East Metro Health District briefly suspended the food permit of Ichiban Buffet in Buford after the restaurant failed its second consecutive routine inspection in less than three months.

Also, it was Ichiban’s third consecutive violation of the food storage and separation health code. The restaurant at 3843 Buford Drive had to provide corrective action and risk control plans, and repair some faulty equipment before being re-inspected.

Manager Eddie Yan said an old cooler that couldn’t maintain the proper temperature was the main reason Ichiban received a failing score of 59 out of 100 during the July 7 inspection.

Some sprouts, lo mein noodles and crab meat in the hibachi prep cooler were discarded because they exceeded the 41-degree maximum for cold-held food, according to the report.

Yan said the cooler was repaired that afternoon, then Ichiban received a 100/A on a follow-up inspection.

Other corrections were also needed. Food storage was re-arranged so that raw animal products were not on top of ready-to eat items.

Points had been taken off because raw eggs were stored over cooked lo mein noodles in the prep cooler, and raw fish was stored over ready-to-eat crab in the sushi section of the reach-in cooler.

There were also problems with keeping food too long, especially on the sushi bar.

Five different foods on the sushi bar were discarded because they had been left out for more than four hours. Other foods at the bar had no time controls and were not labeled with start and discard times.

Among other violations, two boxes of raw meat were thawing on a prep table instead of inside a cooler or under cold running water. The dishwasher’s rinse temperature was not hot enough to sanitize the dishes, according to the report.

Ichiban made a 54 during its previous routine inspection in May, but brought it up to a 95 during the follow-up visit in June.

Here are some other recent inspection scores from area restaurants.

Cobb County

• Cajun Café, 400 Barrett Parkway, Kennesaw: 91/A.
• Lemon Grass Thai Restaurant, 2145 Roswell Road, Marietta: 97/A.
• Nattys Jamaican Food, 680 Powder Springs St., Marietta: 89/B.

DeKalb County

• Bahel Ethiopian Restaurant, 3125 Briarcliff Road NE, Atlanta: 96/A.
• Garlic Thai Cuisine, 340 W. Ponce De Leon Ave., Decatur: 95/A.
• Penang Malaysian Cuisine, 4897 Buford Highway, Chamblee: 72/C.

Fayette County

• Cheers Family Sports Grill, 834 Glynn St., Fayetteville: 99/A.
• Kiku Japanese Steak House, 190 Pavilion Parkway, Fayetteville: 95/A.
• Thai Isan, 1009 N. Peachtree Parkway, Peachtree City: 93/A.

Fulton County

• Grindhouse Killer Burgers, 1842 Piedmont Ave., Atlanta: 90/A.
• Mojito Café, 9850 Nesbitt Ferry Road, Alpharetta: 98/A.
• Persepolis Cuisine, 6435 Roswell Road, Atlanta: 91/A.

Gwinnett County

• Asian Fusion, 3463 Lawrenceville Suwanee Road, Suwanee: 85/B.
• Dominican Restaurant, 510 Pleasant Hill road, Lilburn: 98/A.
• Fernando’s Mexican Restaurant, 465 Dacula Road, Dacula: 93/A.

Newton County

• El Charro, 9148 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., Covington: 90/A.
• Peking, 5340 Highway 20 S., Covington: 60/U.
• R L’s Off The Square, 1113 Floyd St. NE, Covington: 95/A.

— by Laura Berrios for the Food & More blog

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