Kensington food hygiene: all 69 September ratings were 5s

Every food business in Kensington and Chelsea given a hygiene rating in September scored the top mark. The Food Standards Agency register, read on 1 October, lists 69 ratings dated September 2026, and all 69 are 5s. (FSA food hygiene rating data)

They range from the Whole Foods Market on Kensington High Street to the kitchen at the Royal Marsden, and from Books for Cooks on Blenheim Crescent to the Elephant & Castle pub on Holland Street. Ten were schools and colleges, including Bevington, Avondale Park and Christchurch primaries and Kensington Aldridge Academy.

The month also brought the borough its first zero since our last check. When we read the register on 6 September, no premises in the borough held a zero. One does now.

The borough’s only zero

Thai Rice, 303 Portobello Road, W10 was rated 0 after an inspection on 19 August. The rating was not on the register when we read it on 6 September.

The FSA’s page for the business records “major improvement necessary” in all three areas the inspector scores (Thai Rice on the FSA register):

• hygienic handling of food, including preparation, cooking, cooling and storage
• cleanliness and condition of the facilities and building
• the systems and checks in place to make sure food is safe

A zero means urgent improvement is necessary. It is a judgement on the day of the inspection, and it stands until the next one.

A second low rating also reached the register after 6 September. Isra’s Kitchen, 262 Old Brompton Road, SW5 was rated 1 on 11 August. Its food handling was recorded as good and its facilities as generally satisfactory, but the management of food safety was found to need major improvement (Isra’s Kitchen on the FSA register).

Neither business has published a right to reply on the register. Any business can appeal its rating to the council, or ask for a fresh inspection once it has made improvements.

One climb, one departure

Chelsea Arts Club, 143-145 Old Church Street, SW3, was rated 2 in February. A new inspection on 10 August lifted it to 4. Its food handling is now recorded as very good, and its facilities and food safety management as generally satisfactory (Chelsea Arts Club on the FSA register).

Golborne Fresh Fish, at 75-77 Golborne Road, W10, was on our September list at 1, rated in January 2025. It no longer appears on the register at all. The register does not say why, and we have not assumed a reason.

The borough in one table

The whole register, read on 1 October, against our read on 6 September:

The share of rated premises holding a 5 is unchanged at 87.9%: 1,606 of 1,828. Sixteen sit below 3, the same number as in September, but the sixteen are not the same businesses.

What it means for you

• Check before you book. Every rating is on the FSA’s search, and most businesses display theirs at the door. In England they do not have to.
• A rating is a snapshot. It reflects one inspection. Thai Rice’s zero and Chelsea Arts Club’s climb show how much a single visit can change.
• Ratings can arrive late. Both August low ratings above reached the register after our 6 September read, so more September inspections may still appear.
• Spotted a problem? Report it to the council’s food safety team through RBKC’s food safety pages.

Every September rating

Share this chartFacebookWhatsAppXCopy linkEmbed

The full list, oldest first. Where the register gives no street address, we show the postcode district only.