Holdi, an Indian restaurant in Liverpool popular with TV and movie stars and footballers, has been handed a zero food hygiene rating following a visit from health inspectors.
The restaurant, based in Woolton, is widely regarded as one of the best curry houses in the city and was named in the top 10 Liverpool curry houses by last year's Curry Awards.
Celebrity clientele
It quickly became a favourite of soap stars from Hollyoaks and Coronation Street in the years after it opened, the Liverpool Echo reports. In 2024, Holdi welcomed a Hollywood A-lister when Elijah Wood and his Lord of the Rings co-star Billy Boyd dined there while in the city for the annual Comic Con convention. Wood reportedly told staff the meal was the "best Indian he had ever had."
Football stars including Anthony Gordon, Harvey Elliott and Sean Dyche have all been known to eat at the restaurant. UFC star Paddy Pimblett is another fan of their food and was pictured with staff at the restaurant after enjoying a meal with a group of friends in September of this year.
Inspection findings
Just a few days after it welcomed the UFC fighter - on September 14 - Holdi in Woolton got a visit from Liverpool City Council environmental health inspectors.
According to a report from the Food Standards Agency, Holdi was handed a zero rating out of five for food hygiene, with "urgent improvement is necessary". The report also detailed that major improvement was necessary in terms of structural compliance, while urgent improvement was required in terms of the agency's confidence in the restaurant's management of these areas.
Inspectors cited a "poor track record of compliance, with little or not technical knowledge, no appreciation of hazards or quality control and no food safety management system".
Owner's response
Najer Hossain, owner of Holdi, blamed the poor scores on electrical problems, as the business had been forced to resort to using a generator for power while waiting for council approval to carry out groundworks to fix issues with their supply.
On the night of September 13 the generator switched off "due to our own carelessness of not leaving it with enough diesel, something we have been extra cautious about since," Mr Hossain said. He added: "This had again affected the temperature of our fridge and freezers, we then had inspectors visit on the 14th, this was before we were due to open, and before any staff had arrived. As we had done previously, we realised we'd need to voluntarily close that day due to temperatures not being to the required level.
"The health inspector also saw this as a major issue, the wiring was not to a satisfactory standard going through the kitchen and windows upstairs and this affected our ability to to reach certain parts of the kitchen when cleaning and had gathered food debris.
"During this time our operational manager and main chef had been off on paternity leave at the same time, it led to some of the cleanliness of the restaurant caused by electrical works overlooked. It is important to point out we had voluntarily closed, and the inspectors had asked us to contact them again when we feel it's safe to reopen."
Mr Hossain said the restaurant closed for just over a week, during which time they contacted their generator supplier to tidy up the wiring, cleaned areas that were difficult to reach, provided staff with health and safety training, and equipped the restaurant with disinfectant and hand washes, as a couple of the smaller sinks had been missing hand wash during the inspection.
Following a revisit on September 24 and a satisfactory health inspection, the establishment has now re-opened. Mr Hossain said: "This restaurant has always been a five-star star rated restaurant from previous inspections, [however] due to recent issues this has caused us a lapse in concentration in focusing on the things that matter.
"We are happy all staff and management have had the opportunity to retrain and we hope we are able to acquire and get back to the very high standards we hold ourselves to."
Mr Hossain added that permission has been granted for the electrical works to go ahead and the power supply should return to normal by the end of October. He has requested another visit from health inspectors to be given a new score.
