Featured Image Credit: Daniel Kim/Google
Topics: Australia, World News, Food and Drink, Animals
Liv Bridge
Topics: Australia, World News, Food and Drink, Animals
A restaurant has issued an apology after customer made a grim discovery of a dead rat in her 'half-eaten' salad.
On Tuesday (April 22) a disgruntled customer slammed Tatsuya West Ryde restaurant in north-west Sydney after allegedly coming across a lifeless rodent the size of a human hand in her katsudon.
Posting a picture of her gruesome discovery in a Google review, which shows the pest wrapped up in salad leaves on a napkin, the woman said that she'd 'eaten half' of it before realizing.
“Just absolutely revolting and unacceptable,” she wrote (via 9News). "What's even more shocking is that they continued to serve food to other customers that weren't aware of what happened when really they should have closed immediately."
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"One star is being generous," she continued, adding that everyone 'who was present at the time, stood up and left the restaurant'.
The incident was also described as 'unacceptable and disgusting' by another customer who was sitting near the woman in the Japanese restaurant.
Her friend also took to the review site, writing that the diner does't even deserve one star 'considering what happened today.'
“My pregnant friend and I were having their lunch set today and in her small salad was a disgusting feral dead rat that was underneath the salad,” they wrote.
A man who claims to be the woman's husband, Daniel Kim, also chimed: "My wife’s salad had a rat in it. Absolutely disgusting."
In response, the restaurant has since apologized for the incident, writing back on her review: "We sincerely apologise for this incident. The issue originated from a delivered salad box which we are currently investigating with our supplier and local food authorities.
"We are taking all necessary steps to prevent such incidents and appreciate your understanding."
In a further statement to the news outlet, the owner of the restaurant also added that the situation is now under investigation, having self-referred the incident to the local food authority and closed the premises for a deep clean.
"An unexpected and deeply concerning issue arose during service, for which we acknowledge a serious lapse in our internal processes," the owner said.
"While we prefer not to go into graphic detail out of respect for those affected, we fully recognise that the incident occurred within our operations and may have caused distress to the customers involved, as well as to the wider community that places its trust in us.
"Regardless of rumours or online commentary, our position remains clear: the incident happened at our restaurant, and we take full responsibility.
"We are not focused on assigning blame or debating the source. Our priority is to take strong corrective and preventative actions to ensure something like this never happens again.
"We are treating this matter with the utmost seriousness."
The restaurant also said it contacted pest control, has launched an internal review and quarantined ingredients, adding: "We recognise that words alone are not enough. Our responsibility now is to act decisively, improve our standards, and rebuild the trust that this community has placed in us.
"That is what we are committed to — openly, sincerely, and with lasting improvements. We offer our heartfelt apology to the customer involved and to everyone affected.
"At Tatsuya, we hold ourselves to high standards. When we fall short, we take it seriously, and we are committed to doing better."
Meanwhile, Ryde City Council confirmed it had inspected the restaurant after the diner's complaint and would be taking 'enforcement action.'
"All food handlers at the restaurant will also be required to undertake further training in food safety matters," its statement added.