Updated
Rat fur and faeces in a bucket of rice, cockroaches on the work surfaces and dripping grease have cost a Canberra restaurant owner $10,000 in fines.
Key points:
- Owner of the Two Sisters ‘Authentic Lao Thai’ restaurant Sisouk Rajbandith has been fined $10,000 over the restaurant’s unsanitary condition
- The owner, Sisouk Rajbandith, said family problems and the poor state of the Sydney Building made it hard to maintain
- The restaurant has been sold and is under new management
The Two Sisters Lao Thai Cuisine restaurant in Canberra’s city centre was shut down for eight days last year, after health inspectors found it in a filthy condition.
Owner Sisouk Rajbandith pleaded guilty to six charges of breaching food laws in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday.
The restaurant, which was housed in the Sydney Building in Civic and marketed itself as “Authentic Lao Thai Cuisine”, has now been sold and is under new management.
Family problems, ageing building blamed for rat infestation
Rajbandith told the court she has had nightmares since the breaches and is deeply embarrassed, after more than two decades running restaurants in Canberra.
“I feel pretty sad, I feel sorry for what I have done,” she said.
Ms Rajbandith told the court her younger sister was running the business, but things had deteriorated when she experienced some family problems.
She also told the court there had been efforts to control the rats, but the age of the building had proved a problem.
“It’s very hard to keep clean,” she said.
“It needs a lot of maintenance.”
Prosecutors told the court the public was not privy to what happened in food preparation, and there was an element of trust placed in proprietors.
Acting Chief Magistrate Glenn Theakston said he accepted Ms Rajbandith’s remorse, but he said the situation must have been obvious.
“The photographs show a large amount of what can only be described as filth throughout the restaurant,” he said.
He said that included dead cockroaches on the work surfaces, and rat faeces, as well as grease dripping into a bucket in the kitchen.
Chief Magistrate Theakston took particular aim at an open bucket of raw rice in the storage room which also contained rat fur and faeces.
Handwashing facilities were also obstructed, with staff saying they washed their hands in the kitchen sink — a possible source of contamination.
Ms Rajbandith told the court she had visited the restaurant a couple of times a week.
Acting Chief Magistrate Theakston said the photos showed the conditions should have been apparent to any owner visiting the premises.
Ms Rajbandith has been given six months to pay the fines.
Topics: food-safety, food-and-beverage, health-administration, canberra-2600, act
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