Shan's Fishmongers & Butchers on Dartford High Street holds the borough's only zero hygiene rating. Four more are rated 1, and all 20 September inspections scored 5.
The only food business in Dartford borough with a zero hygiene rating is a fishmonger and butcher on the High Street.
Shan’s Fishmongers & Butchers, 22 High Street, DA1 1BY, was rated 0 after an inspection on 22 July 2026. Zero is the bottom of the scale. The Food Standards Agency describes it as “urgent improvement necessary”.
We read the Food Standards Agency register directly on 25 September 2026 for every premises in the Dartford Borough Council area. (Food Standards Agency: Shan’s Fishmongers & Butchers)
What the inspector found at Shan’s
The register breaks each rating into three parts. For Shan’s, the standards found on 22 July were:
| Area inspected | Standard found |
|---|---|
| Hygienic food handling | Major improvement necessary |
| Cleanliness and condition of facilities and building | Urgent improvement necessary |
| Management of food safety | Major improvement necessary |
The second row covers layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control. It is the only part of the three marked urgent.
The register shows no new rating pending and no right to reply from the business. The full inspection report is not published, but anyone can request it from the council’s environmental health team at eh.admin@dartford.gov.uk.
Four more premises rated 1
A rating of 1 means “major improvement necessary”. Four premises in the borough received one after inspections this summer:
| Business | Address | Inspected |
|---|---|---|
| Royal Tandoori | 52 London Road, Stone | 8 July |
| Tapas Revolution | Unit SVU06, Plaza Upper, Bluewater | 20 July |
| Go Local | 2 Victoria Road, Dartford | 22 July |
| Perfect Chicken | Unit C, Apple Court, Home Gardens, Dartford | 14 August |
The detail differs between them:
- Royal Tandoori was marked “improvement necessary” for food handling and for its building, and “major improvement necessary” for management of food safety (register entry)
- Tapas Revolution was marked “very good” for food handling. Its building needed improvement and its management of food safety needed major improvement (register entry)
- Go Local, a shop, was marked “good” for its building, with food handling needing improvement and management needing major improvement (register entry)
- Perfect Chicken needed improvement in handling and building, and major improvement in management (register entry)
Management of food safety is the common thread. It covers the checks a business keeps and whether the officer is confident standards will hold.
Perfect Chicken’s rating was not on the register when we compiled our August roundup on 1 September. Nor were four other August ratings that have appeared since:
- Britannia Fish Bar, 39 Temple Hill Square, rated 3 on 12 August
- Metro’s Fried Chicken, 121 St Vincents Road, rated 3 on 27 August
- Nisa Local, Havelock Drive, Greenhithe, rated 4 on 6 August
- The Sun, 16 Swanscombe Street, Swanscombe, rated 4 on 28 August
September so far: 20 inspections, 20 fives
Every rating on the register with a September inspection date is a 5, the top mark. There are 20 of them, up to and including 24 September.
| Business | Where | Rated |
|---|---|---|
| Platter by Benugo at John Lewis | Lower Rose Gallery, Bluewater | 2 September |
| Albion Staff Cafe | Albion Fine Foods, Clipper Boulevard, Dartford | 8 September |
| Costa at Next | Lower Guild Hall, Bluewater | 9 September |
| Next | Lower Guild Hall, Bluewater | 9 September |
| OS Snack Box | 1A Spital Street, Dartford | 9 September |
| Broomhill Playgroup | Lutonia Hall, Broomhill Road, Dartford | 14 September |
| Little Feet Pre School | 110 Church Road, Swanscombe | 14 September |
| Bella Venezia | 44 High Street, Dartford | 15 September |
| FitzRoy Support | Turnbull House, Turnbull Close, Horns Cross | 16 September |
| The Brent Preschool | Methodist Church, St Vincents Road, Dartford | 21 September |
| Subway | 13 Lowfield Street, Dartford | 23 September |
| The Ship | 218 Main Road, Sutton at Hone | 24 September |
Eight more fives went to businesses the register lists by postcode district only, which is normal for home-based and mobile caterers:
- Kumar Fish & Chips (DA2)
- Holas Kitchen (DA1)
- Lucalis Rustica (DA13)
- 3bees Bite (DA2)
- Adada Kitchen (DA9)
- Kev’s Ices (DA14)
- Mrs Softee Sevenoaks (DA14)
- Pierogi & Lumpia Kitchen (DA10)
How the borough compares
The register lists 1,077 premises for the borough. Of those, 935 hold a numerical rating, 80 are awaiting their first inspection and 62 are exempt.
Of the 935 rated premises:
- 729 are rated 5, which is 78.0 per cent
- 124 are rated 4
- 53 are rated 3
- 16 are rated 2
- 12 are rated 1
- 1 is rated 0, Shan’s
That leaves 29 premises below “generally satisfactory”, the same number as on 1 September.
What it means for you
Check before you buy. Any business’s rating, and the three-part breakdown, is on the Food Standards Agency register. In England, businesses do not have to display their sticker.
A rating is a snapshot. It records what an officer found on the day. A business can appeal within 21 days, publish a right to reply, or pay for a re-inspection once it has fixed the problems. A low rating today can be a higher one within weeks.
If you have a concern about a food business, report it to Dartford Borough Council’s environmental health team at eh.admin@dartford.gov.uk or through the agency’s report a food problem service.
Sources
- Food Standards Agency ratings register, Dartford local authority, read through its open data service on 25 September 2026: every rating, address, inspection date and breakdown in this report, the borough totals, and the “new rating pending” and right to reply fields
- Food Standards Agency: Shan’s Fishmongers & Butchers: the 22 July 2026 inspection and the three standards found
- Dartford Online: August 2026 food hygiene roundup, published 1 September 2026, for the ratings then on the register
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