Kokoro, a city centre takeaway on Church Street known for Japanese sushi and Korean-inspired dishes, had previously been ranked among Liverpool's most popular. The venue's chicken katsu curry was formerly named Liverpool's most popular takeaway dish by Deliveroo.
However, when Food Standards Agency (FSA) inspectors visited on Thursday, June 4, they found issues. The inspectors stated the venue required 'urgent improvement' in hygienic food handling and 'major improvement' in its management of food safety. The cleanliness and condition of the facilities and building were deemed 'generally satisfactory'.
Takeaway's Response
A Kokoro spokesperson told the ECHO: "We take food safety extremely seriously and were disappointed with the June result. We identified the cause as a fault that had developed in one of our display chillers on the day, and the affected stock was disposed of immediately. We have since replaced our chilled display with fully-enclosed, patisserie-style cabinets, introduced daily temperature checks through a dedicated food safety management system, and improved our cleaning routines. Our staff have completed refresher training, and our head office will also visit to carry out further retraining in person on 3rd August. We have completed the remedial work and requested a re-inspection so our improved standards can be assessed. The safety of our customers and colleagues remains our highest priority."
Ownership and Inspection Process
The company is owned by Rak-Kyu Park, having founded it in 2010 in Kingston upon Thames, England. Since then, it has expanded across the UK as a mix of corporate-owned locations, joint ventures, and franchise branches. The Liverpool city centre store is operated locally by a franchisee.
Liverpool Council’s environmental health service conducts food hygiene inspections to ensure food served to the public is safe to eat. Officers can turn up unannounced and can take food samples and photographs to support any investigation. Unless there is an immediate risk to health, businesses that receive bad ratings are given time to make changes. They can also ask to be re-inspected or appeal the verdict.
