Inspectors are investigating a York restaurant after giving it a rare zero out of five food hygiene rating.
Jorvik Spice, of 74 The Mount, is a popular Indian restaurant. On TripAdvisor it has a 4.3 out of 5 rating, with 259 ‘excellents’.
One customer who visited last month said it served “really lovely and different tasting food, cooked well and piping hot”.
City of York Council officials visited Jorvik Spice on 5 June this year and gave it the zero hygiene rating, meaning ‘urgent improvement necessary.
It was rated like this under the three categories:
- Food Hygiene and Safety – improvement necessary: “some major non-compliance with statutory obligations – more effort required to prevent fall in standards”
- Structural Compliance – major improvement necessary: “General failure to satisfy statutory obligations – standards generally low”
- Confidence in Management – major improvement necessary: “Varying record of compliance. Poor appreciation of hazards and control measures. No food safety management system”.
YorkMix asked City of York Council for the full hygiene report under Freedom Of Information rules.
We were refused. The council said: “The council understands there is a strong public interest to enable public to make informed choices in respect of food businesses within the local area and releasing of this information would assist the public in making such choices.
“However, the council routinely publishes food hygiene ratings awarded at inspections to enable these informed choices to be made.
“Furthermore, due to ongoing investigations the council believe that releasing the full hygiene reports at this time could prejudice the council’s ability to enforce the provisions of the Food Safety Act 1990 which will inhibit the council’s legal obligation to protect the public.”
It said the full report would be available “after the conclusion of the council’s investigations and any subsequent actions”.
We have contacted Jorvik Spice but have not received a response yet. If the restaurant contacts us (info@wp.theyorkmix.com) we will add their response.
On its website, Jorvik Spice says: “Welcome to Jorvik Spice, home of the finest Indian cuisine in York.
“We work diligently to serve you the best only. Every dish on the menu is always prepared with fineness and served hot.”