A TURKISH restaurant in Cowley Road has been criticised over out-of-date smoked salmon and ‘unsafe’ beef carpaccio.

Oxford’s Grill, which also serves Mediterranean food, was given a one-star food hygiene rating after Oxford City Council health inspectors visited in January.

The inspectors found a range of problems, including a dirty kitchen and walls, a risk of rodents entering the premises and unsafe food.

Beef carpaccio – which is served raw – must only be served if a method to ensure its safety, such as controls in the supply chain, or ‘sear and shave’ which sees the outside of the meat cooked then shaved off.

Inspectors said: “You serve beef carpaccio but have no methods in place to ensure it is safe to eat – you serve it directly from the raw delivered meat with no treatment.

“You must not sell the beef carpaccio unless you put in place a safe method i.e sear and shave,”

They also found two packs of smoked salmon beyond their use-by date of December 31 – 10 days before the inspection.

Manager Fetai Karabulut said he was ‘shocked’ by the rating but had made improvements and hoped for revisit in the next month.

He said: “Originally the inspector said it would be a three so I was shocked.

“I have been serving beef carpaccio for 10 years and never had any complaints, people know what it is and they want to eat it.

“We were told to call the council in two to three months once we had made improvements and we have been doing that.”

Concerns were also raised over the restaurant’s slicing machine, which was being used for beef carpaccio and cucumber – officers said it was ‘unlikely’ it was being adequately disinfected in between.

There was no thermometer to check high-risk food, such as rice, chicken or lasagne.

A member of staff was also ordered to undergo food hygiene training as they had not done so since 1992.

The officers added: “At the time of my inspection, lettuce, yoghurts, ice cream and other ready to eat food was being stored above or on the same shelves as raw meat and fish.

“To avoid cross contamination, high-risk ready to eat food and raw food must be completely segregated.”

Management were ordered to make improvements immediately while they were given a week to sort some of the lesser offences.

Low level cleaning in the kitchen was branded ‘poor’, accumulations of dirt were found at the wall joints and wall surfaces were dirty.

The environmental health report also found ‘gaps of sufficient size for rodents to enter’.