A restaurant owner says he is "absolutely destroyed" after scoring his first one-star hygiene rating in 40 years.

Baba Coban, of the newly-opened Cinar Kitchen in Sittingbourne, has hit out at Swale council after his business was marked down due to a damaged ceiling.

The 52-year-old, from Bexleyheath, opened the meze bar at the former Amalfi Italian restaurant in January.

However, following a routine inspection on January 20, the day after our reporter claimed to eat the "best lamb chop of their life" at the restaurant, and an enforcement revisit on February 23, it was slapped with the second lowest hygiene score.

Mr Coban, who has been in the restaurant business with his family since he was 12, claims the inspector took just five minutes to look around.

In tears he said: "This hygiene rating has absolutely destroyed me.

"I have opened 21 restaurants throughout my career and I even won a national award in 2017.

"The inspector came in and spent just five minutes looking around.

"The things they flagged didn't have anything to do with rodents, infestation, food safety or hygiene, nothing like that.

"When they came in January they flagged what they didn't like, which included some water damage on the ceiling, a new sink that needed to be installed and some sealing that needing to be done around our extractor.

"When they returned I showed them that we'd made the repairs, just like they'd asked, and yet we still have a one-star rating."

In the food and safety report shown to KentOnline by Mr Coban the inspector raised several concerns.

It read: "There was an area of damage to the ceiling above the stairs leaving to the downstairs storage area. This must be repaired.

"There is a small gap around the extractor duct where it goes out the windows. This gap must be filled to protect against pests."

Mr Coban claims to have repaired all the issues the inspector raised in their inspection.

He said: "I am not only the owner and manager here.

"I also help cook, serve and prepare the food as well, I know exactly what is happening at every stage.

"After the inspector came in January and flagged what they didn't like, we made the repairs straight away.

"When they returned I showed them that we'd made the repairs, just like they'd asked.

"I paid an extra £175 for them to come back sooner after they issued the one-star hygiene rating but they said it can take up to two months for that to be done."

As a result of the low score Mr Coban has sent the report to his solicitor.

He said: "The one-star rating has damaged my business completely.

"In a few weeks I was due to open restaurants under the same name as the Cinar Kitchen in Canterbury and Bexley village.

"But now the name has been tarnished and I've had to push the opening dates back completely and open them as something new.

"The rating isn't reflective of what we do here at all. We showed them our bookkeeping, we have no rodents or bad food, nothing like that.

"My staff are trained there are signs every where about keeping clean and looking after things including allergies.

"I just don't understand they can they do this to someone? I can't believe what has happened to us.

"Last weekend it was shared on Facebook and it affected the amount of customers we were getting straight away.

"The score is embarrassing and shameful to me."

However, it wasn't just issues with the restaurant's foundations that the inspector had.

The report continued: "At the time of the inspection there was a box containing seven packs of fresh quails in the walk-in chiller.

"Those were all labelled with a use by date of 17/01/2023, three days previously.

"Baba advised me that those were for staff use, however, they were not labelled for staff use and there is quail on the menu.

"Food that is past its use by date is considered unfit for consumption and should be disposed off.

"At the time of my inspection you had no food safety management system.

"You just have a documented system that sets out all the steps that you take to ensure that the food you produce is safe to eat."

However, Mr Coban has disputed the observation about the food management system.

He claims he has had this in place the entire time and the inspector never asked to see his books.

Mr Coban has numerous other Turkish and mezze restaurants across Bexley, London and Essex.

They include the former Abbey Grill, now the Luna Kitchen, in Waltham Abbey, and The Istanbul Kitchen in Bexleyheath – both of which have five-star ratings.
He said: "I have nothing to worry about with regards to the hygiene and safety of my food.

"They can come here at any time, on any day, they can come every day to see if they want.

"We have never had a formal complaint from our customers but if there have been occasions when people have been unhappy because service has taken too long and things like that I just give people their food for free.

"Their happiness over a meal is more important to me than money.

"At my Bexleyheath restaurants we are making £10,000 a day, £60-70,000 a week and during Mother's Day last year alone we made £30,000.

"I am good at what I do but that inspector has destroyed me completely.

"They have put my image down. Other restaurant owners used to come to me for help but they're not doing that any more.

"Anyone from the council and even our customers can ask to come and see inside our kitchen and behind the scenes at any time.

"We will show you everything."

A council spokesman confirmed that another enforcement revisit at the restaurant is due early next week.

They also stated a re-score inspection will be undertaken by May 6 to ensure compliance is maintained over a reasonable period of time.

The spokesman said: “The scores are put together following detailed and extensive inspections by officers, and are a snapshot of the standards of food hygiene found at the time of inspection.

"It is the responsibility of the business to always comply with food hygiene law.

“The inspection looks at handling of food, how food is stored, how food is prepared, cleanliness of facilities and how food safety is managed.

“We don’t release reports where matters are still subject to review by officers, and we will continue to work closely with the food business to make sure they implement the identified requirements within agreed timescales.

“As is the case with any food business in the borough, any re-score has to be undertaken in line with the Food Standard Agency brand standard for the Food Hygiene Rating Scheme.”