BOSSES at an Italian restaurant in Crowthorne have slammed a food hygiene rating as “unfair” because an inspection came at a “busy” period last year.

This comes as inspectors found out-of-date mussels, lettuce stored next to raw chicken and raw eggs whites being used to make tiramisu during a November 2019 visit to Villa Roma. 

The eatery received a ‘two’ rating in December meaning ‘improvement is necessary’.

The High Street store operates as a cafe and takeaway and offers traditional Italian dishes as well as sandwiches, desserts and breakfast.

READ MORE: Decision made on controversial plan to sell booze 24/7 at 'noisy' garage

Food hygiene inspectors rated the store’s food hygiene and safety as ‘poor’, ranked its structural compliance as ‘fair’ and their confidence in the shop’s management as ‘fair’.

Bracknell News:

But manager Besnik Xhaferaj told the News the rating came down to document errors.

He said: “The reason we got the rating we had was because we had not done our paperwork.

“We are doing a bit of work to make an enquiry for the [food hygiene inspector] lady to re-rate us.

“We thought it was unfair.

READ MORE: Chris Eubank spotted in KFC takeaway

“We were quite busy [in November] and we didn’t have enough time to sort it out.

“Our kitchen is open. There is nothing to be hidden.”

Bracknell News:

The News has seen the report produced by the food hygiene examiner, which outlined the issues raised during the inspection.

It showed Villa Roma did not have:

  • A cleaning schedule
  • Temperature logs
  • A food safety management system
  • A working commercial dishwasher at the time of the inspection

READ MORE: What you told the council about plans to build 4,000 homes in the countryside

Inspectors also found a tub of uncooked mussels in white wine sauce past their use-by date, which were later thrown away.

Bracknell News:

Unwrapped lettuce was also discovered stored on the same fridge shelf as wrapped raw chicken, something examiners said could lead to bacterial contamination.

The eatery’s tiramisu was being made with raw shell egg whites, which may create a risk of salmonella in uncooked or lightly cooked dishes, according to the food safety experts.