‘This clearly was not okay’: Top-ranked Indian restaurant owner responds to ‘terrible’ hygiene rating

The owner of a top-rated Indian restaurant in Bristol has expressed his ‘shock’ after it was given a one-star food hygiene rating - and has told his side of the story in a bid to uphold the venue’s reputation.

Blue Ginger in Whitchurch is ranked ninth out of 1,166 Bristol eateries on TripAdvisor, with reviewers praising the Bengali restaurant for ‘super tasty food’ and ‘great hosting’.

The venue was even awarded the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice badge for 2021.

So it was unexpected for customers and staff alike when it was given a one-star food hygiene rating following a recent inspection by the Food Standards Agency.

Food safety officers said ‘major improvement’ was ‘necessary’ in food handling, cleanliness and condition of facilities at the Gilda Parade restaurant during their visit on October 18.

This week, owner Fayzul Hoque said that he and his team were ‘still in shock’ at receiving the rating.

In a statement to BristolWorld, he said: “Blue Ginger has always strived to be the best it possibly can, to provide excellent food and service to customers local and afar.

“Therefore, the recent rating does not reflect our hard work and efforts here. We always put customers first.”

Mr Hoque said staff had made ‘swift changes’ to a number of factors he believes lead to the ‘terrible’ rating.

These include a bicycle being left in the food store room, food containers not having lids and and a lack of ‘use by’ labels.

“Food ingredients were not in lidded containers and instead had a strong film that was replaced every six hours to maintain the ingredients’ safety, and then placed in the fridge depending on what the ingredient was,” the statement said.

“This clearly was not okay as one of the containers did have a lid that had a slight crack in it.

“This has now been replaced along with containers now having ‘Use By’ labels on the lids.

“The only reason we did not have ‘Use By’ labels was because we would only use our cooked food within 48 hours and dispose of any beyond that period even though the time given was 72 hours.

“In addition to this we received a 1-star rating for not having a clean can opener.

“This was our fault completely - we should have checked upon every can opener that was in the kitchen.

“The only reason this can opener had been overseen... it is barely used compared to our other can openers that are used daily.

“We can reassure our customers that we take great pride in food safety and the last thing we want is someone to have an upset stomach.”

To further reinforce Blue Ginger’s food safety procedures, Mr Hoque added that any staff member who handles food would undergo their Level 2 Food Hygiene training a second time ‘so that they are made aware of the rules and correct guidelines that must be followed on a day-to-day basis’.

The statement continued: “Additionally, we did not have our SFBB Manual (Safe Food, Better Business Manual) within the restaurant during the time of the visit which had led to the one-star.

“This was not in the restaurant at the time as a staff member had taken it to read and did not put it back in its original place.

“We have made it clear to staff members not to remove this manual again.

“Our allergen information records had also not been acceptable to the health officer, so they have given us their system to use instead which is now in full action.

“As some of you may already know, we do check if a customer has any allergies and most of the time the customer does ask us if a certain dish has gluten in it, for example.”

Mr Hoque concluded that staff were all ‘deeply concerned and still in shock’, but were doing ‘every correct thing’ to ensure customers could still look forward to dining at Blue Ginger.

“Customers are more than welcome to visit the kitchen with prior appointments if they would like to check how our system is now,” the statement said.

“Should anyone have any questions or concerns regarding this whole incident, please do not hesitate to contact me. We are going to make things right and will continue to uphold our reputation in Bristol.

“Hope to see you all soon - thank you.”