AN OXFORD Chinese restaurant is celebrating its highest ever hygiene rating as it continues to put a damning health report behind it.

Oxy Oriental is now rated five stars, meaning its food hygiene was was judged to be 'very good' when inspectors from Oxford City Council visited on June 27.

It continues the upward swing in standards for the restaurant, which was given four stars in February and praised then for its 'great improvement'.

Trade took a hit at the Ozone Leisure Park business in the usually-busy festive season when it was awarded a one-star rating in November after inspectors found a litany of cleanliness and food preparation issues.

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When a city council health inspector visited the popular buffet and takeaway opposite the Kassam Stadium last year they were concerned to discover staff preparing cooked meat in the raw meat area, along with a poor knowledge of food safety.

Wipes, meanwhile, were found to be almost three years out of date and ‘smelt bad’.

The cleanliness of fridges and food storage containers were also found to be ‘very dirty’.

Alan Lee, who has owned the restaurant for 13 years, previously said the poor rating, which means ‘major improvement necessary’, had been a ‘wake up call’ for the business.

Oxford Mail:

The 44-year-old added: "It wasn't that our food was making people ill it was things we had let slide but were easily fixed."

After the four star score was revealed earlier this year customers were quick to vow to return to the restaurant.

Several people, commenting on the Oxford Mail's story on Facebook, announced to their friends: "We can go back now!"

Another diner added: "Well done Oxy!! Amazing food and friendly service from every member of staff."

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Others said they had 'never had a bad meal there' and were planning to return in the near future.

The most recent reviews on Trip Advisor have been more mixed, however, with one diner saying things had 'really gone down hill' at the restaurant and criticised 'stale poppadoms' and 'grumpy staff'.

Another though declared it a 'fantastic choice' for a night out and said it's food was good value for money.

Oxy Oriental's website calls itself 'the best restaurant in Oxford' and that it has 'all the bases covered' offering Malaysian, Thai, Japanese and Chinese with a live Teppanyaki bar and freshly prepared sushi.

Under the current rating system it has been scored two stars since 2016, prior to its one-star score in November last year.