Its signage is clearly visible, with the fish metres from a row of bins.
“What da fish doin?” the person wrote over the video.
Reposted by popular meme page @kiwihumour, the video soon spread to other platforms where the public weighed in.
“Omfg I didn’t click that it was behind a restaurant, I thought it was someone’s backyard,” wrote one person on Reddit.
“Nice n safe next to the bins .. no ones going to pinch them,” wrote an Instagram user.
Others believed the fish was more likely being prepared for personal consumption.
“We hang out fresh fish out to dry for a few hours. Tastes and cooks better coz there’s less moisture in it. We do the same with whole meat,” wrote one TikTok user.
“It’s dried fish, it’s been fermented in salt so should be algoods. Big in Asian countries,” wrote another.
Mt Albert BBQ Noodle House 932’s general manager Alice Liu told the Herald the fish fillets were neither hung out by the restaurant nor being prepared for commercial use.
The restaurant’s two-storey building at 932-934 New North Rd houses another commercial business on the ground floor and a residential apartment on the first floor.
Liu said the three tenants share the back of the property and that the fish had been salted and hung outside by a resident “for personal consumption”.
In response to the video circulating online, Liu said she had seen many comments directly linking the fish to their restaurant and expressed concern over the damage to their business.
“We have no idea how to explain this matter to everyone. It has nothing to do with our restaurant.”
Liu said the restaurant uses salted fish for several menu items but only buys jars of Four Lines Salted Mackerel Fish from a local importer and uses it sparingly.
Those singling out the restaurant on social media erred by assuming the fish belonged to them in the first place, Liu said.
“[It] wasn’t really fair to our business”.
Lee-Thompson said food businesses must follow strict protocols to ensure food provided is safe for consumption.
“This includes making sure that where the food comes from, how it is stored, prepared, cooked and served is safe and hygienic,” Lee-Thompson said, citing the Food Act 2014 and Food Regulations Act 2015.
These laws consider any food found at a food business’ premises to be for commercial use, meaning “all the applicable rules apply” to the dried fish.
“It is not acceptable for food businesses to dry food, including meat, in this way.”
Lee-Thompson confirmed the restaurant’s food grade has been downgraded to a D after investigating the matter.
Tom Rose is an Auckland-based journalist who covers breaking news, specialising in lifestyle, entertainment and travel. He joined the Herald in 2023.
