Old Tree Bakery

My friends and I had a truly unpleasant experience at the Old Tree this evening, and as such I would never go back nor recommend it to anyone. Let me tell you what happened.

I arrived with two friends at 10 pm, and asked if for a table for three. The chap at the door said 'Yes please come in'... and so we chose cakes and drinks and sat down. Immediately upon ordering we were informed that we should hurry up because closing time was in 20 minutes. Rather rude for starters! But wait... From then on the manager was unspeakably boorish, staring at us constantly with menacing eyes and making every possible effort to make us feel unwelcome. He was very unpleasant with his staring, particularly towards my female friend. He ruined our evening just because he was annoyed that we came to have bubble tea and cakes at his café. One of the female waitresses was also very abrupt and discourteous. The manager asked us to pay up in an extremely rude manner, and did not say a word of thanks or a simple 'Good Evening' when we left.

Just to put things in perspective, we are quiet, polite professional people and did nothing whatsoever to offend the manager or staff. We were told clearly by the man at the door that we could take a seat. This makes the rudeness of the other staff seem particularly unpardonable.

Furthermore the cakes are of lackluster quality and are very overpriced. I used to go for the nice chocolate custard bun, but they recently ruined this by giving it a 'makeover' - one more reason not to go back.

Bottom line - AVOID. The manager is thoroughly unpleasant, having presumably lost his manners and kindness somewhere in the ocean of cash he has generated from selling overpriced mediocre cakes. If you want your money to go to a nice person, try somewhere different. There is a French café called 'Whisper' round the corner with wonderful service and great cakes.
Comment on this reader review

John O
1 Overall rating
Food 2 | Service 0 | Atmosphere 0 | Value for money 0
Sunday, March 03, 2013