Restaurant forced to apologise after customer discovers dead rat in her salad

If you thought finding a stray hair in your food was bad, just wait until you hear this.

One restaurant in Sydney, Australia, has been forced to issue a pretty big apology to a woman who made the very unfortunate discovery of a dead rat in her salad - not exactly the type of protein you want.

Tatsuya West Ryde, which specialises in Japanese cuisine, made the apology after a Google reviewer who used the name 'DO' penned her complaint of the deceased rodent she'd discovered in her food order.

She penned in her review: "Halfway through my katsu don set, I found a dead rat in my side salad. I’d eaten half of it at this point. Just absolutely revolting and unacceptable."

"Everyone who was present at the time stood up and left the restaurant," the reviewer continued. "What’s even more shocking is that they continued to serve food to other customers that had just arrived and weren’t aware of what had happened, when really they should have closed immediately."

A restaurant in Australia has come under fire after allegedly serving a salad with a dead rat in it (9 News)

According to the understandably befuddled customer, her one-star review was 'generous' given the stomach-churning circumstances.

Tatsuya West Ryde has since spoken out about the major mishap, replying to the woman’s review with a lengthy apology in which they called the situation 'an unexpected and deeply concerning issue' and admitted to 'a serious lapse in our internal processes'.

The apology stated: "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," the statement continued.

"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."

Not ideal... (Google Reviews)

Following the ordeal, the eatery assured customers that it reacted with 'utmost seriousness', explaining that they’d reported the issue to the NSW Food Authority and the City of Ryde, quarantined all related ingredients for investigation, engaged in professional pest control services, closed the restaurant for cleaning, retrained staff, and initiated internal reviews of procedures.

"We recognise that words alone are not enough," Tatsuya West Ryde wrote. “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."

The restaurant concluded their response by offering their 'heartfelt apology' for the situation.

"At Tatsuya, we hold ourselves to high standards. When we fall short, we take it seriously, and we are committed to doing better," they wrote. "Thank you for your patience and understanding."

In a separate comment, the eatery alleged that the dead rat 'originated from a delivered salad box which we are currently investigating with our supplier and local food authorities'.