Basingstoke Food Hygiene: Zizzi Among Six Rated 1 in Sept

Six food businesses in Basingstoke and Deane were given a food hygiene rating of 1 out of 5 after inspections in September, according to the Food Standards Agency’s register. A 1 means “major improvement necessary”.

They include Zizzi on London Street, a nursery in Whitchurch and a staff canteen on Kingsclere Road. The council’s environmental health officers carry out the inspections, and every rating is on the FSA’s ratings site.

The better news is in October. All 30 ratings dated October that have been published so far are 5s, the top score.

The six rated 1

A rating is built from three scores. The officer marks how food is handled, the cleanliness and condition of the building, and how well food safety is managed. In all six cases the management score was “major improvement necessary”. That covers the checks a business keeps and whether staff know the rules.

The other two scores varied:

• Zizzi scored “very good” for hygienic food handling. Its building and facilities were marked “improvement necessary”.
• Bons Brothers, Oriental Garden and the Linde canteen were marked “improvement necessary” for food handling.
• Oak Tree Nursery scored “good” for food handling but “improvement necessary” on its building and facilities.
• The Fox at Ellisfield, about four miles south of Basingstoke, was “generally satisfactory” on food handling and “improvement necessary” on its building.

A rating is a snapshot of the day of the inspection. The FSA register does not say what the officer found in detail. Anyone can ask Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council for the inspection report.

Three rated 3

Three more businesses inspected in September were rated 3, “generally satisfactory”:

• Avenue Nurseries Garden Centre cafe, Lasham (18 September)
• Precious Gifts Kitchen, a caterer (21 September)
• Kings Furlong Takeaway, Kings Furlong Centre (23 September)

Share this chartFacebookWhatsAppXCopy linkEmbed

September and October in numbers

The FSA register held 54 ratings dated September when we pulled it on 2 November:

• 31 rated 5
• 14 rated 4
• 3 rated 3
• 6 rated 1

October so far has 30 ratings, every one a 5. They include Greek Street in Chineham, Cromwell Tandoori in Lychpit, the Neighbourcare community cafe in Church Square, Starbucks, Costa and Caffe Nero in Festival Place, and the school kitchens at Bishopswood in Tadley, Bramley and Whitchurch.

Ratings often appear on the register weeks after the inspection, so more October ratings will follow. We will report them next month.

Across the borough, 781 of the 1,049 businesses with a rating have a 5, about three in four. Twenty-one have a 1 and one has a 0. That one, Winklebury Fish And Chips on Watson Way, was rated in July 2025 and the register shows a new rating is pending.

The businesses’ right to reply

A business can appeal its rating within 21 days. It can also ask for a re-inspection once it has made the improvements, and publish a “right to reply” next to its rating on the FSA site. None of the six had published a right to reply when we checked the register. Ratings shown here are as the register recorded them on 2 November.

What it means for you

• Check before you book or order: every rating is on the FSA site, and businesses in England do not have to display their sticker.
• A low rating is not a closure. Officers can close premises only where there is an imminent risk to health, and a rating of 1 does not mean that has happened.
• Parents of children at Oak Tree Nursery can ask the nursery what it has changed since 11 September, and the council for the report.
• To report a food problem, use the FSA’s report a food problem service, which passes it to the council.

For other council services, see our pages on bin collection days and planning applications.