Judge declares that a cafe ‘so dirty it could have killed’ chould be charged with MANSLAUGHTER

A cockroach-infested cafe has been condemned by a local court judge, who claimed the establishment was so filthy it could have cost customers their lives.

The court heard that Dainty Dumpling House, in the south Sydney suburb of Miranda, had vermin crawling over its food preparation area, uncovered ingredients on shelves and equipment covered in grease.

Magistrate Glenn Bartley said the eatery’s ‘Gross indifference’ to the squalid conditions had put customers at risk of food poisoning, news.com.au reports. 

‘You could be in the Supreme Court on a manslaughter charge,’ Mr Bartley told cafe director Marco Li, who appeared in Sutherland Local Court on behalf of the restaurant’s operating firm, Dainty Hospitality Group.

‘It’s good luck rather than management customers weren’t poisoned or even killed.’

Dainty Hospitality Group Miranda faced two charges of failing to comply with the food services code.

‘You could be in the Supreme Court on a manslaughter charge,’ Mr Bartley told cafe director Marco Li, accusing the venue of ‘An extreme lack of hygiene for years and protracted [and] appalling recalcitrance and indifference’

The restaurant allegedly had vermin crawling over its food preparation area, uncovered ingredients on shelves and equipment covered in grease

But Mr Li claimed he was only a new director of the firm, which was ‘struggling financially’ after sinking all of its money into ‘a longstanding building dispute’.

‘Mr Li is unenviably, having become a director recently, trying to explain gross negligence and irresponsibility for directors who have not come to court,’ Mr Bartley said.

‘[But] what we have is gross indifference to the health of customers… An extreme lack of hygiene for years and protracted [and] appalling recalcitrance and indifference.’ 

Customer reviews were similarly scornful, with one previous diner claiming that ‘there was a fly in the wonton sauce’ when they ate there

Dainty Dumpling House, which has two other outlets in Chinatown and Rhodes, is described on Westfield Miranda’s website as ‘one of the best dim sim restaurants in Sydney.’  

That assertion is hardly supported by customer reviews, however, with previous diners chiding the cafe for its deplorable quality of food and service.

‘Last visit there was a fly in the wonton sauce not that the staff cared. We won’t be back!’ wrote one disgruntled customer on Zomato, while another claimed to have received the ‘Worst service I’ve ever experienced.’

Another review claimed that the eatery was guilty of the ‘Worst service I’ve ever experienced’ and went on to say that they’d ‘also heard some nasty things about their cleanliness’

That’s to say nothing of the cafe’s conditions behind the scenes, which Mr Bartley called ‘disgusting.

‘They were misleading customers to think they were operating in a hygienic way,’ he said.

Dainty Hospitality Group was ultimately handed a $15,000 fine.