More on the Spice of India, Aviemore

A few weeks ago I related how Phil, Colin and I had eaten a really bad meal in Aviemore and subsequently suffered for days after. I also mentioned this on the Challenge Notice Board and somebody called Doreen had a go at me about it ….

The main that came out of much of the discussion was when and how to complain. The food was so poor (taste wise) that there seemed little point in complaining there and then. Anyone with that amount of contempt for customers would be unlikely to take any complaint seriously.

I did take it further though and spoke to a nice Environmental Health Officer based in Kingussie. I explained that we could not produce sample evidence for prosecution but that I just wanted him to know what had happened so that he might take this into account in the normal course of his work. (I know how councils work).

Anyhow, there has now been a formal inspection of this restaurant and, surprise, surprise, they found a lot of dodgy practices relating to the warming, storing and refrigerating of food.

A public notice has been issued which concludes:

It was apparent during my inspection that the level of food hygiene awareness amongst your staff was inadequate. You must ensure that all food handlers engaged in your food business are supervised, instructed and/or trained in food hygiene matters to a level commensurate with their work activity.

You can read the full report here.

Why am I going on about it? Well, I dislike people that try and kill me. But on a wider note, the Cairngorms are a popular stomping ground and curry is one of our favourite foods. It is quite likely that one of my readers will find themselves up in Aviemore over the coming months wanting something to eat.

Usually these notices lead to quick improvement, not least because they are followed up. But you might want to leave it a month of two and go somewhere else in the meantime.

I hope people like this begin to understand the power of the internet. I had a reply to the original post from a company in India. When I checked them out they ran tours to Scotland. They simply thanked me for the information.

Aviemore is, of course, a place with a year-round season and for a restaurant slap bang in the middle of town I guess marketing isn’t much of a problem. I hope they raise their game.

The message is clear. Don’t mess with us hillwalkers, specially those who come down after days in the hills and are very hungry !!!