Poll -- Rats that aren't ratatouille in restaurants, would that put you off?

[Jingthing]

So you're at a restaurant that you like.

A big dirty RAT appears.

INSIDE the restaurant.

Not outdoors.

 

Would you return?

 

Yes this has happened to me multiple times in Thailand.

Roaches don't really phase me.

But rats. I wonder. 

 

[Been there done that]

^{no, stupid topics like this is what puts me off.}

[tutsiwarrior]

hey, with enough onions and garlic anything tastes good...spear that rodent and toss 'im in the wok...

 

seen rats as big as cats shufflin' around the baseboards in lowlife bars in SE Asia (they were so big that they waddled) when I was a kid over 20 years ago but nothin' recently...I've moved upmarket in me old age...

 

now there is a feral cat problem...

 

oh, 'vermin, bad luck an' trouble been my only frens...born under a bad sign...'

 

 

 

 

[Kwasaki]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

So you're at a restaurant that you like.

A big dirty RAT appears.

INSIDE the restaurant.

I'd say l want that with chips and gravy.  

[Jingthing]

1 hour ago, Been there done that said:

^{no, stupid topics like this is what puts me off.}

Point made.

Who can really compete with the topic (singular) that you started? 

 

[Bastos60]

Haven't been to a restaurant yet where I saw rodents crawling around and neither in thailand I have seen one coming from the kitchen either. 

But I am less likely to return.

[Jingthing]

3 minutes ago, Bastos60 said:

Haven't been to a restaurant yet where I saw rodents crawling around and neither in thailand I have seen one coming from the kitchen either. 

But I am less likely to return.

If it's an outdoor restaurant, I figure, well, how can they really control nature, but inside, I find it disturbing.

The first time it happened inside I didn't really like the place very much so it was a really easy decision not to return.

A more recent experience is harder. I really like the food! 

What am I afraid of? Well the rat feeling trapped in an enclosed space and getting aggressive and also disease spreading. 

Edited June 29, 2017 by Jingthing

[rijb]

Went to a place and saw the cook playing with a cat.  Went back to work without washing her hands.  We never went back.

[chickenslegs]

Almost impossible to keep rats out of a building. We have had rats in our roof space and in the pool - even though there is nothing there for them to eat.

 

If I saw a rat once in a favourite restaurant I wouldn't be put off - but if it was a regular occurrence I would probably find somewhere else to eat.

 

Are you sure it wasn't a hamster?

 

[Jingthing]

I know a rat when I see one ... 

 

[Been there done that]

4 minutes ago, Jingthing said:

I know a rat when I see one ... 

 

I don't care a ratts ass what you see.

[Jingthing]

1 minute ago, Been there done that said:

I don't care a ratts ass what you see.

I hope you're not an ophthalmologist. 

[Bastos60]

1 hour ago, Jingthing said:

If it's an outdoor restaurant, I figure, well, how can they really control nature, but inside, I find it disturbing.

The first time it happened inside I didn't really like the place very much so it was a really easy decision not to return.

A more recent experience is harder. I really like the food! 

What am I afraid of? Well the rat feeling trapped in an enclosed space and getting aggressive and also disease spreading. 

I actually have been to several outdoor restaurants in Thailand and not all of them in Pattaya or Bangkok. 
Not even once did I see vermin. 

 

It just shows the place or that area/street is not hygienic.

[Jingthing]

It is kind of a tip of the iceberg thing.

If they've got rats it makes you think about the their overall hygiene policy. 

But the truth is how many local restaurants that aren't in fancy hotels would get even a C health department rating in the west? 

 

 

 

 

Edited June 29, 2017 by Jingthing

[Suradit69]

If the rat is fat, the food must be pretty good.

[chezy86]

Outdoors I have seen a rat or two coming out the storm drainage didn't put me off the food as not in the eating area.Indoors never seen any can't say I'd be very happy though would probably eat elsewhere in the future.

[Jingthing]

The last time it happened happily I had finished my meal and was waiting to pay. The staff tried to chase the bugger out the front door but they were unsuccessful. So it was hiding somewhere. I put my feet up and paid quickly. That situation at the beginning of the meal would have been much more disturbing. Do you just keep eating as if nothing is wrong? 

 

It was kind of obvious to me that the staff wasn't really surprised. 

 

I really wish I hated their food. 

 

Edited June 30, 2017 by Jingthing

[dotpoom]

If seeing a rat was to put me off something I'd be sleeping on the beach now. See them in the building where I'm sleeping at this past couple of weeks. 

   Rats just looking for food like all the spieces on this planet?

[Jingthing]

Sorry. I don't think rats belong inside restaurants. I reckon that's the majority view. 

[chicowoodduck]

As long as I did not see it in my soup or salad the next day who gives a rat's arse??

Edited June 30, 2017 by chicowoodduck

[tolsti]

If it was an Issan style BBQ restaurant then it would just be their way of showing that their produce was fresh.

[Juan B Tong]

Actually this is a silly pole.  

Even in the developed world with aggressive health department inspections by properly credentialled officials, your gonna find rats in restaurants.

As for Thailand;  

The boldness of the rats is more important than their presence.  I know they are there. They are in almost every restaurant in Thailand. If I do see the rats I am a bit put off by the laziness of the staff.  Why don`t they shoo them away or feed them? 

I used to feel a personal connection with the rats in Tom's Quick on Sukhumvit Soi Nana before it was converted to just another bar.

 

As for eating them.  Vietnam.  The delta has good "con chuot" in a lot of the restaurats.  In the North you want to get out in the provinces. 

In the city there is always a chance that you will get a city rat.  Countyside free range rat is the best.   

[Khon Kaen Dave]

18 hours ago, Kwasaki said:

I'd say l want that with chips and gravy.  

" You dirty rat, I grilled your brother"

[ukrules]

Rats and mice are literally everywhere, you often don't see them as they tend to hide when they see people and other animals moving around.

 

I've seen them in pubs which sell food before and if it's an open fronted pub / restaurant there's very little which can be done to keep them out if they're coming in from outside. The worst thing is that they come out of the drains before they look for food so they're going to be filthy.

 

If they have a nest inside then that's a different matter.

[Lucky mike]

How was it cooked ?

[Khon Kaen Dave]

8 minutes ago, Lucky mike said:

How was it cooked ?

Gas mark 7 for 10minutes for the first 25 grammes, then 5 minutes at gas mark 8. And another 2 minutes, just like your mum used to, to make sure

Bon appetite.

[little mary sunshine]

You,really don't want to see the kitchens at 

some of the 4-5Star restaurants.

[just bob]

Well...  New poll;

 

If you saw a rat in Makro where all the restaurants buy their goods would you stop eating out?

 

Umm...  NO!

 

They're just another critter.

[garbolino]

why not its only a rat !!

[tifino]

 

 

I'd only really worry deeper, if black rice is on the menu

 

 

 

a bit immune to it all really - spent too many years surrounded by cafe cats in muslims cafes down south

 

 

 

there's more chance of gecko droppings, from above; than from what is scurrying about down below the table