This place looks nice from the outside - they display their salads in the window and everything looks fresh and wholesome. The type of place I would like to eat from.
You can choose the number of salads you have and I was hungry so went for 4 salads to take away for £5.95. I chose lentils with beetroot, spinach with Parmesan, mixed roasted veg and sweet potatoes.
I think it was the spinach that came with the "glass garnish" so either this was a kitchen mishap which should have resulted in careful inspection or disposal of all food near it, not seeing the glass whilst carefully washing the leaves (or not as the case may be), or from a packet processed food ingredient which–as everything is supposedly made "fresh"–it should not have had. Make no mistake, this was a jagged piece of glass 4cm wide and looked like part of a jar or drinking glass base. It should have been spotted at some point during the food prep. I also crunched on a couple of small glass fragments so who knows how many I swallowed?
The salad itself looked colourful and appetising but the veg and potato were overcooked and everything was very oily and not in a good, nutty olive oil way but very slick and slimy. So I wouldn't have been going back from a food point of view anyway.
I hot footed it back and they tried to explain it away by saying they do not have plastic in their restaurant(!) and this that and the other. Well good for you Foodilic but this is a freaking piece of GLASS. Most worryingly, I didn't see them take the salad dishes where my lunch came from off display.
In my 'umble opinion any establishment that serves food should have safety and hygiene numero uno on their agenda. To not have this mentality shows a lack of respect for food and its customers and that takes the (out-of-date) biscuit.
The reply from Brighton council's senior environmental health officer included the sentence: "During my last visit to Foodilic, they had improved greatly and had systems in place to prevent contamination of their food." Make your own assumptions about that comment, but "they had improved greatly" made me shudder.
More ick than idillic.
UPDATE:
The super-speedy health officer from the council has been down there and fedback. Turns out that the hard plastic part from the blender used to make the pesto for the salads had broken and become mixed up in the salad. No wonder they defensively said they didn't have plastic in the kitchen when I confronted them with the "glass". So they must have known all along that the accident had happened and chose to sacrifice the safety of their customers than make a loss on the ingredients. Big tut guys.
This was supposed to be a blog about celebrating food so here's looking forward to my next good meal!
Sorry to hear about the glass/plastic stuff. Good to know. I actually enjoyed eating there. The staff (esp one of them) seem a bit grumpy at times, but their all you can eat is a pretty good deal. The plates are so damn tiny though lol.
ReplyDeletefirst commenter your an idiot
ReplyDeleteits a buffett place its an amazing qualtiy of food for a buffett and it is very healthy.
the glass was probally not down to them but down to some stupid customer dropiing a cup please dont be so rude.
Hello Anonymous, thank you for your opinion.
ReplyDeleteYou will find if you read the full post that the visit from the Food safety officer from Brighton and Hove Council revealed that the blender used to make the pesto for one of the salads smashed in operation but the staff from Foodilic used it instead of sensibly throwing it away. I'm sure a full report is available at the council. The staff were aware that the machine had smashed.
My opinion is always that a food establishment should see that the health and safety of their customers is a number one priority and to take a chance serving pesto that had come from an obviously faulty machine was unacceptable and put their customers at risk.
Foodilic does looks like a good place for lunch but I can only comment on my experience that day. I found sharp shards of glass-like plastic which resulted in a prompt visit from the council as it was a serious matter that could have had a very dangerous outcome.
We got a takeaway from there last night 19th nov 2011
ReplyDeleteI found 4 pieces of cooked bone shards in my salad
The first one I found was quite large and cut my gums after that I ate very carefully and found 3 more smaller bits
I've eaten there in the past without any problems but doubt I will eat there again now.
@ Anon. Not good - I HATE hearing about lack of care in kitchens. Sadly I felt i had to contact the Council about this place and as much as I eat out has been the only time I have ever had to resort to that. Their Scores On The Doors rating isn't too bad but they really need to keep an eye out for mistakes like this.
ReplyDeleteFoodilic is an ideal place to eat, I happen to be in their almost every time I visit Brighton and have not once been disappointed. I actually stumbled upon this vicious report whilst trying to look for their recipes in order to recreate their delicious food at home. Alas some people clearly take it into their stride to ridicule good, successful businesses. I agree, the glass incident would have been most unpleasant I'm sure, however, after a considerable amount of study into the behaviour of humans themselves; I'm not entirely sure your guess at a blase 'we'll just sacrifice our customers' attitude was exactly what was on their minds. This incident was clearly an accident and therefore denigrating the entire restaurant over it is a little bit far fetched. I personally find their food exquisite, I understand it may not be everyone's cup if tea, but victimising their restaurant in a report which could in turn jepordise their business isn't how I would go about it.
ReplyDeleteHi "Anon".
ReplyDeleteWell that's great and I'm glad you enjoy dining at Foodillic.
However, this was most certainly not a "vicious" attack but a true account of my experience after dining there. If you read the rest of my blog, I positively champion the many, many wonderful restaurants, cafes, delis and pop-ups in my amazing city.
And although I indeed have not "studied at length the behaviour of humans", the fact was that I truly believe that they knew about the incident but decided to take the risk and serve the food anyway. As I said in my review, food establishments should never take hygiene and the safety of their customers for granted. Never, ever, ever, NEVER. Also the way the situation was handled by the staff, promoting me to call the Council's Environmental Health (the ONLY time I have ever felt the need to after dining anywhere, and I eat out a lot) and have them tell me there was a history of investigation prior to this, made me feel very uneasy about eating here again or recommending it to anyone.
As a visitor to the city, for a bot of variety, you may well want to try out The Chilli Pickle, Sam's, Riddle and Finns or The Coal Shed...there are many more quality restaurants but these are some of my favourites. Cafe/lunch wise, Cocoa Patisseie, Bread & Milk, Plateau and Cafe Coho. You'll find reviews for most of them on my blog.
Or something similar to Foodilic, but award-winning and consistently good, is a place called Lydea in the North Laines. I'm due to post about this soon so watch out for that one.
Thanks for stopping by.