Owner of Chinese restaurant hit with a zero hygiene rating speaks out

The owner of a Chinese restaurant handed a zero hygiene rating has spoken out about the grading.
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William Chung, owner of the Golden Willow restaurant in Storrington, said the restaurant’s boiler had broken down and they were left without hot water on the day a Horsham District Council hygiene inspector visited.

“I’ve been running this restaurant for three years,” he said. “Nothing like this has gone wrong before.

“We have always had high ratings - we do our best.”

The Golden Willow restaurant in StorringtonThe Golden Willow restaurant in Storrington
The Golden Willow restaurant in Storrington
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The Golden Willow was given a zero-out-of-five rating following an assessment on November 9.

But Mr Chung explained: “On that day our boiler broke down. We got the plumbers in but they had to cut a pipe.

“There were holes in the wall and the ceiling was leaking. The plumbers stopped the water and fixed the problem.

“Before I did anything, the health inspector came in.”

He said he decided to close the restaurant - “they didn’t close us” - until the hot water came back on.

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He called back the plumbers who cleared a blockage in a pipe and the hot water was reinstated ‘instantly’.

But, he said, the inspector had also downgraded the restaurant “because we did not put out our health and safety books, but the council did not send us a new version - we still had the old version.”

He said everything was now fixed and in order and they were awaiting a new inspection when they expected to be rated 4 or 5.

“Everything has been done. We have high cleaning procedures and hygiene standards.”