The owner of a popular Canberra vegetarian restaurant was morally opposed to wiping out a cockroach infestation because it would have involved "killing little insects".

Kingsland Vegetarian Restaurant was fined A$16,000 ($17,000) on Thursday for eight food safety breaches.

ACT Health inspectors discovered the live and dead cockroaches in the kitchen of the eatery in April 2013.

The threat to public health through contaminated food meant the inspectors shut the "unhygienic" restaurant the next day.

But on Thursday the ACT Magistrates Court was told thatthe restaurant, which is still trading, has since fixed the problems and won awards for its vegetarian and vegan fare.

Kingsland Vegetarian Restaurant owner Khanh Hoang was originally charged with 12 breaches of the Food Act.

He pleaded guilty to eight offences and appeared for sentence in the ACT Magistrates Court last Thursday.

Court documents said the eatery - which specialises in vegetarian cuisine - had been granted an operation certificate in December 2012.

Inspectors raided the restaurant four months later after a public tip-off to discover the breaches, which included a cockroach infestation, incorrect food storage, a dirty kitchen and equipment and obstructed and faulty handwashing facilities.

Court documents included pictures that show a number of live and dead cockroaches around the kitchen, including close to cooking equipment.

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Vegetarian restaurateur refused to kill cockroaches