A FAMILY favourite restaurant has been rated one out of five by a hygiene inspector who told bosses they must make major improvements.

An inspection by the Colchester Council's environmental health theam in February found China Chef, Colchester, to have concerning levels of hygiene.

And in a revealing report, the Crouch Street West restaurant, which is known for attracting high-end customers, was rated one out of five for its food hygiene.

But owner Kenneth Lo, who has run restaurants in Colchester for 40 years, rubbished the report, stating customers would have noticed anything unhygienic as there is an open-plan kitchen for all to view.

The report states improvement is necessary in the restaurant’s hygienic handling of food, including preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage.

The cleanliness and condition of the facilities and building were branded generally satisfactory, however, in the management of food safety category, bosses were told major improvement is necessary.

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But Mr Lo disputed the rating, stating he believes new hygiene rules brought in by Covid-19 and staff absences on the day of the inspection hampered the inspector’s view.

He said: “China Chef has been a brand in the community for a long time, we wouldn’t have survived this long if our kitchen was as diabolical as the inspector said.

“We are a very high standard restaurant and always keep our kitchen clean, I presume the hygiene guy must’ve just had a bad day.

“The customers can see us preparing food as it is an open-plan kitchen, they love saying hello to us and we’ve never had a complaint from them about hygiene.”

The restaurant is now set to face a reinspection in the coming fortnight.

A spokesman for Colchester Council said: “When one of our environmental health officers undertook an inspection of China Chef, they found several serious food hygiene and health and safety violations.

“These included examples of poor hygiene practise and layout, and a food safety management system that had not been followed or maintained since 2019.

“The owners have since been given time to address these issues and a re-inspection is planned to check legal compliance and standards of hygiene, but that will not alter their current one star rating.”