November 9, 2018 4.49 pm This story is over 64 months old

Chinese restaurant defends one star hygiene rating

“We have to clean behind the cooker and sort out our paperwork”
The Taste is a popular restaurant. Photo: Connor Creaghan for The Lincolnite

A popular Chinese buffet restaurant which was given a ‘one’ hygiene rating has defended the quality of their food.

The Taste on Silver Street became one of the lowest rated restaurants in the city when they were inspected by the City of Lincoln Council.

Now a staff member at the restaurant has told The Lincolnite that they have appealed the rating: “We are expecting to get a higher score next time.

“We are going to be reinspected by food hygiene officers next week. They told us that we have to clean behind the cooker and sort out our paperwork.”

The spokesperson also claimed that the restaurant was taken over by new owners three days after the inspection.

Staff were told by food hygiene officers after their inspection on October 2 that “major improvement” was needed when preparing and cooking the food they sell.

At the time of writing, the restaurant is still displaying a food hygiene rating of ‘four’ in the window.

The rating given to The Taste was made up of a range of three factors:

  • Hygienic food handling – Including preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage – Major improvement necessary
  • Cleanliness and condition of facilities and building –Including having appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control to enable good food hygiene – Generally satisfactory
  • Management of food safety – System or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat, evidence that staff know about food safety, and the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future – Major improvement necessary

It markets itself as an all-you-can-eat buffet of Chinese, Malaysian Thai and Japanese dishes in an airy, modern space.

No other restaurants in the city have received a lower food hygiene rating.