Unhygienic Satay Inn busted for breaking food safety laws

A LANDMARK restaurant in Kew has closed its doors after being busted for shoddy hygiene and pest control — and for obstructing council officers from investigating the problems.

The director of a well-known Kew restaurant has been convicted and fined $3000 for grubby food storage practices, poor pest control and even stopping council officers from inspecting the eatery.

Tiow Peng Lim, proprietor of Satay Inn Malaysian Restaurant, was found guilty in the Melbourne Magistrates Court recently of breaching a string of food safety laws .

He was prosecuted by Boroondara Council after local laws officers found the Denmark St premises was kept in an unhygienic state.

Satay Inn Malaysian Restaurant did not store food safely, had inadequate pest control, was structurally not being maintained in accordance with the Australian Food Standards Code and obstructed hand-washing facilities.

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Mr Lim even obstructed authorised officers from inspecting the restaurant, the court heard.

The offences occurred between December 2016 and February 2018.

Mr Lim was convicted and placed on a Community Corrections Order for 12 months from June 15.

The Satay Inn appears to have shut down after it was convicted of food safety breaches.

The restaurant’s history of serving authentic Malaysian food since 1984 is now believed to be over, with Google listing the premises as “permanently closed”.

Boroondara Council mayor Cr Jim Parke said it was “disappointing” Satay Inn took such risks with the health of their customers.

“The judgement handed down by the Magistrate in this case reflected the severity of the breaches by this proprietor,” he said.

“(The) council’s environmental health officers will continue to be rigorous in their food safety inspections and we will prosecute any business that does not respect the health of its customers.”

The Leader attempted to contact the restaurant for comment, but its phone was disconnected.

@AnthonyPiovesan

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