Doth Protesteth Too Much?

These days, there's precious little restaurant choice in Rhuthun/Ruthin. In fact, Small Plates and the almost new Carniboar are all there is in the town proper. (There's also the Castle, of course, whose hygiene rating is now much improved.) 

This won't always be the case. On the Hill (the same people who own Small Plates) is believed to want The Myddelton. Small Plates is reported to be moving to Montecito, when ready (and that could be a while). And an Italian is understood to be interested in Small Plates' current Upper Clwyd Street premises. Meanwhile, the Sorbus Tree (the same people as Small Plates) delivered-to-your-home service no longer operates but the facility prepares food for Small Plates. (Confused?) 

Although marked 'Carniboar', this score pertains to the time before closure when the premises was The Fat Boar. We aren't sure whether 1/5 still applies to Carniboar

Meanwhile, we await the hygiene score for Carniboar. In its previous iteration (Fat Boar) it was 1 out of 5. 

Small Plates was rated on March 7th, 2023

Small Plates has dipped from its March 2022 score of 2 out of 5 to just 1 out of 5. Pre-coronavirus, soon after Small Plates opened, the initial score was 4 out of 5.

In Wales, it's mandatory to display your hygiene rating. Small Plates has added its own notice. It's 'disappointed' to receive an 'unbelievable food hygiene rating'. They say that the 'alleged risks are in no way detrimental to food safety'. Hmmm... we assume that inspectors follow the same rules in each premises' case and those rules are set out by the UK government. 

According to Small Plates, the 1 out of 5 is apparently because Denbighshire enforcement inspectors dislike how the restaurant's paperwork systems monitor food production at the Sorbus Tree at Birch House for onward cooking at Upper Clwyd Street. 

Sorbus Tree production facility rated March 1st, 2023

But, the Sorbus Tree itself only scores 1 out of 5 (as at March 1st, 2023). 

So, who do you believe? 

Small Plates states that it will introduce 'a whole new system' prior to applying for a re-evaluation. Without the hygiene rating, it's unlikely such a new approach would have been introduced.