Popular city bar awarded one star for food hygiene

POPULAR Caribbean bar and grill Revolucion de Cuba has been awarded a one-star food hygiene rating at its Cardiff venue.

The chain, part of the same group as Revolution in Castle Street, focuses on selling premium Cuban rums from around the world, Latin-inspired dishes and tapas.

The company has 17 restaurants in major cities around the UK and its only Welsh branch is in The Friary in Cardiff city centre. On January 31, hygiene inspectors found the Cardiff branch was not meeting standards and handed it the low score.

Dominic Doherty, area manager, said the restaurant has now addressed all concerns and are confident they will be given a much higher score when re-inspected.

Food hygiene inspectors assess how hygienically food is handled, how it is prepared, cooked, reheated, cooled and stored.

The condition of the structure of the buildings – the cleanliness, layout, lighting, ventilation and other facilities are also reviewed

They also check how the business manages and records what it does to make sure food is safe. Following an inspection each place is given a score ranging from zero to five.

These are then made publicly available by the Food Standards Agency (FSA). Five means the business has “very good” hygiene standards.

A score of two signifies improvement is necessary, while a score of one means “major improvement” is needed.

According to the Food Standards Agency, when the inspector visited the restaurant in January they found major improvements were needed to make sure food “is safe to eat”. When the inspector monitored food handling, they found staff needed to improve “hygienic handling of food including preparation, cooking, reheating, cooling and storage”.

They also found improvements were needed to the “cleanliness and condition” of facilities and the building, including having an appropriate layout, ventilation, hand-washing facilities and pest control.

Mr Doherty said: “We were having some management issues in the kitchen which is the reason for the low score.

“They (Food Standards Agency) came back and said they were pleased with the changes but we’re still waiting for them to come back and re-score.

“We applied a few weeks after the initial inspection but obviously they only have a finite amount of resources.

“When they come back I’m sure we’ll get a much higher score.”

Mr Doherty said since the inspection the restaurant has brought in a new management system and staff have addressed all the concerns raised.

“We’ve been very open about it. The sticker is on the door, it’s not hidden,” he added.

“With these things you just need to take the medicine and get on with it.”