A COMPANY that runs a Swanston Street restaurant has been fined $20,000 after a City of Melbourne inspector found its kitchen infested with cockroaches, rodent droppings and accumulated grease, dirt and food waste.

A director of Ten Ren's Tea Station agreed to temporarily shut its upstairs kitchen on March 7 this year - after a complaint from a customer - when authorities feared for public health.

Ten Ren's Tea Station in Swanston Street. Credit:Joe Armao

Senior magistrate Dan Muling yesterday said there was no justification or excuse for the conditions and told its directors they ''wouldn't have your own kitchen looking like this''.

Prosecutor Sebastian Reid yesterday told a court that photographs and his summary of the ''deplorable'' conditions showed a ''complete failure to comply with mandatory requirements''.