Top Melbourne Chinese restaurant fined over cockroach infestation

The operators of a top Chinese restaurant in Melbourne have been fined $15,000 after pleading guilty to multiple breaches of food hygiene laws.

City food inspectors found the Red Emperor in Southbank infested with cockroaches, mouse droppings and fruit flies when they searched the fine-dining venue on May 19 and 20 last year, Fairfax Media reports.

Uncovered cooked chickens and other food items exposed to pests, evidence of mice chewing through food bags and accumulated food waste or grease in fridge seals were among other examples of food safety breaches.

Owner Lihua Gao voluntarily shut the restaurant's doors the day before inspectors ordered it closed because it posed an immediate risk to the public.

Melbourne Magistrates Court heard yesterday the inspection followed a complaint by a customer "about an adverse reaction" to food bought at the restaurant.

Gao, 37, the sole director of City Wall Garden Pty Ltd, the business's registered proprietor, and Raymond Cheung, 60, the business's food safety manager, each pleaded guilty to 10 charges.

A follow-up inspection on May 27 found the operators had addressed all the hygiene problems in their restaurant, including internal renovations and hiring a new pest controller, and it was reopened.