A long-standing Indian restaurant has improved its hygiene rating following a reinspection.

Chesham Tandoori restaurant on Broad Street has celebrated its new four-out-of-five hygiene score after a “disappointing” zero rating in June.

The manager of Chesham Tandoori Sam Hasthnath, who has been with the business for almost 30 years, said the restaurant jumped to action “immediately” to improve, and they have managed to turn the situation around into a fresh start.

Chesham Tandoori has been a staple of the town’s food scene for more than 45 years, making it one of the oldest restaurants in the area.

Bucks Free Press: The Food Standards Agency has now rated Chesham Tandoori's hygiene standards as 'good'The Food Standards Agency has now rated Chesham Tandoori's hygiene standards as 'good' (Image: Newsquest)

He said: “We want our customers to know mistakes were made. Sometimes when you’re in business for such a long time, complacency can come in, we admit that. We took the situation extremely seriously.”

Although the initial health inspection report was “extremely disappointing,” the business knew they had to make changes and they wanted to do so quickly, Sam said.

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“We immediately trained all members of staff on safety, we invested heavily in the kitchen and that was done quickly. We now have regular, biweekly meetings to make sure everything is in order,” he explained.

He said the health inspector was “extremely happy about the progress we have made” during the latest inspection on October 10. 

“One of the things that has happened from this is it has reinvigorated us. Sometimes innovation can get a bit stale, but what this has allowed us to do is fixing things and improving processes. We have looked at the business and reinvigorated,” he said.

Currently, the situation for small businesses is “very difficult” due to reduced footfall amid the cost of living crisis.

“Small businesses are finding it quite tough. We’re not getting the footfall we used to,” he said.

Now the restaurant has increased its marketing, refreshed its menu with new additions alongside plans for discount schemes for customers.

While the exact new additions will be revealed in due course, they will include weekly activities and a new mid-week promotion.

“We’ll bring some new, exciting dishes to our already existing range,” Sam said.

With the festive season around the corner, Chesham Tandoori is also taking bookings and any special requests.

“We’re sorry for dropping the ball. We let ourselves down and our customers down, our customers who have been  coming to us for years.

“We feel we’re back on track, we’re really motivated to move forward from this experience,” he added.