Skip to main content
LBC logo
On Air Now
Listen Now

10pm to 1am

Listen Now

11pm to 7am

Chinese restaurant closed by police after 'roast duck' was actually pigeon

Miscellaneous meat hanging from a clothes airer
Miscellaneous meat was found hanging from a clothes airer in the restaurant kitchen. Picture: Polcia Municipal de Madrid

By Alice Padgett

A Chinese restaurant has been forced to close its doors after it was raised by local police, who found 300kg of rotten food.

Listen to this article

Loading audio...

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.

The force believe the restaurant took pigeons off the street, kicked them to death and sold the birds as roast duck.
The force believe the restaurant took pigeons off the street, kicked them to death and sold the birds as roast duck. Picture: Polcia Municipal de Madrid

Madrid Municipal Police officers received complaints about the restaurant before the radio on March 25.

The force believe the restaurant took pigeons off the street, kicked them to death and sold the birds as roast duck.

Local media reports the restaurant had eight rusty freezers filled with bags of unlabelled meat.

The kitchen was full of cockroaches and rats.

One of the officers, who took part in the raid, said: "Everything smelled of rotten seafood; it was almost unbearable."

Read More: Moment knife attacker 'films victim' while stabbing him during horror attack in London restaurant

Read More: Aldi issues urgent 'do not eat' warning as supermarket pulls popular product over 'contamination risk'

Eight freezers were reportedly rusty and unsanitary.
Eight freezers were reportedly rusty and unsanitary. Picture: Polcia Municipal de Madrid
Illegal Sea Cumbers were found.
Illegal Sea Cumbers were found. Picture: Polcia Municipal de Madrid

Investigators also found illegal items, such as sea cucumbers, which are protected animals in some regions.

Police also found fire extinguishers weren't placed properly, as they were not the minimum height from the found, the emergency exits were blocked by bins.

The restaurant was forced to close and the owner is being investigated for crimes against public health, wildlife and consumer rights.

One nearby resident told El Mundo: "None of us ate there. It smelled bad, and we saw food brought in on a cart and left at the door on broad daylight."