Dil Raj on Ock Street is rated 2 and blames building work next door. Three more Abingdon venues got a 3, and all 19 September visits in the Vale scored 5.
Dil Raj, the restaurant at 6 Ock Street in Abingdon, has been given a food hygiene rating of 2 after an inspection on 20 August 2026. A 2 means “improvement necessary”.
The restaurant has replied on the public register. It says building work at a neighbouring property damaged its premises, and that the repairs are now done.
It is one of 36 Vale of White Horse ratings that have appeared since our last check on 1 September, and the only one of them below 3. Every September inspection published so far scored 5.
What the inspection found
Each inspection scores three areas. The Food Standards Agency record for Dil Raj shows:
- Hygienic food handling: generally satisfactory
- Cleanliness and condition of facilities and building: improvement necessary
- Management of food safety: generally satisfactory
So the restaurant was marked down on the building, not on how it handles food or runs its checks. That is the same pattern as the three Abingdon premises rated 2 in July.
The restaurant’s reply on the register reads, in full:
“Recent construction work at a neighbouring property caused issues within our building that affected our food hygiene rating. We have since completed all necessary repairs and improvements and are confident that our premises now meets the high standards of cleanliness, safety and quality that our customers expect from us.”
The register showed no new rating pending on 2 October. The rating stands until the council inspects again.
Three Abingdon venues rated 3
Ten August inspections in the district produced a rating below 5. None of them had been published when we last checked. Three of the 3s are in central Abingdon.
| Business | Where | Inspected | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dil Raj | 6 Ock Street, Abingdon | 20 August | 2 |
| Abingdon Spice | 46 Stert Street, Abingdon | 5 August | 3 |
| Missing Bean | 1 Stert Street, Abingdon | 13 August | 3 |
| Coffee aroma / mezzeh wine bar | 15 High Street, Abingdon | 17 August | 3 |
| Surf n Fries | Mobile caterer, Drayton Mill, Drayton | 7 August | 3 |
| 434 Enterprises Ltd | Kingston Business Park, Kingston Bagpuize | 5 August | 3 |
| Lucky Chopsticks | 9 Playfield Road, Kennington | 21 August | 3 |
| The Grange Care Centre | Church Green, Stanford in the Vale | 17 August | 3 |
| Mayflower | 28 London Street, Faringdon | 18 August | 3 |
| Royal Spice | 14 Coxwell Street, Faringdon | 5 August | 4 |
Drayton is about two miles south of Abingdon, Kennington about four miles north, and Kingston Bagpuize about six miles west. Stanford in the Vale and Faringdon are 10 to 13 miles west.
A 3 means “generally satisfactory”. None of the nine premises rated 3 was marked below generally satisfactory in any of the three areas.
Every September visit scored 5
Nineteen inspections dated in September have been published so far. All 19 scored 5, “very good”.
The September 5s include:
- in and around Abingdon: the school kitchen at Larkmead School on Faringdon Road, run by Impact Food Group as Dolce, and Stowford House Care Home at Shippon, just west of the town
- in the villages: North Star in Steventon, about four miles south; The Boars Head in Ardington, about eight miles south-west; and Bob’s Family Butchers in Harwell, about seven miles south
- community lunches: Cumnor Village Lunch at Cumnor village hall and the Botley Seniors Luncheon Club at Seacourt Hall, both on the western edge of Oxford
- in Wantage: Stockham Primary School and Wantage Country Market
- near Milton Park: Costa Coffee at Milton Gate, about three miles south
Across both months, 38 of the 48 published inspections scored 5. One scored 4, eight scored 3 and one scored 2. None scored 1 or 0.
The rest of the register
The register now lists 1,057 premises for the Vale. On 2 October:
| Rating | 1 September | 2 October |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | 782 | 781 |
| 4 | 115 | 112 |
| 3 | 50 | 55 |
| 2 | 10 | 11 |
| 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Awaiting inspection | 42 | 54 |
The two premises rated 1 are unchanged: Le Petit Doigt on West St Helen Street, Abingdon, and Matsho Africaribbean in Wantage Market Place. So are the ten rated 2 that we listed in September. None of the twelve has a newer rating published.
The newest rating on the register is dated 24 September. Inspections from the last week of September have not appeared yet.
What it means for you
- Read the three area scores, not just the number. Dil Raj’s 2 is about the building. Le Petit Doigt’s 1 is about management of food safety. They are different problems.
- Read the business’s reply. Any business can post a right to reply on the FSA register until its next inspection. Dil Raj has done so.
- A low rating can change. A business can ask the council for a re-rating once it has made the improvements. It will not normally be revisited within three months, and should expect a visit within six.
- Report a concern to the council. Food safety in Abingdon, Wantage and Faringdon is enforced by Vale of White Horse District Council, which also holds the officer’s report behind each rating.
The entries above are reported exactly as the public register records them. We approached no business for comment. Any business named here that has been re-rated, or wants its reply noted, can contact us and we will publish an update.
For eating out in town, our Abingdon business directory lists cafes, pubs and restaurants, and our parking guide covers the town centre car parks.
Sources
- Food Standards Agency food hygiene rating register, read via the FSA’s open data API for Vale of White Horse District Council on 2 October 2026, for every rating, inspection date, area score and total quoted.
- FSA record for Dil Raj, for the three area judgements and the business’s right to reply.
- Our 1 September 2026 roundup, for the earlier register totals.
- Food Hygiene Rating Scheme: guidance for businesses, GOV.UK, for the right to reply and re-inspection waiting times.
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