A Merseyside restaurant has been given the lowest food hygiene rating following an inspection earlier this year.
Aintree Tandoori on Ormskirk Road has come under criticism from Sefton Council following an inspection on May 17 where inspectors issued the restaurant with the lowest rating possible. The restaurant responded by claiming that inspectors have been invited back since and has looked to reassure guests the best it can.
The restaurant has previously never been rated below three since its first inspection in 2015, with it being rated five out of five in January 2019 before being given a three in December 2020. Within the report from the Food Standards Agency, it reports that the cleanliness and condition of the facilities and building need "major improvement".
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This includes having the appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control to "enable good food hygiene". As well as the facilities and building, the management of food safety also need "major improvement". This covers the system or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat, staff know about food safety, and the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future.
The hygienic food handling of the restaurant is classed as needing improvement which includes the preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage of food.
The owner of Aintree Tandoori said: "On the 17th May 2022 Food Safety & Hygiene Regulations team from Sefton Council visited my restaurant and unexpectedly declined my restaurant food hygiene from 4 to 0. It's not so unhygienic as a 0 rating.
"Our food quality and preparation process was definitely good. It was very unexpected to get a zero as the food hygiene rating, because I have been running this business for the last eight years and my first hygiene rating was up to four. Our dining area, food serving and food preparation are outstanding.
"It was not anticipated to get a direct zero from four. It doesn’t make any sense to me.
"Anyway, after their first inspection, I had requested them to revisit my restaurant. They assured me they could revisit my restaurant. Week after week I tried to contact them to do an inspection again. They said every time that they would come but didn’t.
"Suddenly yesterday I saw that they published it. I can assure you and all my respective customers that my restaurant's food is completely hygienic and fresh now. I can bet that the food hygiene rating will be increased to five if they revisit."
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