Ranchi, Sept. 9: A team of experts, including the food inspector, raided several popular restaurants and eateries this morning and described the kitchens in some of them as ?deplorable?.

The team, led by Ranchi civil surgeon Ashrita Kujur, raided as many as five eateries and collected the food samples to check the adulteration content, if any. Kitchens, food storage units and the utensils were also checked.

Though the officials called the visit a routine affair, sources pointed out that the raid was carried out on the basis of several complaints that city restaurants served bad and unhygienic food. The team split into two: one raided Punjab Sweet House, Kathi Kabab, Kaveri restaurant and the Capitol Hill kitchen while the other group swooped down on the Rasik Lal sweet shop in Doranda.

The team consisted of civil surgeon Ashrita Kujur, food inspector Krishna Prasad Singh, D.K. Rajpal, S.K Srivastava, Suresh, Neelam Choudhary, Jayant and Dhruvanath. Kujur said strict action would be taken against eateries serving adulterated and bad food. ?We have taken several samples from each of these places and they will be sent for detailed analysis. If there is anything wrong with the food quality, they should be ready to face the music. Legal action will be taken against them and they could even be shut down,? she said.

Kujur said the team had entered the kitchens of each of these places. ?Every nook and corner was thoroughly checked. The kitchens of most of these places are in bad shape. Not much care is taken about cleanliness. The condition of Kathi Kabab was not good at all. Punjab Sweet House also did not present a very healthy look,? she added.

Kujur said the condition of the Capitol Hill kitchen and restaurant and the Kaveri restaurant was satisfactory. ?Only these two places can be said to be good when it comes to hygiene,? she said.

The kitchen of Kathi Kabab, popular in Ranchi, presented a pathetic look. While one came across helpers cutting vegetables outside on a table, which was directly above the drain, heaps of garbage lay just outside the restaurant. The condition of the kitchen was pathetic with grease dripping from the walls.

The Punjab Sweet House kitchen also presented more or less the same look. The walls had become completely black. Dirty water flowed along the kitchen floor where the vegetables were being cut. The already sliced vegetables were kept open.

Ranjeet Kumar Pandey, the manager of Kathi Kabab, said: ?We have a lot of people coming in everyday. Every minute we prepare so many different dishes at one time. There are some problems but we are trying to improve the condition here.?

Ved Prakash, the owner of Punjab Sweet House, refused to believe that his kitchen was untidy. ?Yes, a team was here and they took some food samples. We don?t have any problems when it comes to the kitchen,? he said.