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The co-owner of one of two initially E-graded restaurants in Auckland has invited customers to come in unannounced to see the kitchen after an unfortunate problem with pests.
Nooreizzrul Ifzat Noorul Nazir, known as Noor, who operates the Songket Malaysian Cafe at Kilham Ave in Northcote, said after three years of an A-grade certificate from Auckland Council, the unthinkable happened when he returned from the summer holidays to find cockroaches crawling through a hole near the kitchen sink.
The Malaysian restaurant, alongside Northcote’s foodcourt, and United Coffee Nation on Victoria St opposite SkyCity in the central city were issued with an E-grade rating during the four months from September 2023 to January this year.
Photos from food inspectors show breaches of food and safety compliance at food establishments in Auckland. Photo / Auckland Council
E ratings are given for critical risks, such as an out-of-control pest infestation or an absolutely filthy kitchen, and the affected businesses are forced to close temporarily.
Another 41 food operators were given a D grade, meaning they require enforcement by food inspectors, and a wide range of issues need to be rectified. Of the 41 shops, 35 were reissued with A grades after rectifying breaches.
Noor said because his restaurant is in the same building as the foodcourt, there is a chance of infestation and he has always kept a high standard of cleanliness, including a deep clean once a week.
He said staff did everything they could with the infestation - patched the hole, applied insect spray, and used a bug bomb to improve hygiene.
When council officers came to inspect the premises everything was going well until a tiny cockroach came crawling through the wall when the inspection was nearly finished, and things went downhill, Noor said.
After three years of being A-grade, Noor said the restaurant received an E-grade rating. He said since then, he has spent hundreds of dollars on pest control products and received a D grading for at least three months.
“After that, A-grade is in line of sight,” he said, adding customers are welcome to come unannounced into the kitchen at any time to “be the judge”.
“I’m just hoping this misunderstanding will be cleared up soon as it greatly affects our restaurant that we’ve put years of hard work to build up,” he said.
Nooreizzrul Ifzat Noorul Nazir, co-owner of Songket Malaysia Cafe in Northcote, received an E rating from Auckland Council but hopes to soon be back to an A-grade. Photo / Jason Oxenham
On its Facebook page, The Beekeepers Wife cafe and restaurant at Riverhead said it was initially graded a D but has since been reassessed as A-grade.
In a statement, the restaurant said it received an A grade on January 24 and is waiting for the certificate to proudly display on the wall.
“The facts are that on our initial inspection, we were given a preliminary D grade due to birds flying into the dining area of the restaurant (a common issue for cafes globally). Three days after this initial inspection, the council visited again and as we were able to instantly rectify these issues, we received our A grade.
“As you can understand, something like this is extremely damaging to a restaurant’s reputation and stressful for the business owners and their staff. We want to assure you that there were no food safety issues concerning the preparation, storage, or labeling of our food.
“We also want to thank those who chose to comment in support of our business, instead of choosing to add insult to injury by making further offensive comments,” the statement said.
Council environmental health team leader Alan Ahmu said a complaint initially received by the council related to birds at The Beekeepers Wife, but a food safety officer found several issues on inspection which contributed to the premises receiving a D-grade rating.
“These included the overall standard of cleanliness at the premises, training procedures and food preparation,” he said, confirming the issues had been addressed after a food safety officer returned to the cafe on January 24.
Jessica Chand, of the Vanilla Plant Based Kitchen in Howick, said she had always had an A-grade rating, but the downgrade to D grade was due to needing to improve the temperature checking and recording systems, along with obtaining a new ambient cabinet.
She said the lower grading was only in place for nine days before the A grade was reinstated after the issues were corrected.
“Coincidentally, I actually had a premise inspection booked in for today with Auckland council, where my A-grade food certificate was maintained easily,” she said.
Cynthia Leung, manager of the Howick Village Cafe, said the business had just celebrated 10 years with the community late last year when it was downgraded from an A to a D grade.
She said it came about from the council requiring the cafe to upgrade its shared toilet, which required work on the plumbing, ventilation and a broken door. After fixing the issues, she said a council inspector returned and issued an A-grade certificate on January 16.
