22 May - Bexley. Off their noodles?
You
may consider that someone who serves up a maggot sandwich once a week has no right to
lament the shocking hygiene record of Bexley’s take-aways, but the day after I read
Hugh Neal’s 12th May blog I spotted one
a mile or so from chez-Hugh with
a 5-star notice in its window.
So convinced was I that someone was ’avin’ a larf, that I rushed home to check the on line database, but I had to
metaphorically eat humble pie, because it is true, there is a 5-star rated Chinese
take-away in Lower Belvedere.
It’s a good job too because otherwise
the Which? report on Food Hygiene issued today would have given
Bexley an even lower rating - if Teresa Town was not already bottom of their list. (Click the table to enlarge it.)
Without inside knowledge it is hard to say whether Bexley council sets unreasonably high standards
during its inspections but one thing looks likely. They need to do more to improve matters. Bexley
achieved the worst scores in the country when the Food Standards Agency
launched their scheme and nothing has changed since. Perhaps it’s a factor
that Bexley levies the highest
charges for eradicating rats. The worst area, DA7, is centred on Long Lane running from close
to the top of Knee Hill to the Civic Centre itself.
Its exterior may be unimposing and a pre-1990 style phone number indicates when
the sign writers may have last visited but if you don’t fancy a dose of dysentery
with your Chop Suey then it would seem you could do a lot worse than try the Double
Dragon at No. 5 Gilbert Road, Belvedere, a few yards east of the Tesco Express.
Telephone 020 8311 5121, 5 p.m. till late.
Which report on food hygiene. Six of the country’s ten worst postcodes are in Bexley.