Food hygiene ratings are more important than ever when choosing somewhere to eat out or grab a takeaway from, so we have put together a list of restaurants with the best possible food hygiene ratings.

Restaurants across the county are routinely visited by a food hygiene inspector form the council and given a rating of zero to five.

What do the numbers mean?

0 - urgent improvement necessary

1 - major improvements necessary

2 - improvements necessary

3 - business generally satisfactory

4 - business good on assessment

5 - business seen as very good

Each eatery is marked on the categories; Food Hygiene and Safety, Structural Compliance and Confidence in Management.

Oxford Mail: Florence Fowler and chef Attila Fulop at The Magdalen Arms in 2019 Pictures: Richard Cave

Restaurants, cafes and takeaways with three consecutive five star hygiene ratings are given an 'elite' rating. This is to show customers if a restaurant has a consistent record of achieving the top Food Hygiene score.

Popular Mediterranean restaurant Gees, part of The Oxford Collection company, scored five stars consecutively.

Rebecca Mofford, Director of Operations at The Oxford Collection, said: “We are immensely proud to have been awarded the highest possible hygiene rating for the last three years across all of our restaurants within The Oxford Collection; Quod Restaurant, Bar & Terrace, Parsonage Grill and Gees Restaurant.

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Oxford Mail: Gee's Restaurant. Picture: Ed Nix

“We deliver exceptional food and drinks, prepared and delivered to the highest quality. Our uncompromisingly high standards of hygiene are a key component to our guests’ experience.

“It’s a joy to welcome back our loyal friends and followers of The Oxford Collection.”

A milkshake and smoothy bar with more than 200 flavours scored top marks and an 'elite' rating this year. The independent business Moo-Moo’s is located in the historic Covered Market in Oxford city centre.

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Owner of Moo- Moo’s Bina Vadher-Lowe said she was ‘thrilled’ to get five stars in May. The business owner pays attention to food hygiene ratings especially when she goes out to eat. She said: “We take into account other people’s ratings: because it is so important to us, we feel with hygiene standards, it should be important to everybody.”

Oxford Mail: Moo-Moo's milkshake cup.

These are the restaurants in Oxfordshire that have been given 'elite' five star food hygiene ratings in the last six months:

  • The Lamb Inn, Sheep Street, Burford
  • Gees, 61A Banbury Road, Oxford
  • The Magdalen Arms, 243 Iffley Road, Oxford
  • The Mad Hatter, The Cricketers Arms, 43 Iffley Road, Oxford
  • The Porterhouse Grill And Rooms, Kite Inn, 68-69 Mill Street, Oxford
  • Joe's Bar And Grill, 260 Banbury Road, Oxford
  • The Garden Cafe And Beehive Recovery Group, Restore Learning Centre, Manzil Way, Oxford
  • Moo-Moo's, 34-35 Covered Market, Market Street, Oxford
  • Snax, 21A Mill Street, Eynsham, Witney
  • The Tea Set, 24 High Street, Chipping Norton
  • Huffkins, 98 High Street, Burford

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