A popular independent Indian restaurant has been handed a food hygiene rating of one just months after it re-opened following a fire. Food safety officers working on behalf of Swansea Council and the Food Standards Agency visited Mumbai Indian Kitchen, in Blackpill, Mumbles, on January 25 and their findings have now been shared.
For the categories of "hygienic food handling" and "management of food safety" food safety officers reported "major improvement necessary". However for the "cleanliness and condition of facilities and building" category food safety officers found conditions were "generally satisfactory". Nevertheless overall the restaurant was given a rating of one, which means "major improvement necessary".
The poor result comes just four months after the restaurant finally reopened after months of closure following a fire. Staff and customers were devastated in January, 2022 after an electrical fire ripped through the business and caused serious damage to the structure of the restaurant and everything inside.
Read more: Family apologises as popular Indian restaurant gets food hygiene score of one
Pictures from the scene showed black smoke coming from the rear of the building while crews on ladders tried to extinguish the flames. At the time severe damage could only be seen to the roof of the building but photos shared by restaurant staff later showed the serious damage to the inside of the restaurant too.
"The whole restaurant was burnt down. We had to re-strip and rebuild, refurbish everything," manager Naz Ahmed told us last year. "It's a new structure and we now have an open kitchen where you can see your meal cooked right in front of you. It's a family business – we've had it for 25 years. My grandad works as the head chef alongside other family members. We are really excited to be re-opening."
Confirming the restaurant's closure on January 29, 2022, a short statement on the Mumbai Indian Kitchen page on social media said: "To all our customers it is with a really heavy heart that we are writing this but due to an electrical fire within the restaurant we will be closed until further notice." Six months later staff showed photos of construction workers and employees rebuilding the restaurant from the ground up before changing their logo on September 4, writing "Sometimes you just have to start over differently."
On Saturday, November 5, staff finally confirmed that the restaurant was approaching its opening date. An update read: "The countdown has started and we are excited to open our doors to you again and show you all the changes that have been made at the Mumbai Indian Kitchen. We have been working hard behind the scenes to get our restaurant up to its full standards ready for all our customers to enjoy. We will be opening our doors on Thursday, November 10!"
This isn't the first time Mumbai Indian Kitchen has had a one food hygiene rating. In 2018-19 the restaurant, then known as Mumbai Indian Restaurant, had a one rating which was downgraded to a zero, the lowest possible rating, in January 2020.
In 2015 the restaurant had a rating of a four and in 2017 it had a three. Usually after scoring a premises with a rating of one food safety officers give restaurant staff a list of required improvements and recommendations. Once those are completed staff can request a "re-score" and food safety officers will return to the business to re-evaluate though restaurants may have to wait several months for this visit.
WalesOnline has contacted Mumbai Indian Kitchen for a statement regarding its recent food hygiene score. We will add it to this article when we hear back from them. We will also add the restaurant's future re-score if it requests one from food safety officers.
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