhone, when the photo was sent to them it displayed darker, that doesn’t mean it was right. It means your decorator was working from the wrong shade because your screen was too dark. That’s not the customer’s fault!

So again I ask, what remedies were supposedly offered? Because none were. And icing over a mistake on the lettering is not a remedy.

The staff were polite, and for a wee bakery item that might be fine. But if you are spending a large amount of money and trusting this business with a bespoke cake, expect poor workmanship, no accountability, and a review reply that simply doesn’t match what actually happened….

Pictures below show the two tone orange asked for - you supplied a cake where you cant see the drip at all and it’s not orange at all but rather pink / red

Also you agreed white icing ontop - this was the same colour as the cake and you...

I've been frequenting Akara for a couple of months now and feel like it's time for a review. I stumbled across it, its small, bright and welcoming. The cakes are genuinely brilliant and I'm not a big cake lover. I've bought them for my parents (and dropped them off at their door, completely social distanced) who are older and picky and my mum loves the red velvet and the brownies. My dad raved about the vanilla cheesecake and my personal favourite is the orange and amaretto bunt cake. I don't mind paying a bit more for quality and these are arguably the best cakes on Duke street, I'd say the east end. For a savoury option the burekas and sausage rolls are tasty and full of flavour and I can't write a review without saying that the pastrami sandwich is brilliant, really delicious, flavour combo and the toasted sesame bread is a really good touch. Anyway, overall brilliant, I think I might be a...