Holdi has developed a reputation as one of Liverpool’s best curry houses, attracting stars from sport and even Hollywood – but now it has been slammed by health inspectors
Elijah Wood from Lord of the Rings at Holdi Restaurant in 2024(Image: Holdi restaurant)
One of Liverpool’s best-loved Indian restaurants, which has hosted A-list celebrities in recent years, has been hit with a zero food hygiene rating by health inspectors.
Holdi, based in Woolton Street in Woolton, is widely regarded as one of the finest and most popular curry houses in the city. Last year it was named in the top 10 Liverpool curry houses as part of the English Curry Awards.
Holdi opened in 2012 and was crowned best Indian cuisine at the Liverpool Lifestyle Awards in 2016 and 2017. The south Liverpool restaurant has developed a reputation for hosting celebrities. It quickly became a favourite of soap stars from Hollyoaks and Coronation Street in the years after it opened.
And in 2024, Holdi welcomed a Hollywood A-lister when Elijah Wood and his Lord of the Rings co-star Billy Boyd dined at the curry house when they were in the city for the annual Comic Con convention. Elijah reportedly told staff the meal he had was the “best Indian he had ever had.”
Football stars including Anthony Gordon, Harvey Elliott and Sean Dyche have all been known to frequent the restaurant.
UFC Star Paddy Pimblett is another fan of Holdi, and was recently pictured with staff at the restaurant after enjoying a meal with a group of friends early in September of this year.
Holdi Restaurant, Woolton Village, Liverpool
Speaking to the ECHO at the time, restaurant manager Shakil Ahmed said Paddy, who has dined at Holdi more than once, was “very down to earth” and ordered the chicken tikka and lamb chops.
But just a few days after it welcomed the UFC Baddy – on September 14 – Holdi in Woolton was visited by environmental health inspectors from Liverpool City Council, who did not like what they found.
According to a report on the Food Standards Agency website, the inspection saw Holdi hit with a zero rating out of five for food hygiene, with a statement explaining that “urgent improvement is necessary.”
Owner, Najer Hossain, said one of the main reasons for the poor hygiene rating was due to electrical issues, which meant it had to get a generator which also faced issues.
Part of Mr Hossain’s statement said: “On the night of the 13th of September, the generator had again switched off. This time due to our own carelessness of not leaving it with enough diesel, something we have been extra cautious about since.
“This had again affected the temperature of our fridge and freezers, we then had inspectors visit on the 14th, this was before we were due to open, and before any staff had arrived. As we had done previously, we realised we’d need to voluntarily close that day due to temperatures not being to the required level.
“The health inspector also saw this as a major issue, the wiring was not to a satisfactory standard going through the kitchen and windows upstairs and this affected our ability to to reach certain parts of the kitchen when cleaning and had gathered food debris.
“During this time, our operational manager and main chef had been off on paternity leave at the same time. This led to some of the cleanliness of the restaurant caused by electrical works overlooked. It is important to point out we had voluntarily closed, and the inspectors had asked us to contact them again when we feel it’s safe to reopen.”
The report detailed that major improvement is necessary at the restaurant in terms of food hygiene and safety and structural compliance, while urgent improvement is required in terms of the agency’s confidence in the restaurant’s management of these areas.
For this latter rating, the agency suggests there has been a “poor track record of compliance, with little or not technical knowledge, no appreciation of hazards or quality control and no food safety management system.”
Holdi’s full response
Najer Hossain, owner of Holdi, said in response to the hygiene rating: “In mid August the restaurant faced some electrical issues due to work taking place. It required a rewiring of the electric coming into the restaurant, but this required a lengthy period of time as it requires approval from the council before we can partake any groundwork outside.
“Due to this, and in order for us to continue to stay open, we ordered a commercial generator to provide electricity to the restaurant. Initially after the generator had been fitted, we faced a few issues and within a couple of days this generator kept going off in the middle of the day so we decided to close the restaurant as this was affecting our fridge/freezer equipment, and we were aware it would not be safe to open to the public.
“We did this in mid-August for a week, we then asked for a replacement generator that could withhold the usage of our busy restaurant and subsequently a few days later a new generator had been fitted. This was bigger and more powerful, and we felt it was reliable enough for us to reopen.
“It caused us no issues and we were able to trade without any problems. On the night of the 13th of September, the generator had again switched off. This time due to our own carelessness of not leaving it with enough diesel, something we have been extra cautious about since.
“This had again affected the temperature of our fridge and freezers, we then had inspectors visit on the 14th, this was before we were due to open, and before any staff had arrived. As we had done previously, we realised we’d needed to voluntarily close that day due to temperatures not being to the required level.
“The health inspector also saw this as a major issue, the wiring was not to a satisfactory standard going through the kitchen and windows upstairs and this affected our ability to to reach certain parts of the kitchen when cleaning and had gathered food debris.
“During this time our operational manager and main chef had been off on paternity leave at the same time, it led to some of the cleanliness of the restaurant caused by electrical works overlooked. It is important to point out we had voluntarily closed, and the inspectors had asked us to contact them again when we feel it’s safe to reopen.
“We closed this time for just over a week, in this time we contacted our generator supplier to come in and tidy up the wiring so that it didn’t impact our ability to keep the restaurant clean, this was done within a day. We also were able to clean up the areas in the restaurant that were difficult to reach previously, provide staff with adequate health and safety training, and equip the restaurant with plenty of disinfectant and hand washes, as a couple of the smaller sinks had been missing hand wash during the inspection.
“On the 20th of September, we decided we were ready to reopen but we did not want to do this without another inspection, so after requesting a revisit [the inspector came on] the 24th September.
“They were very helpful and this time they were happy with the work that had taken place in the restaurant, and agreed everything was in very good order to begin trading again, we had actioned everything that was required of us and therefore back to being open as usual.
“This restaurant has always been a five-star star rated restaurant from previous inspections, [however] due to recent issues this has caused us a lapse in concentration in focusing on the things that matter. We are happy all staff and management have had the opportunity to retrain and we hope we are able to acquire and get back to the very high standards we hold ourselves to.
“We have a requested another revisit as a rescoring can only be done when a restaurant is operational, we are hopeful this will take place in a couple of weeks.
“We have done everything we can to ensure the restaurant is safe to dine in while we under go these temporary electrical issues. We have since acquired approval from the council to do the necessary work outside in order for our power supply to return back to normal.
“This is scheduled in to be completed by the end of October which would mean no longer having to rely on a temporary generator.”
Dining and Cooking