“Not a beef tripe but…” – Man in China Finds Used Dishcloth in Takeaway Hotpot, Restaurant Responds

From bugs to rats, it’s frightening to know that every dine-in experience is the opportunity to discover what may be “lurking” in our food.

In Chengdu, China, a group of colleagues had the shock of their life after discovering what was “simmering” inside the hotpot that was ordered via the food delivery application. Mr Ning noticed one of the soups in the package appeared to be different and cloudy than the rest, although his colleagues assured him that they had ordered the same sets of meals.

Ning then noticed a huge “beef tripe” in the soup, which shocked him.

“That’s a huge beef tripe. Is this for real?”

To ease the eating process, Ning took a scissor to cut the “tripe” into smaller portions, but something was not right. One of the colleagues noticed that the “tripe” had fibres. That was when they found out the “beef tripe” has been the “masquerade” of a dishcloth all along.

Yucks! We wonder about the kinds of “flavours” that had been absorbed into the hotpot soup!

The group of colleagues, including Ning himself, felt sick upon the terrifying discovery. Two of them even threw up, and he immediately gave the restaurant a call, but the latter’s response did not sit well with Ning.

“So what kind of solution are you looking for now? Do you want us to prepare a new soup and send it over?”

Ning rejected it and said his team had lost all the appetite to eat. During the phone call, Ning did not speak to the restaurant about compensation as he was too angry about it, but he believed that it was an attitude problem from the restaurant’s side. He wanted an apology from them.

Here’s what the restaurant had to say

Speaking to the media in China, the person in charge of the takeaway order said that the employees used a dishcloth to hold the pot while pouring the soup into the package, and the dishcloth probably fell into the soup in the process.

South China Morning Post reported that the employee who prepared the order has been fired for his mistake. The restaurant has been closed for further inspections, but they assured that they have apologised to Ning during the phone call, and will be speaking to him for compensation.

We can’t imagine what’s worse – the cloth simmering in the hot soup, or what the dishcloth has been used to wipe off. How would you expect the restaurant to handle the situation, if such a matter were to happen to you?

Also read: “Don’t sell it!” – Fed up M’sian Urges Restaurants NOT to Sell Buttermilk Chicken if They Can’t Get it Right