Gong Yuan Mala Tang boss visits outlet for quality check after customer complaint about overcooked rice cake

The day after a customer at Gong Yuan Mala Tang complained that its rice cakes were overcooked, the boss behind the brand decided to see for himself if the complaint held weight.

Rodney Tang is the founder of Gong Yuan's parent company Royal T Group, which also owns LiHo, a bubble tea chain.

He visited the Suntec City outlet for a quality check recently, which was captured in a TikTok video posted on Mar. 8.

Inspection

Tang began his inspection as he picked the raw ingredients for his mala tang.

Giving the top shelves a quick scan, he commented that everything looked "decently handled" that day.

Right after that, though, the video cut to him picking up one of many empty clam shells in a container, and asking, "What is this? Just shells for the customers?"

He told the staff it was a big problem, and they had to stop selling clams this way.

"Keep the ones with the meat, and remove the ones without meat," he continued. "Don't let them add to the weight."

He added that the meat on the lower shelf was not handled properly and did not look appetising.

Apart from the food, Tang also commented on the outlet's cleanliness. He swiped a hand across the store decor and pointed out the dust to the camera.

His taste test

From his cooked mala tang bowl, Tang scooped out the rice cakes and said that most of them were broken up due to overcooking.

Customers prefer rice cakes that are still in whole strips, he emphasised.

He also suggested including Korean-style rice cakes in addition to the current Chinese ones.

The customer who had complained about the rice cakes was offered a free soup upgrade to the pork bone broth, which they then said was not rich enough, according to Tang.

However, when Tang tried it himself, he felt that it was quite delicious and flavourful, with good texture.

Someone had recently said that Gong Yuan's luncheon meat was delicious, Tang shared, but he personally found it just okay.

He had earlier commented on the sausages at the ingredients shelves being too long, but noted that they were cut to a good size before cooking.

Wrapping up his review, Tang said he was personally rather satisfied with his bowl of mala tang.

"Of course, we need to keep working hard and continue to strengthen it."

Making improvements

Afterwards, Tang went to the kitchen and asked the cook staff how the rice cakes were prepared.

An employee said that they would only add the rice cakes to the pot after the noodles were slightly cooked.

Tang suggested that perhaps the team could consider cooking the rice cakes a little later, to prevent overcooking.

He instructed them to test it out and then report the results.

In the comments, people gave feedback and suggested other improvements.

A user wanted Tang to continue doing quality checks, adding that they often found the instant noodles overcooked.

Others called for a return of the brand's previous soup bases.

Top images from rodney.tang/TikTok