IN THE POO
Before I report on the appalling state of the toilet which we found here, and the complacent publication of a grade 5 Hygiene Certificate awarded by the 'Foods Standards Agency', which is manifestly not in the public interest, I will comment on the food and drink we purchased. The 'we' are me, my wife and her two sisters. All of us have experience in 'food hygiene', handling, and storage.
The food and drinks we all thought were good, fairly priced and served quickly. The place is obviously well patronized and there were only a couple of tables free when we arrived at lunch time.
I asked for a decaff coffee with my cheese scone and was brusquely told 'you'll have to get that yourself down there'… 'pardon, where down there?' 'The coffee machine is being repaired.'
Well, we weren’t off to a good start here. Behind the counter, in the little space available, two large men were grappling with a large coffee machine. 'Can I have decaff tea then?' I ventured. In the little space available the serving girl made a pot of tea, slopped water into the saucer, poured out some milk and put it on a tray which she handed to me. 'Mmm', thought I. My wife had an individual quiche and salad, which she said was fine.
As I was pouring the spilt tea back into the pot and stirring it, I noticed two senior ladies talking outside the toilet, which is just beside the service area. It has, complying with regulations, an inner and outer door. I could not hear what these two ladies were saying but there appeared to be some concern about the toilet. I did not go into the toilet, but my wife did and so did one of her sisters. My wife told me that the state of the toilet was filthy and that her sister was shocked.
Clearly the toilet had not been cleaned for some time. Poo was around the rim, and it was also deeply in the brush. My wife asked to see the Manager immediately. He, a young man, came out from where he was working making up sandwiches and politely asked my wife how he could help.
He was initially cautious, expecting a food complaint and was visibly shocked when he was told that the issue was the filthy toilet and the state, particularly of the toilet brush. My wife said, 'I can go over the road and buy a new one for you at £1.49'. 'I didn't know we had a toilet brush in there.' ,he replied. 'One of the girls goes in there and cleans it when there is time. I have told Goulds that we need another toilet but that has been ignored.'
Personally, with this sad state of affairs, I am most alarmed by the apparent shortfall by the 'Food Standards Agency' (FSA) in conducting the required formal comprehensive checks of the whole premises. It is not just the food preparation area that must be inspected but the whole of the café to ensure that there is no shortfall in hygiene anywhere.
I think that in the public interest the FSA needs to publicly explain, in the next few days, why they have issued a 5 HYGIENE RATING to such a filthy café and what they intend to do now.
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