Coronavirus forces closure of popular Sydney yum cha restaurant
A sudden collapse in patronage caused by the escalating coronavirus outbreak has forced popular Western Sydney Chinese yum cha restaurant to close its doors permanently.
Parramatta Phoenix, based in the Westfield Shopping Centre, was placed into voluntary administration this morning. Darlinghurst restaurant Mister Dee’s Kitchen, which is owned by a related company, has also gone into liquidation.
Insolvency firm Worrells has been appointed voluntary administrator of Parramatta Phoenix Pty Ltd and liquidator of Mister Dee’s Kitchen Pty Ltd.
“As we have just been appointed this morning, we are still in the initial stages of gathering each company’s books and records to commence our assessment of the reasons for failure,” administrator Christopher Darin told news.com.au.
“However the director has indicated in initial discussions that one of the factors in the fall in turnover of the restaurants is a reaction to the coronavirus.”
The family-owned Phoenix Restaurant Group also operates five other restaurants – Sky Phoenix (Sydney CBD), East Phoenix and E-Dragon Dumpling Bar (Zetland), Rhodes Phoenix and Brisbane Phoenix – which were all trading normally.
The ongoing coronavirus outbreak has slammed Chinese restaurants in areas with large Chinese populations, with some restaurants reporting up to a 60 per cent drop.
Sheridan Randall, 3rd March 2020
