London’s ‘rudest’ restaurant and its director have been fined a combined £42,000 for breaching food hygiene standards.
Wong Kei in Chinatown was fined after inspectors found cockroaches and dead mice in the kitchen.
Gosing Limited, the restaurant’s operators, pleaded guilty to four offences of failing to comply with EU food safety and hygiene regulation and was fined at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on September 4. It was ordered to pay £31,503.25.
The restaurant was handed two hygiene improvement notices and told to improve its business standards during a visit by Westminster City Council inspectors in 2022. At the time, the eatery was being run by Jexstar Limited.
As a result, council officers were told the restaurant’s director, Daniel Luc, would be leaving the company.
However, during a visit in May 2023, when the restaurant was being run by Gosing Limited, inspectors found Mr Luc still retained overall control of the business, the council said.
The restaurant was found to have issues with mice and cockroaches as well as other food hygiene offences including cross contamination of raw and precooked food, and unsanitary hygiene practices by staff.
Images show a dead cockroach underneath wiring and a build-up of dead cockroaches in a trap. Westminster magistrates fined Mr Luc £10,803.25 for pleading guilty to all offences. The total fines amounted to £42,306.50.
Wong Kei has been branded London’s rudest restaurant in the past with staff playing up to the name by deliberately being rude to customers as part of the experience.
In a separate case, the director of Italian themed restaurant Little Sicily, Magdi Assif, was also charged with three food hygiene offences and issued with penalties totalling £20,176.50.
During a routine inspection, council environmental health officers found evidence of mice droppings in the kitchen and storage areas, and mouldy food was found in the fridge.
They also found sinks blocked by lettuce heads, grease dripping from cookers and mice droppings on the ground. At one point, inspectors witnessed cockroaches scuttling off after moving three chillers.
The restaurant was issued a temporary closure notice in June last year. The court heard how this was the second temporary closure issued against the restaurant within six months.
Cllr Aicha Less, deputy leader and cabinet member for children and public protection, said: “These fines demonstrate that Westminster Council remains committed to ensuring the safety and protection of consumers who enjoy the wide variety of food within the borough.
“Our vigilant food safety officers will continue to monitor and inspect all food-preparing and food-serving places to ensure they adhere to all laws and regulations that we as a council set.
“And it is only fair that we ensure that those businesses who invest in compliance have the chance to thrive and that those who put others at risk of harm are held to account for their failures and unscrupulous practices.”
A staff member the LDRS spoke to at Wong Kei said the company would not comment. The owner of Little Sicily was contacted for comment but has not yet responded.
