Makcari's at Herne Bay's Central Bandstand was rated 1 in September, the district's lowest. Two cafes and a pub got 2s. All 75 September ratings.

The coffee lounge and ice cream parlour at Herne Bay’s Central Bandstand was given a food hygiene rating of 1 in September. That is the lowest rating anywhere in the Canterbury district that month.

A 1 means “major improvement necessary”. The Food Standards Agency’s register entry for Makcaris Coffee Lounge & Ice Cream Parlour, Central Bandstand, Central Parade, dates the rating to 17 September.

The same business has a second entry on the register. Makcari’s Coffee Lounge at 49-54 Central Parade was rated 4, “good”, on 9 September. The register does not publish the breakdown of scores for either entry.

All figures here come from the FSA register for the Canterbury City Council area, read on 27 October and again on 3 November.

Updated 3 November: five more September ratings have reached the register since we first published. They include a 2 for The Heron on Station Road, Herne Bay, and 3s for Chuck And Blade Burgers on Sun Street, Canterbury, and The Crescent Turner Hotel at Wraik Hill, Whitstable. The counts, chart and table below now cover all 75.

September, settled

Ratings below 5 appear on the register three to five weeks after the inspection, because the business has time to appeal. When we last looked on 10 October, September had 48 ratings. By 3 November it had 75:

  • 56 rated 5, “very good”
  • 10 rated 4, “good”
  • 5 rated 3, “generally satisfactory”
  • 3 rated 2, “improvement necessary”
  • 1 rated 1, “major improvement necessary”
Bar chart of the 75 Canterbury district food hygiene ratings dated September 2026: 56 rated 5, 10 rated 4, 5 rated 3, 3 rated 2 and 1 rated 1
Chart by Canterbury Live. Food Standards Agency register, read 3 November 2026.
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Herne Bay accounts for eight of the 19 ratings below 5, including the 1 and two of the three 2s.

Every rating below 5 in September

The register scores three areas: hygiene, structure and management. A lower score is better, and 0 is the best possible.

Business Where Inspected Rating Weakest area
Makcaris Coffee Lounge & Ice Cream Parlour Central Bandstand, Herne Bay 17 September 1 Not published
Happy Fryer 79 High Street, Herne Bay 7 September 2 Hygiene (15)
Harbour Garden Cafe South Quay, Whitstable Harbour 16 September 2 Structure (15)
The Heron Station Road, Herne Bay 28 September 2 Structure (15)
Longport Cafe 9 Longport, Canterbury 2 September 3 Hygiene and management (10)
Herne Bay Cafe 109 Sea Street, Herne Bay 8 September 3 All three (10)
New Hong Kong Take Away 168 High Street, Herne Bay 18 September 3 All three (10)
The Crescent Turner Hotel Wraik Hill, Whitstable 24 September 3 All three (10)
Chuck And Blade Burgers / Bare Bones 25-27 Sun Street, Canterbury 28 September 3 Structure and management (10)
The Snuggery 27 St Peter’s Street, Canterbury 2 September 4
Lily’s Social Kitchen 10 Guildhall Street, Canterbury 4 September 4
Makcari’s Coffee Lounge 49-54 Central Parade, Herne Bay 9 September 4
Captain Jacks 55 Central Parade, Herne Bay 9 September 4
The Bridge Arms 53 High Street, Bridge 10 September 4
Whitstable Local 8C St John’s Road, Whitstable 11 September 4
Chop Africana City Business Park, Canterbury 14 September 4
New City Kebab 78 High Street, Herne Bay 17 September 4
Lanna Thai 2-3 Dover Street, Canterbury 22 September 4
Las Iguanas Unit 3 Longmarket, Canterbury 22 September 4

At Happy Fryer, the hygiene score of 15 covers how food is handled, prepared, cooked and stored. At Harbour Garden Cafe and The Heron, the structure score of 15 covers the cleanliness and condition of the building, its layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control.

None of the 19 has published a right of reply on the register so far. Every business can add one, and can ask for a re-inspection once it has made the improvements the inspector asked for. The Tesco cafe at Whitstable went from a 2 to a 5 in seven weeks that way this autumn.

October so far

The register now holds 45 ratings dated October, and all 45 are 5s. That is the usual early pattern: lower ratings for October will not appear until November. Recent 5s include Chaucer House care home, Whitstable House, The Sub Center, Cafe Du Soleil and the Riverside Cafe.

What it means for you

  • Check before you go: search any business on the FSA register. It shows the date of the last inspection, so you can see whether a rating is recent.
  • A low rating can change quickly: a business can be re-inspected once it has fixed the problems, so check again before you rule somewhere out for good.
  • To report a concern about a food business, contact Canterbury City Council’s food safety team through the FSA’s report a food problem service.

Sources