Trang Restaurant on Hardgrave fined for food safety breaches

A popular West End restaurant has been fined thousands of dollars after a dead mouse was located on its dry store room floor, with its owners pleading guilty to five counts of failing to comply with a requirement imposed by the food standards code.

A popular West End restaurant has been fined thousands after a dead mouse was located on its dry store room floor.

Ngoc – Huong Pty Ltd, trading as Trang Restaurant on Hardgrave, on Friday pleaded guilty to five counts of failing to comply with a requirement imposed by the food standards code.

The Brisbane Magistrates Court heard a Brisbane City Council inspector audited the award-winning restaurant in July last year.

Council prosecutor Mark Thomas said spice packets were found stored near rodent droppings on a shelf in the dry store area.

The inspector also found a container with rat droppings inside it, he said.

There was an accumulation of dirt, food waste, grease and rat droppings on shelves under the sink and in various areas of the premises including the kitchen and the dry storage area.

“It was quite clear that there was a poor attention to particularly the rodent issue with rodent droppings easily observable as well as a dead mouse,” he said.

A West End restaurant has been fined thousands after a dead mouse was located on its dry store room floor.

Mr Thomas said the presence of rodent activity was the most aggravating feature.

The company’s Ting Wei Hu said the dead mouse appeared quite fresh, not decomposed, and it had not been there the night before when staff cleaned the restaurant.

“I suppose you could call it a series of unfortunate events where the rodent just decided to call the storage area its resting place,” he said.

“But again, my client is not saying that’s an excuse, they should have kept an eye out.”

Since the incident his client had been “compliant, cooperative, fully transparent and attended to all the issues as soon as possible” and gone beyond what was required.

Mr Hu said the incident happened during unprecedented Covid-19 induced challenges relating to staffing issues, uncertainty, regulatory changes and business requirements.

The pandemic had also caused the restaurant significant financial losses.

There was an accumulation of dirt, food waste, grease and rat droppings on shelves under the sink and in various areas of the premises.

“I would say it was the most stressful and unprecedented time not just for food business owners but for any business owner,” he said.

Acting Magistrate Leanne Scoines said the company’s sole director Brendan Than Phong Nguy – who was not facing charges – was remorseful and the company had done a “very good job” to ameliorate future risk.

However she said there had been neglect of certain standards for a period of time in the lead up to the breaches.

“People come to restaurants to enjoy themselves in the comfort that the food … is being prepared in a manner that‘s in compliance with the standards,” she said.

“They don’t get to lift the veil and have a look behind into the kitchen to ensure that everything is as it should be because they’re relying on the owner.”

The company was fined $20,000. No convictions were recorded.