Every one of the 46 Maidstone food hygiene ratings dated October scored 5, from Chopstix on Week Street to eight school kitchens. Late ratings may still arrive.
Every Maidstone borough food business inspected in October scored the top hygiene rating, on the register so far. The Food Standards Agency register held 46 ratings dated October when we checked it on 2 November. All 46 were a 5, “very good”.
That has not happened in any other month this year. The best months until now were May and August, when 88% of ratings were 5s.
Twenty-two of the 46 went further. They scored 0, the best possible mark, on all three areas the FSA publishes: hygienic food handling, the cleanliness and condition of the building, and management of food safety.
One caution before anyone celebrates too hard. Ratings reach the register late, sometimes weeks after the inspection. When we reported September on 12 October, the register held 41 September ratings. It now holds 54, and three of the late arrivals scored 3 or below. October’s count will grow in the same way.
Who was rated
The 46 October ratings break down like this:
| Type of premises | Rated 5 |
|---|---|
| Restaurants, cafés and canteens | 12 |
| School and college kitchens | 8 |
| Pubs and bars | 7 |
| Mobile caterers | 5 |
| Other caterers, most working from home | 5 |
| Takeaways and sandwich shops | 4 |
| Care homes and nurseries | 3 |
| Shops | 2 |
Several are new entries on the register, with their first rating. They include:
- Chopstix, 28 Week Street, rated on 27 October
- Yeti Restaurant, 37 Union Street, 22 October
- Moonlight Cafe, 71 Bank Street, 15 October
- The Chequers Inn at Laddingford, near Yalding, 23 October
- Sunkeeexpressltd, 3 Boughton Parade, Loose Road, 14 October
In the town centre, Mu Mu Nightclub Wine Bar And Restaurant on Week Street was rated 5 on 8 October and The Zoo in Market Buildings on 14 October. Mooboo in the Chequers Centre followed on 19 October. At Lockmeadow, Wrap And Dip in the Food Hall scored 0 on all three marks on 7 October. A neighbouring Food Hall kitchen was rated 1 in September.
Out of town, the pubs rated 5 were:
- The Bull, Tonbridge Road, Barming, 5 October
- The Running Horse, Chatham Road, Sandling, 20 October
- The Potting Shed, Sutton Road, Langley, 22 October
- The Walnut Tree, Loose Road, Loose, 27 October, along with Chuck And Blade Burgers, which trades from the same address
Other familiar names among the 5s:
- Coffee Corner Restaurant at Newnham Court, Bearsted Road, 5 October
- Chequers Fish Bar, The Parade, Staplehurst, and Kitchen Of Kent, Lodge Road, Staplehurst, both 12 October
- The Range, St Peters Street, 21 October
- Costa Coffee, Yeoman Court, Bearsted, 22 October
- Dokmais Thai Food, Twyford Bridge, Yalding, 23 October
- Leon at Maidstone services, M20 Junction 8, 27 October
- Maidstone Best Kebab, 255 Tonbridge Road, 29 October
The eight school kitchens were at Loose Junior, St Michael’s CE Junior, North Borough Junior, St Paul’s Infant, Coxheath Primary, Barming Primary, Valley Park School and the Stones in the Community kitchen at Five Acre Wood School. Three of them are run by the contractor Nourish. The three care settings were Headcorn Preschool Day Nursery, Busy Bees on College Road and the Bluebells short breaks unit at Detling.
September, revised
The late September ratings include one more rated 1. Muffin Break, Units 313 to 314, Dukes Walk, in the Chequers Centre, was rated 1, “major improvement necessary”, on 23 September. Lower is better in each of the FSA’s three marks. It scored 15 for food handling, 15 for the building and 20 for management of food safety. A 20 in any one area caps the rating at 1.
Two restaurants were rated 3, “generally satisfactory”, in September and have also appeared since our report. They are Mughal Dynasty, 14 London Road, on 17 September, and Krishna Indian Restaurant, 41 High Street, Headcorn, on 22 September.
None of the three had published a right to reply on the register on 2 November. Each can appeal, reply, or ask the council for a re-inspection once the problems are put right.
The year so far
These are the counts as the register stood on 2 November. Earlier months move a little as late ratings arrive.
| Month | Ratings | Rated 5 | Share rated 5 | Rated 3 or below |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63 | 40 | 63% | 11 |
| February | 58 | 50 | 86% | 1 |
| March | 69 | 50 | 72% | 7 |
| April | 53 | 37 | 70% | 6 |
| May | 64 | 56 | 88% | 4 |
| June | 42 | 34 | 81% | 4 |
| July | 59 | 44 | 75% | 7 |
| August | 49 | 43 | 88% | 2 |
| September | 54 | 38 | 70% | 5 |
| October | 46 | 46 | 100% | 0 |
What it means for you
A rating is a snapshot of the day of the inspection. It covers hygiene only, not the quality of the food. Every business’s current rating, and the three marks behind it, is on the FSA website, searchable by name or postcode. Businesses in England do not have to display their sticker, so the website is the reliable check.
If a business thinks its rating is wrong, appeals, replies and re-visit requests go through the council’s food hygiene ratings page. To report a premises, call the council’s environmental health team on 01622 602460 or 01622 602450.
We will update October’s figures in next month’s round-up. Earlier months: September, August and July.
Sources
- Food Standards Agency food hygiene ratings register, Maidstone local authority area (authority 254), retrieved through the FSA’s public API on 2 November 2026
Have your say