The popular crewdate venue Wok & Roll has been subject to heavy criticism from the Food Standards Agency, over its cleanliness and contamination risk.
In a recent hygiene report, the Chinese restaurant on Woodstock Road was rated two out of a possible five marks, and told to improve immediately. Inspectors highlighted “dampness [which] may contribute to physical contamination” as a particular cause for concern. They were also surprised to find “shoes and personal items… strewn in the first floor kitchen.”
Officers gave the restaurant a ‘Poor’ rating in the Food Hygiene and Safety category and revealed they had ‘Some’ confidence in management. Other problems with the restaurant included water pressure so low it was sometimes diffi cult for employees to wash their hands, and a ‘cold’ room with measured temperatures as high as 10°C.
Incoming manager Kevin Low told Cherwell that a major rebranding programme is currently underway – he has been managing the restaurant for two weeks. Wok & Roll will be renamed ‘Cre-Asian’, with the menu broadening to encompass “Thai, Malaysian, and Chinese food.” Signifi cant redecoration is also taking place, and a team of “experienced new chefs from London” have been hired.
At the moment it is unclear whether Cre-Asian will follow its predecessor by continuing to host the controversial Oxford tradition of crew dating.
Jamie Horton, a Christ Church second-year, said, “It’s a tradition that Christ Church History subject drinks are followed by a crew date at Wok & Roll, and so I can only express my concern and disgust that, having eaten there two years in a row, it only scored two out of five stars.
“I’m pleased it’s under new management to solve the problem, but if top London chefs are being brought in, I can’t think it’ll be a suitable venue for us to get pleasantly inebriated, as we normally do. Arzoos have gained another customer.”
