Kells restaurant responds after discovery of live rat near kitchen forced its temporary closure

A Kells restaurant closed down by food regulators after a rat was seen near a defective open drain in the yard of the premises has pledged its ongoing commitment to "maintain the highest standards of service and provide customers with a quality dining experience."

An officer of the Health Service Executive ordered the Khyber Garden restaurant to close after an inspection under the Food safety of Ireland Act 1998.
The official said the order was being made because there was likely to be “a grave and immediate danger to public health” in or on the premises.

A report on the restaurant said that rat droppings were evident in the boiler room of the kitchen and on the floor in the dry goods food storage area. A rat was observed in the rear yard beside a defective open drain. The rat emanated from the drain when the tap at the kitchen area was switched on. The kitchen opens directly onto the yard area and the kitchen door was “wide open” at the time of the signing of sighting of the rat.

“The evidence of rat droppings and sighting of a live rat at the time of inspection pose a grave and immediate danger to public health and the risk of contamination of food with pathogenic bacteria and foreign  matter”, the HSE official said. The closure order was signed on 14th September and lifted on the 21st September. In a follow-up letter to the Market St restaurant the HSE inspector said that "all matters had now been remedied to my satisfaction" and he lifted the closure order with immediate effect.

In a statement to the Meath Chronicle the management of the Khyber Garden said: "An issue arose which caused the temporary closure. This problem was located in the outdoor drains in a communal / shared yard at the rear of the premises. We have rectified this issue in compliance with FSAI standards and wish to reassure our customers that not only is this problem rectified, but that we will continue to strive to provide excellence in standards, not only in compliance with the Food Safety Authority, but with a view to exceeding their requirements.

"We have now fully re-opened and look forward to welcoming our Customers back. We pledge our ongoing commitment to maintaining high standards of service and to providing our customers with a quality dining experience.

"The Management would especially like to thank local businesses for their kind words and messages of support during this time. We would also like to extend a special “Thank You” to all our loyal customers for all your support. Your confidence in our quality service has not gone unnoticed!

"On that note, we wish to welcome back all our Customers (past, present & future) and we look forward to continuing to service the community and ensuring that they have an enjoyable dining."