In what appears to be something pulled out of a very insanitary nightmare, a New York woman was disgusted to find a dead rat in her salad. Hannah Rasbach, 27, and the restaurant’s owner still wonder how this incident happened.
Videos by Suggest
According to ABC7, the incident took place on Monday, May 5, at Ongi, a restaurant located in Midtown Manhattan. She arrived during the afternoon, expecting a quality meal during her lunch break. However, when she started to go through her salad, a strange topping left her in shock.
“When I tried to cut it, it didn’t feel right, it felt like a fatty piece of meat or something,” Rasbach told the outlet. “I took a better look and I saw the tail and eyes.”
Of course, Rasbach was furious. However, the owner, Ray Park, insisted to the outlet that the animal didn’t come from the restaurant.
“I was thinking, how can it be happening here, because we have a high standard to run every single day here,” Park said. Reportedly, Park reviewed video footage and couldn’t find the rodent being placed in Rasbach’s salad.
Moreover, in a statement shared by an Ongi spokesperson with PEOPLE, the restaurant claims that an inspector found Rasbach’s allegation “not founded.”
“We reviewed the security footage of the meal as it was being prepared, and we questioned the employees who prepared it,” the statement read. “Upon review of that video and other evidence, we concluded that the contaminant was not put into the customer’s lunch at our restaurant.”
Allegation Unfounded?
Meanwhile, Hannah Rasbach at the time went to the doctor, where she was given precautionary antibiotics.
“We had no idea how this animal died,” Rasbach told ABC7. “It could have been rat poison, it could have been disease, any number of things.”
While the restaurant insists that they would have noticed the animal in the salad and that Rasbach’s claims are unfounded, even saying that the rodent was not sealed in the bowl when given to Rasbach, she insists that she isn’t lying.
“What am I getting out of this? I am not pursuing legal action. There’s no benefit to me putting a rodent in my bowl,” Rasbach told PEOPLE. “Where would I have gotten the rodent? I don’t understand how that would have happened.”
Now, Rasbach to getting takeout, worrying that something similar could happen again. In regards to Ongi, she told ABC7, “I would like them to be shut down or investigated.”
Following the incident, Hannah Rasbach filed a complaint with 311. Currently, the Health Department is investigating.