Owner of Mitcham restaurant Mr Hu’s fined for cockroaches, dirty kitchen

The owner of a Mitcham restaurant — where cockroaches were found and staff handled food so badly it couldn’t be served — has been hit with a massive fine. But he says he has “learnt the lesson”.

Mr Hu’s is still open and has been inspected multiple times since the infringements.

The filthy conditions inside a Mitcham restaurant’s kitchen — where cockroaches and dangerous food preparation practices were seen — has left the owner with $50,000 in fines.

Malaysian restaurant Mr Hu’s, offering dining-in and takeaway food to nearby suburbs, is favoured in online reviews from customers, yet owner Peter Hu has been found guilty of violating Australian health and safety standards.

He was convicted at Ringwood Magistrates’ Court in November for infractions Whitehorse Council observed in May 2018.

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Officers’ inspection on May 15 found the way staff handled food would likely have rendered it unsuitable for serving.

The kitchen and equipment used to prepare food were deemed to be unclean.

Food was not adequately protected from contamination and was not stored under temperature control, the court found.

Mr Hu formerly ran coffee shop Miss Polly in the mall. Picture: Christopher Chan

Council general manager human services Terry Wilkinson said “officers observed offences relating to poor food handling, lack of skills and knowledge in food safety” and inadequate handwashing facilities.

Cockroaches were also found in the kitchen, Mr Hu told Whitehorse Leader.

The owner, who formerly ran coffee shop Miss Polly, emphasised all the issues had been resolved well before the court hearing, and that the restaurant had been allowed to stay operating, saying he ran “a very good restaurant”.

Mr Wilkinson confirmed “numerous follow-up inspections” had ensured it complied with safety standards.

Mr Hu said the inspectors had said they wanted the business to learn a lesson.

“We learnt the lesson,” he said.

“Everything is very good now.”

He said he employed Malaysian staff in January 2018 when the Malaysian restaurant began, but they didn’t speak English and were used to different standards of hygiene.

Mr Hu said the staff had resisted his “pushing” to change their practices.

After the council slammed the restaurant in May and Mr Hu made each employee undertake a food operation course, he said some staff decided to leave the business.

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