How would you feel if you discovered the kitchen where your meal was just cooked was infested with huge rats? Customers at The Grandma's, a renowned restaurant chain adept at Hangzhou dishes, were unfortunate enough to find out.
According to Kankanews, the scandal took place at their Hongkou Longement Shopping Center outlet. While diners were enjoying their food this Monday, they suddenly spotted a rat in the kitchen through the 'see-through stove' system, a livestream platform of the restaurants' kitchens. Ordered to be implemented by the China Food and Drug Administration, the surveillance gives customers a better idea of what's going on behind the scenes.
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Image via Kankanews
Boiling with disgust and fury, diners tipped off the city's watchdogs. It didn't take long before Hongkou's market supervision department arrived and terminated the restaurant's operation. Pest control service has been ordered for The Grandma's and the branch won't resume normal operation until it passes further examination.
The outlet has been ordered to shut down. Image via The Paper
Surprisingly, this is not the first time the restaurant chain has been found to have hygiene issues. Last week, undercover journalists at a The Grandma's outlet in Nanjing exposed other problems, including cooks walking on the chopping blocks and using expired ingredients. When asked why they would behave in such a manner, "The customers couldn't see us anyway," one of the staff flagrantly responded.
Cue netizen fury. "Every time something bad happens, they apologize and beg for forgiveness," wrote one netizen on Weibo. "Why couldn't they do something before things went south? Bad Grandma."
"I will never have a meal at this restaurant," said another. "Unless their manager eats this rat up."
Meanwhile, others couldn't help but worry about the circumstances of other restaurants and bistros.
"I'm afraid other places have the same problem," suspected one netizen. "They are just lucky that they don't get caught or exposed.”
[Cover image via The Paper]
