45 Maidstone borough food hygiene inspections were rated in July 2026. 43 scored the top mark of 5, one ice cream van scored 4, and Wok Kitchen on Union Street was rated 2, improvement necessary.

Food safety inspectors rated 45 Maidstone borough businesses in July, and all but two walked away with the top score. 43 premises were rated 5, “very good”, one mobile ice cream trader took a 4, and one town centre takeaway, Wok Kitchen on Union Street, was rated 2, which the Food Standards Agency defines as “improvement necessary”. (Food Standards Agency, food hygiene ratings register)

The figures come from the FSA’s public register, which records every rating given under the national Food Hygiene Rating Scheme. Ratings dated July 2026 for the Maidstone local authority area were retrieved from the register on 5 August; results are added as the council publishes them, so a handful of late July inspections may still appear.

The takeaway told to improve

Bar chart of Maidstone borough food hygiene ratings dated July 2026: 43 rated 5, one rated 4, none rated 3, one rated 2, none rated 1 or 0
Chart by Maidstone Live.

Wok Kitchen, the Chinese takeaway at 40 Union Street in Maidstone town centre, was inspected on 1 July and rated 2 out of 5. The register breaks the score into three parts: hygienic food handling was judged good, but the cleanliness and condition of the facilities and building were marked “improvement necessary”, and management of food safety was judged “generally satisfactory”. (FSA register entry for Wok Kitchen)

A rating of 2 does not mean a business is closed or unsafe to use; it means inspectors found issues that need to be put right, and the council can reinspect once the business says the work is done. Businesses also have a formal right of appeal against a rating, a right to reply that is published alongside the score, and a right to request a revisit for a new rating. No reply from Wok Kitchen appears on the register entry at the time of writing.

The only other score below the top mark went to Mr Whippy Ice Cream, a mobile caterer registered in the ME15 area, rated 4, “good”, on 3 July. Its facilities and management were both judged very good, with hygienic food handling marked generally satisfactory.

Who got top marks

The other 43 ratings dated July were all fives. In the town centre, Waitrose and Boyce’s Bakery, both at the Mid Kent Shopping Centre on Castle Road, were rated on 31 July; Iceland at The Mall Chequers Centre followed on 23 July, along with Franco’s kiosk in the same centre on 21 July. Taco Bell at 51 Week Street, Zizzi on Earl Street and Domino’s Pizza on Ashford Road all kept their top scores too.

Two of the borough’s best-known leisure venues were inspected at Mote Park: the Maidstone Leisure Centre cafe on 10 July and the Adventure Park, run by Maidstone Leisure Trust, on 30 July. The Mote Cricket Club on Willow Way and the Westborough Working Mens Club on Tonbridge Road, both rated 27 July, kept the pub and club scores clean.

The villages did well. In Staplehurst, Bleu Bar & Grill on the High Street and the Gresham House care home on Station Road were both rated 5 on 27 July. Alexanders at Poultry Farm in Marden, Balkanika Foods at Oakdene Farm near Sutton Valence, Forever Padel at Monchelsea Farm in Boughton Monchelsea and Marino Fish Bar in Bearsted all scored top marks, as did two hotels: the Delta Hotels by Marriott Tudor Park Country Club at Bearsted and Chilston Park Hotel at Sandway near Lenham.

Inspectors also worked through a run of premises feeding children and older residents, all rated 5: care homes including Invicta Court at Weavering, Betsy Clara Nursing Home, Pilgrims Way and Lulworth House in Maidstone, plus school clubs and nurseries at Roseacre Junior School in Bearsted, the Archbishop Courtenay primary in Tovil, Brishing Barn Nursery at Boughton Monchelsea and Turkey Mill day nursery on Ashford Road.

How the ratings work

The Food Hygiene Rating Scheme scores every inspected food business from 0, “urgent improvement necessary”, to 5, “very good”. The rating reflects what inspectors from Maidstone Borough Council’s food safety team found on the day, across food handling, the condition of the premises, and how well the business manages food safety on paper. A new rating replaces the old one after each inspection, and the sticker you see on the door should match the register.

What it means for you

Before you order from somewhere new, the register is free to check: search any Maidstone business by name or postcode at ratings.food.gov.uk. A 5 is the norm in the borough, as July’s figures show, so a low score is worth taking seriously; equally, a low score from months ago may have been fixed since, and the register shows the inspection date so you can judge how current it is. If you run a food business awaiting inspection, the FSA publishes exactly what inspectors look for under the same link.

For more practical local guides, see our pages on parking in Maidstone and Maidstone planning applications.

Sources

Image: Week Street, Maidstone by Chris Whippet, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Chart by Maidstone Live.