South Mumbai's popular eatery Bademiya was on Wednesday sealed after raids by officials of Maharashtra's Food and Drugs Administration (FDA).
The FDA officials raided the eatery over hygiene-related complaints. During the raids, the officials found cockroaches and rats in the eatery's kitchen, sources said.
On further inspection, the officials found out that the eatery, which is 76 years old, did not have a license under the Food Safety & Standards Authority of India.
Despite this, two branches of the eatery were in business in South Mumbai and Bandra.
Due to the unhygienic kitchen and no license, the FDA immediately closed Bademiya, and its owner was given a stop business notice.
"There is an ongoing raid and inspection (of FDA) across restaurants in Mumbai. Bademiya is one of the hotels that have been raided. This afternoon, the vigilance team and our local officer arrived here (Bademiya) and found that a cloud kitchen served meals for two of its adjoining branches. There was no license granted to the eatery and hygiene issues have also surfaced," an FDA official told India Today.
"The FSSAI license had not been renewed for several years," the official said.
"In the interest of public health, this was necessary," he added.
Started in 1946 as a makeshift seekh kebab counter, Bademiya is an iconic food stall and restaurant chain in Mumbai. The restaurant is a popular landmark and tourist attraction in Mumbai's Colaba area.
The owner of Bademiya told India Today, however, said they had all their licenses in hand and renewed, except an FSSAI license which is underway. The owner said they were willing to comply with the authorities.
"The license until Covid lockdown has been renewed and for the latter period, we have applied for our license," the owner said.
Asked about the alleged hygiene menace at his eatery, Bademiya's owner said hereafter they would be careful in serving food to the public.
