A CHINESE restaurant claiming to be the best in Oxford has once again been hit with a low hygiene score from unimpressed health inspectors.

Sojo's owner, Shuman Tse, who has run the Hythe Bridge Street business for the past 15 years, however, said he 'stands by' the quality of food and hygiene standards and has called the two-star rating 'unfair'.

Oxford Mail:

It comes after the restaurant was temporarily closed by the council in August following evidence of cockroaches in the food, rat droppings and urine in the kitchens and thick accumulations of grease and dirt.

At the time Mr Tse promised the restaurant would ‘do better’ and reassured customers the kitchens had been cleaned, blaming the pest control company he had used for the problems.

Read our original story - Sojo restaurant closed after customer found cockroach in meal

But when the restaurant was inspected by Oxford City Council’s health team on March 21 while it was rated ‘good’ for food hygiene and safety it was judged ‘improvement necessary’ over its cleanliness and building conditions, with only 'some' confidence in management.

Mr Tse said: "This was separate from what happened last year and we have pest control coming in every two weeks.

Oxford Mail:

"It was all down to hand washing facilities this time but we fixed that the next day and are expecting a follow up inspection."

He added: "I stand by the restaurant and I think we are still the best in Oxford. In my opinion the rating was unfair as we fixed the problem straight away."

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The restaurant owner, who is originally from Hong Kong, revealed business had fallen since last year's problems but said all restaurants were suffering in and around George Street due to high rates and parking costs.

He added: "Turnover is about the same though as we started working with Deliveroo two months ago and overnight saw a big jump.

"We used to have about 10 bills a week from takeaways and now it is 50 every day."

Oxford Mail:

The often-praised restaurant picked up the 'best restaurant' award in The Oxford Mail's food awards last year and won a rave review from Times food critic Giles Coren in 2009.

Recent customer reviews have been more mixed though, with one diner on Trip Adviser writing: "This used to be a good restaurant but lunch today was disappointing."

More of the latest Oxfordshire food hygiene ratings

Another adding: "We have eaten here for many years. The food has always been amazing. Not so now."

The restaurant still has its fans though with the most recent review praising Sojo as 'truly wonderful'.