A POPULAR Jericho cafe has been slammed by food hygiene bosses over paperwork - despite rave reviews online.

Opera Cafe, in Walton Street, was given a one-star rating by Oxford City Council environmental health officers and 28 days to make a number of improvements.

Staff at the cafe, which serves a selection of Moroccan food, cakes and coffees, failed to keep the fridge at the right temperature and had a sink so full it couldn't be accessed.

Inspectors listed a small number of improvements but still awarded the cafe a one-star rating, due to a lack of paperwork following their visit last month.

The report read: "Ensure copies of certificates are available on site and complete allergen sheets.

"There was no Food Safety Management Scheme in place, it should be downloaded and completed in full daily."

It was also revealed that the fridge was kept 10C warmer than the maximum temperature and staff were told to rectify it immediately.

The cafe was rated 'Poor' when it came to Food Hygiene and Safety but 'Very Good' in the Structural Compliance category.

But inspectors revealed they had 'little' confidence in the management based on track record and how likely they were to turn it around.

But the cafe has been popular on restaurant review website Tripadvisor since it opened in June 2015 and has never been rated lower than four out of five.

Reviewer Al-Fahmi wrote: "This is an excellent cafe in Jericho serving coffee, teas, sandwiches and some Moroccan, North African dishes particularly the "Mussamman", which is oiled pan-bread.

"The place is small, but the staff are cool, and the ambiance is inviting, so I usually take my laptop to do my school work from there.

He added: "It's my favourite cafe in Jericho."

Another user, named as Breakbeat, visited the cafe less than two weeks before the inspection.

She said: "I went here for lunch with work colleagues and the food was amazing.

"The wraps are delicious (would highly recommend the harissa chicken wrap - a filo wrap, which comes with an additional pot of harissa so you can choose just how hot to make it).

"The place was very bright and welcoming I will definitely be going back."

The Oxford Mail approached Opera Cafe but they were unavailable for comment.