London restaurant with 4.6-star rating shut down after dog meat found in freezer

14 August 2025 , 08:46

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London restaurant with 4.6-star rating shut down after dog meat found in freezer

A Vietnamese restaurant in London was forced to close after dog meat was found in its freezer, a court was informed.

Pho Na in Old Kent Road, Southwark, was found to have dog meat labelled "goat wrapped in leaves" hidden in its freezer when health inspectors visited the highly-rated restaurant. 

The meat was sent away for analysis, with tests revealing it was, in fact, dog rather than goat, Bromley Magistrates’ Court was told.

Mice droppings were also found in the restaurant, as well as live and dead cockroaches.

Owner Vuong Quoc Nguyen pleaded not guilty to multiple food safety and hygiene offences, with his defence solicitor claiming they had no knowledge the goat was actually dog.

Pho Na was a highly rated spot for Vietnamese food before its closure, boasting a 4.6-star rating online.

Around five million dogs are stolen and trafficked for their meat in Vietnam every year, according to Humane World.

This closure comes just months after a Chinese restaurant was found to serve "roast duck" which was actually street pigeon.

Footage released by police reveals strips of miscellaneous meat hanging from a clothes horse and bags of discoloured meat strewn around.

Police found 300kg of rotten food. 

The Jin Gu restaurant, in Madrid’s Usera district, was quickly forced to close.

The eatery boasted excellent reviews, but customers reported feeling unwell after leaving.

Thomas Brown

Head of Investigations