Bademiya Restaurant Mumbai: Iconic SoBo eatery Bademiya served shut-shop notice over licence issues | Mumbai News – Times of India

MUMBAI: Three outlets of the iconic south Mumbai eatery Bademiya were served stop activity notices on Wednesday after they were found operating without valid licences, officials from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said. In this ongoing crackdown, the FDA has closed down 28 eateries across Mumbai and Thane due to their failure to meet essential hygiene and safety standards. More restaurants are expected to come under scrutiny as the ongoing action is scheduled to extend for another month.
A team of food safety officers raided the Bademiya outlets, located behind Taj Palace Hotel near Gateway and Horniman Circle, and allegedly found them serving food without a valid licence and in violation of other safety and hygiene compliances. The team also spotted cockroaches and rats in the restaurant. Despite the notice, the restaurant was open till late on Wednesday.
Shailesh Adhao, FDA joint commissioner, confirmed that Bademiya outlets have to shut down till the time they meet the compliances and a fresh round of inspections are held. The legendary 76-year-old Bademiya, known for its kebabs and rolls, has an annual turnover of more than a crore. The alleged discovery of a rat in a meal served at Papa Pancho da Dhaba prompted the inspection drive of restaurants in both the city and the state since August. Besides Papa Pancho da Dhaba, Mahim-based Mumbai Darbar and a chain of cloud kitchens run by Hyperkichen foodtech pvt. Ltd in Govandi were asked to stop operations due to missing compliances.
In Thane, as many as 25 eateries have been given stop activity orders, the department confirmed. While in Mumbai nearly 70 restaurants have been inspected, a total of 85 facilities were surveyed in Thane. Adhao said that several of the eateries were operating without valid licences.
Further, most of them had more than violations, which include missing water testing reports, medical reports of staffers, missing hygiene compliances, etc. None of these eateries will be allowed to operate till they have met the compliances and a fresh round of inspections have been held.
Suresh Deshmukh, joint commissioner of Konkan division, said that they chose to shut down instead of serving show cause notices as eating at many of these places would have posed a public health threat. “There are seven to eight core compliances that we look for, which mainly include hygiene, mandatory water tests, medical reports, pest control, etc. Majority of violations are in these areas,” he said. Meanwhile, FDA official said they are awaiting the test reports for food samples that were collected from Papa Pancho da Dhaba. While one set of samples is being tested at the BMC-run laboratory in Dadar, FDA is checking another set at their own lab in BKC.