Korean Grill House in Point Cook has accused Stockland of betrayal in kicking them out of the shopping centre

A popular Korean restaurant in Melbourne’s west has gone down swinging, accusing its shopping centre landlord of betrayal. Find out what happened.

An award-winning Korean restaurant in Melbourne’s west has claimed it was “bullied and intimidated” into closing down by its shopping centre landlord.

Korean Grill House, located at Stockland Point Cook, will shut its doors on April 30 and let go 14 workers after it failed to negotiate a new lease with the shopping centre.

The restaurant has been in Point Cook for seven years, having signed a five-year lease when it opened.

Owner Arlan Van Rooyen claimed he had signed a new five-year lease when the time came to extend, only to be told later that the deal had changed.

“We signed the documents and had the leasing executive in here and a week later we were told we would only be offered one year,” he said.

“Betrayal is the biggest thing we feel because we’ve invested (in Stockland).

“It’s hard to even get a place that’s central to where we live and rent is very expensive. It’s a fight for everyone to get a place. We are a growing community but we need infrastructure to support local businesses.

“The staff are devastated because they’re all locals. We love these kids, they’re hard working kids and want to contribute to their community”.

Mr Van Rooyen tried taking the case to VCAT, albeit unsuccessfully, which set him back $30,000.

Another unsuccessful last ditch effort to prolong the business’ stay saw Mr Van Rooyen write to Stockland asking to remain open until Mother’s Day, to cater for the “full house” of customers who had booked.

He accused Stockland of using the fact the restaurant is only open for dinner against him in making the decision.

“We were told that when people come into the precinct the first thing they see is that we are closed and that the lights are out,” he said.

“But there is hardly any lunchtime trading here...give me people who come here for lunch and I’ll open. Why are we being victimised when everyone else is in the same boat?

“We’d love to open for lunch but there’s no foot traffic at that time of day”.

The restaurant has been a popular meeting and function location for many local groups including the Hindu, Korean, LGBTQIA+ and disabled communities.

Former Point Cook local and regular customer Stella Issac said she was “devastated” to see her “friends” go through this.

“We came a lot and have been friends through the community,” she said.

“The franchise (businesses) here do very well but we need places for people to dine in these communities”.

The restaurant’s executive chef, Aaron Simon, a Point Cook local, said the restaurant had been a “second home” to him in the two years he had worked there.

“I’m here nearly everyday and all of a sudden it’s being stripped away from us due to circumstances out of our control,” he said.

“It’s affected my livelihood because I’m stressing my brains out as to how I can pay bills and rent, especially with the housing crisis”.

A Stockland spokesperson said the shopping centre had met with the business several times but was unable to reach a suitable agreement for both parties.

“We look at a range of factors to ensure our food and dining precincts work for our customers, tenants and centres, from morning to night,” the spokesperson said.

“The location of the business on a busy corner is suitable for expanded operating hours to take advantage of lunchtime foot traffic.

“When leasing, we consider the mix of businesses, where they’re located and their trading hours”.