One of Milton Keynes most popular restaurants gets disappointingly low food hygiene rating

One of MK’s most highly-rated restaurant on Tripadvisor has been given an low score by Food Standards Agency inspectors.

Antep Kitchem (Palm) in Stratford Road, Wolverton, was inspected on October 3 and given a rating of just 2, which means improvements are necessary.

But this week a spokesman for the Turkish restaurant assured customers that all the required improvements had already been done and they were expecting the inspector to return shortly and elevate the rating.

"I was just little things and nothing that affected our food or hygiene. We done all the work they told us to. We did it immediately,” he said.

Antep, which was taken over by new management last year, has 970 reviews on Tripadvisor and an overall score of 4.5 stars.

The reviews cover food, service and value and 763 people have rated the place as “excellent”, while 119 say it is “very good”.

The Antep spokesman said” “People need not worry. Our chefs are the same and our food is as good as ever.”

The Food Standard Agency’s scheme gives businesses a rating from 0 (major improvement is necessary) to 5 (very good), and this is displayed at their premises and online so people can make more informed choices about where to buy and eat food.

Ratings are a snapshot of the standards of food hygiene found at the time of inspection. They cover handling of food, how food is stored, how food is prepared, cleanliness of facilities and how food safety is managed.

But they do not cover the quality of the food, customer service, culinary skill, presentation or comfort.

Other new Food Standard Agency ratings in Milton Keynes have gone to TNI Catering at Milton Keynes Eventing Centre in Hanslope, which was awarded a 4, and New China Garden takeaway in Tower Crescent, Neath Hill, also given a 4.

The rating of 4 means hygiene standards are “good”.

The MK Viet Kitchen in Church Street, Wolverton, has been awarded a rating of 3, which means hygiene standards are “generally satisfactory”.

You can check the FSA rating of any local restaurant or takeaway here.