Wok ’n Noodle Takapuna owner attacked outside his restaurant

A North Shore restaurateur received burns after a man attacked him while he was sitting outside his own restaurant.

Chang Woo Lee told the Herald he had finished a run when he bought a coffee and sat outside Wok ’n Noodle href="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/takapuna/" target="_self" rel="" title="https://www.nzherald.co.nz/topic/takapuna/">Takapuna, a restaurant he owns, and called a friend on Thursday afternoon.

Lee was speaking to his friend in Korean while wearing wireless earbuds when he noticed another man standing across the road shouting obscenities towards him.

“He just starts yelling at me, ‘Don’t talk like that ... shut the f*** up' ... I was confused on whether he was talking to me or someone else.”

A few minutes later, the man crossed the road and began yelling at Lee directly before attempting to punch him.

When Lee dodged the attack, the man struck his coffee cup, spraying the hot liquid across Lee’s face and chest.

Chang Woo Lee received burn injuries outside Wok ’n Noodle Takapuna after a man attacked him outside his restaurant. Photo / Supplied

“Then he just looks at me: ‘Would you like to fight me? Would you like to fight me?’”

When Lee declined his offer to fight at The Strand nearby, the man walked off towards Takapuna Library.

Footage of the exchange was captured on the restaurant’s security camera.

Lee said he called police while he could see the man, but they were too busy to respond.

The restaurant owner was left with minor burns to his face and chest, which he said had mostly disappeared.

He said he didn’t seek immediate medical treatment as he had to work at Wok ’n Noodle’s Mt Eden branch that night.

Lee said he didn’t know why the man had confronted him, although he wondered if the man thought he was talking to him in Korean.

He claimed he had seen the attacker walk along the street several times previously, and that customers recognised seeing the man in nearby suburbs.

Lee said he feared the attacker would come back and possibly target him, his workers, or unsuspecting citizens nearby.

“That’s in the public, so maybe he can do [that to] anyone.”

Police told the Herald they received a report about an earlier incident where a man was yelled at by another, and that a further report was to be made.

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