Revealed: Why Michelin-starred restaurant was slapped with damning one-star hygiene rating

While the world-renowned Michelin guide might describe the restaurant near Machynlleth as a “truly unique experience”, food hygiene inspectors were far less impressed.

Now, the full food hygiene report, which was released by Ceredigion Council after a freedom of information request from The Times, has revealed why inspectors tore the restaurant’s hygiene.

Ynyshir was found not to have had the right checks in place to serve raw lobster and had a rug hanging on the kitchen wall that could not be properly cleaned.

It also failed to follow regulations and had incomplete documentation for many of its ingredients, including foraged tree sap and wild garlic.

The restaurant was tipped for a third Michelin star this year, but merely retained its two stars at the ceremony on Monday.

The Michelin guide has said hygiene inspections are not taken into consideration when awarding stars.

In the report, food safety officers told Ynyshir to stop serving raw lobster because the risks had not been “fully identified or controlled”.

The tank storing live lobsters before they were served raw was also found to have inadequate documentation.

Sylvia Anderson, a food safety expert who works with Michelin-starred restaurants, explained that raw lobster was a high-risk product because it could carry naturally occurring marine bacteria, and if not tightly managed the consequences could include severe gastrointestinal illness.

Cooking temperature records also showed kitchen staff were not cooking their cod at the right temperature for the right amount of time.

Other issues included a dirty knife used to shave beef, the presence of flies and insufficient handwashing sinks.

The restaurant was also found to have initially failed to provide officers with a menu and to have provided contrasting information about how their burgers were cooked.

Mr Anderson said the report showed a “clear breakdown in documented food safety management and hazard control”.

She said: “The restaurant was undertaking multiple high-risk processes, including raw lobster, dry ageing, lightly cooked burgers, sous vide and foraged ingredients, but the inspection found that the documented controls, validation and monitoring systems were not consistently robust enough to match that level of complexity.”

She added fine dining innovation was “entirely compatible” with food safety law.

Gareth Ward, chef and owner, previously insisted what he did was “different” rather than wrong, and that his restaurant was working at “the highest standard in the world”.

Ward said areas of improvement were dealt with “immediately” and a reinspection had been requested.

The restaurant’s fish was sent for laboratory testing following the report and it came back “absolutely clear”, he added.

The restaurateur has also responded with a series of videos posted on Instagram showing viewers around his restaurant, kitchen and storage rooms, claiming he had “nothing to hide”.

Mr Ward also showed that he had installed a fly zapper and a sink for washing hands in the dry store, which he said was deep-cleaned twice a day.

He described the council’s officers as “prehistoric” and accused them of judging him before they understood his restaurant.

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