Confirmed: Topaz is as Dirty as the DOH Says

There was kind of a coincidental convergence of Thai food news yesterday, much of it centered around Topaz on 56th btw. 6+7th.   It started with this comment, copied from the Department of Health Website:

TOPAZ THAI RESTAURANT
Violation points: 101
Inspection Date: 12/22/2008

Violations were cited in the following area(s) and those requiring immediate action were addressed.

Sanitary Violations

1.) Other general violation.
2.) Non-food contact surface improperly constructed. Unacceptable material used. Non-food contact surface or equipment improperly maintained.
3.) Lighting inadequate. Bulb not shielded or shatterproof.
4.) Food contact surface not properly maintained.

But wait there is more…  

5.) Thawing procedures improper.
6.) Facility Design
7.) Sanitized equipment or utensil, including in-use food dispensing utensil, improperly used or stored.
8.) Food contact surface not properly washed, rinsed and sanitized after each use and following any activity when contamination may have occurred.
9.) Food not protected from potential source of contamination during storage, preparation, transportation, display or service.

Doesn’t sound too bad (aka no “evidence of mice”) but a failing score is 28- and they got a 101. Coincidentally enough, our Profiled Midtown Lunch’er yesterday has never tried Thai food (stemming from a story he heard at camp about a guy missing his wedding because he ate Thai food and got sick) and asked for a recommendation. Knowing about the comment above, I couldn’t in good conscience recommend Topaz, and my fears were confirmed by this shocker posted this morning:

Uh…I just went to Topaz yesterday and enjoyed every moment of my pork drunken noodle lunch… until I found a staple in my noodle, that is. So in addition to my staple, they didn’t pass health inspection. Awesome!! Wish I had read the comment [above] before heading out there.

Dios mio man.

8 Comments

  • I once had a staple in my pizza at Blue Moon Pizza in Rockville Centre. My girlfriend (now my wife) and I ordered a pizza and ate it at home. Something set off a weird sensation on one of my fillings. I reached in and pulled out a FUCKING STAPLE! They were apologetic and gave us a refund, but that was a very close call.

  • Did they do DNA testing of the animal matter they serve?

  • DNA testing is useless in Arkansas and Texas…as all the men have the same DNA.

  • the doh should start including photos of the kitchen

  • the sad part is that there is still no overwhelming support for posting letter grades on restaurant windows.

    i guess it just means that some people think if you want clean and healthy foods, read blogs! (yea!) to know where to go or just suffer the consequences.

  • I introduced my coworker to Topaz that day. He really enjoyed his drunken noodles. I guess that was his first and last time!

    Thank goodness we didn’t get sick. Maybe my stomach is immune from having eaten rodent infested food in NY for many years?

  • I’ve eaten there more than a dozen times. I never got sick and always enjoyed my food. I’m sure all restaurants could be better designed and cleaner, but Topaz has a line out the door every lunchtime and many of the diners are regulars.

  • I went to Topaz with a friend once and asked for a Ginger Ale. They brought it out and there was a FLY in the glass. So I kindly sent it back for a replacement and received no apology. The second glass had a little BEETLE IN IT! So finally I asked for a can of soda, with no ice (still no apology, btw)… and then they proceeded to charge me $2.00 on the bill for the soda!

    I said f- that… believe that there was no chance in hell I was paying for that soda. I was furious.

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