Secret Kitchen, Pacific BBQ Cafe, Da Dong Bei slapped with hefty fines over food safety breaches
Three Melbourne CBD restaurants — including a popular chain and two other Asian eateries — have been exposed on a shame list for having dirty, pest-ridden kitchens after being convicted over a raft of food hygiene offences.
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Three popular Asian restaurants in Melbourne’s CBD have been slapped with hefty fines for having dirty, pest-ridden kitchens.
The well-known Secret Kitchen restaurant near Melbourne’s Chinatown on Exhibition St, Pacific BBQ Cafe on Lonsdale St and Da Dong Bei on Russell St have recently been named and shamed on the State Government’s Food Convictions Register following convictions in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court last year for shocking food safety violations including failing to keep the restaurants free from pests, not storing food properly and having filthy premises.
Secret Kitchen, which specialises in Yum Cha and other Asian speciality dishes, was convicted and fined $17,000 and ordered to pay $2723 in costs for five breaches of the Food Act.
The business also has eateries in Chadstone shopping centre, Glen Waverley’s Century City Walk and Westfield Doncaster, although no concerns have been raised about these eateries.
Its Exhibition St eatery is listed as “temporarily closed” on Google.
Pacific BBQ Cafe, which includes Chinese barbecue dishes and seafood, was convicted and fined $40,000 and ordered to pay costs of $1377 for 11 breaches.
Da Dong Bei on Russell St was also fined $40,000 with costs of $4136 for more than 10 breaches.
City of Melbourne health inspectors who attended Secret Kitchen on March 19, 2018, found the eatery failed to “take all practicable measures” to keep pests out.
It also did nothing to eradicate the vermin or address areas where pests get in and thrive on the premises or vehicles used to transport food.
Health inspectors, who attended Pacific BBQ Cafe on June 3, 2019, found the eatery failed to store food to protect it from the likelihood of contamination and didn’t store potentially hazardous food under temperature control.
Other breaches included not meeting an acceptable level of cleanliness, with an accumulation of food waste, dirt, grease or other visible matter.
Da Dong Bei, which was inspected in May and July 2018, was found to have taken no necessary steps to prevent the likelihood of food being contaminated.
Inspectors say the business also took no steps to keep pests away and failed to ensure that food contact surfaces, fittings and equipment could be easily and effectively cleaned.
A Sunday Herald Sun and Leader investigation last month revealed other grubby restaurants in Melbourne had been given warnings for more than three years before being hauled in front of a court.
A survey of 32 metropolitan councils has uncovered the hot spots for grubby restaurants in 2018 and 2019.
During that time 49 food businesses were prosecuted, 39 were shut down and at least 6700 food safety breaches were recorded.
The City of Melbourne dished out the most fines, with a total of $388,000 issued by Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
The council, which has almost 4000 registered food businesses and 31 full-time inspectors, prosecuted 21 and shut down 18 eateries during that time.
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