Posted: December 11th, 2010 - 2:26pm by Doug Powell

One of Auckland's most famous nightclubs (that’s in New Zealand), a party spot for the rich and famous, has been given the city's worst food hygiene grade - 'E' for eeeww.

The Crow Bar on Wyndham St - where Bono from U2 hung out after one concert - is one of just 13 eateries to be awarded the worst possible grade.

The New Zealand Herald reports all of the new Supercity's 8000 restaurants, cafes, bars, dairies and bakeries - anywhere you can buy food to eat - have a rating between A and E. Any worse, and the council bans them from trading.

Council inspectors have discovered huge cockroaches, liquid from raw meat dripping into salads, the stench of rats and mice, and more, at some city eateries.
Only a few of the worst-rated eateries were willing and available to explain why their ratings were so bad.

Council environmental health inspectors said in other cases, hygiene levels were so bad they had no option but to close down outlets.

On one occasion, as an operator was explaining to health inspectors that there were no hygiene issues, a huge cockroach walked on to the bench.

Another noted "the smell of rotting produce hit when opening the car door on arrival to inspect the premises."

And in some eateries, fridges have been so overloaded the food cannot be stored properly; raw meat is left on a higher shelf where it drips into other food such as salad, likely to cause food poisoning.

I’m not a fan of the E grade, because it might be interpreted as excellent, and prefer A, B, C, F (for fail). U2 is hopelessly overrated, apparently like places where Bono hangs out.