A top-ranking Oxfordshire restaurant on Tripadvisor has drastically improved its standards after receiving an abysmal food hygiene rating.

Cafe Le Raj on Horsefair in Chipping Norton is an Indian restaurant which was listed among the top eateries for Indian cuisine on Tripadvisor in 2022.

West Oxfordshire District Council’s Environmental Health team begged to differ though when they visited on Thursday, February 15.

Stating that 'major improvement' was needed, inspectors slapped the business with a poor one-out-of-five rating.

READ MORE: Top Tripadvisor Indian restaurant given one-star food hygiene rating

Oxford Mail: Cafe Le Raj's team were all smiles after the score was improved.Cafe Le Raj's team were all smiles after the score was improved. (Image: Cafe Le Raj)

This has since been upgraded to a five-out-of-five score and the family in charge feels vindicated having made several changes.

Shafrin Ahmed, daughter of owner Salman, said: “When we received the low score, it was indeed disappointing as Cafe Le Raj had always held its stars above a 4, so receiving a 1 did come as a shock.

“We felt it was a setback and not entirely reflective of the hard work we put into maintaining our restaurant, which is over three decades old.

“Despite this issue, we all agreed it was time for a fresh start, so we completely revamped the restaurant’s look, including updating both the interior and the kitchen.

“Now that our score has improved, we feel a sense of relief and validation. It confirms that our efforts to address the issues were effective and appreciated.”

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Salman took over Cafe Le Raj in 2009 and the family has now implemented several key improvements to enhance their score.

“We implemented more thorough cleaning schedules to ensure all areas of the dining and kitchen meet the high hygiene standards,” said Shafrin.

“Staff have also been provided with additional training on best practices for food safety and cleanliness.

“Some of our kitchen equipment has been upgraded to more modern, easier-to-clean machinery.

“We have established a more thorough inspection routine to catch and correct any potential issues before they become problems.”

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Oxford Mail: The rating was improved to a five-out-of-five score.The rating was improved to a five-out-of-five score. (Image: Cafe Le Raj)

The previous report stated that The eatery’s hygienic food handling which includes the preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage of food was deemed to require 'improvement'.

Inspectors also saw improvement to be 'necessary' when assessing the cleanliness and condition of both the facilities and the building.

This refers to having an appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control to enable good food hygiene.

The report then took a major swipe at the restaurant stating that the management of food safety required 'major improvement'.

This regards having a system or checks in place to ensure that food sold or served is safe to eat as well as if there is evidence that staff know about food safety.

It also concerns whether or not the food safety officer has confidence that standards will be maintained in future.

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Oxford Mail: Cafe Le Raj has seen a major improvement this year.Cafe Le Raj has seen a major improvement this year. (Image: Cafe Le Raj)

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