Chef wins $40k defamation payout over Facebook posts in Brisbane restaurant dispute
A dust-up over recipes and a failed joint venture has ended with a $40,000 defamation bill for a Brisbane restaurateur, after a series of Facebook posts targeting her landlord and his cousin, chef Bao Ninh Huynh.
Trang Hien Thi Chu, who ran Buncha Buncha at Stones Corner, was approached about opening a sister venue in Inala. She agreed to teach Huynh her recipes as part of the plan for the second site. But once the Inala store opened, Chu claimed she was pushed out — and took to social media.
In multiple posts to the “Vietnamese in Queensland” Facebook group — then about 30,000 members strong — Chu accused the pair of hatching a “plan” or “scheme” to learn her trade and “oust the defendant from the premises”. She also claimed her husband installed $170,000 worth of equipment before she was shown the door. Under the posts, she added: “Many people have heard inaccurate propaganda from the shop’s employees, asking if I went to the Buncha Inala shop or got compensated, I would like to state that I LOST MY SHOP,” and, “I am the soul of Buncha Buncha.”
Huynh sued over four posts in the NSW District Court and convinced the court that “many people” in the local Vietnamese community had seen and discussed the claims. He told the court friends he played badminton with stopped inviting him “for parties”, and relatives began calling to ask about the posts. He was “shocked” by the allegations and chose “not to respond or react”, the court heard.
District Court Judge Brian Devereaux SC ordered Chu to pay $40,000 plus interest and to remove the posts. The judge noted she did not appear at the trial: “The defendant did not apologise, offer to make amends, make a settlement offer or remove the publications,” he said. “The defendant did not take part in the proceeding beyond filing a ‘holding defence”. “The nature of the defamatory allegations was serious.”
Both the original Stones Corner site and the Inala venue have since closed; the Inala restaurant has reopened under a different name with Huynh as manager.
Jonathan Jackson, 13th November 2025
