Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
OK..WHO ORDERED THE RATATOUILLE?
Diner tells of shock after rodent runs up his leg at top restaurant
A MAN yesterday told of his shock after a rat crawled up his leg at a popular Northern Ireland restaurant.
Stephen Houston, 26, was out for a meal with friends at the Ramore in Portrush, Co Antrim, when the shocking incident happened on Tuesday night.
The charity worker said he and pals had sat down when they witnessed a commotion in a corner of the restaurant.
He told the Mirror: “We noticed there were a few people chatting and pointing and a woman had her phone out filming something so a mate of mine called over to a fella and asked him, ‘What’s going on, what’s happening’?
“And he kind of just said and pointed, ‘There’s a rat up there’.
“There was a rat high up on the table, they kind of use a sackcloth-like covering for the roof in the booth area and the rat was up in there.
“I wasn’t able to see it then but my mate looked over and he kind of screamed a wee bit because he saw this long tail hanging down.
“The next thing we knew a fella came over. He looked like housekeeping staff and had two brushes.
“At this point no effort was made to clear the room or move people around and there was maybe 25 to 30 people in this little area.
“He then started poking the area where the rat was and the rat dropped to the ground.
“Obviously there’s a huge reaction to that, people recoiling and screaming.”
Stephen, from Ballymena, told how he and fellow diners looked on stunned as restaurant staff dealt with the rodent.
He added: “The rat dropped to the ground and immediately starts running and they lost sight of the rat for a couple of minutes.
“They weren’t sure where it had gone to and then they moved a couple of tables and things to see if it was behind one of those when it sprinted out and came towards our table. It came under my chair first
YESTERDAY
and I felt it come up on the back of my leg and I kind of just kicked it off and it got trapped under the table a bit, then got stuck under my friend Alex’s chair.
“At that point a man came up to her and was like, ‘Mam, can you please move there’s a rat at your feet’.
“She moved out of the way and you can see in the video they pull it back and the rat ends up trapped under the chair by its tail and they come in with the brushes and stomp on it. “I still can’t believe it happened in front of 25 to 30 customers. Everyone just stood watching including kids, that was just madness.
“They had it trapped so it would have just taken them to grab a bucket and take it out but it was a bit mad.” Following the incident Stephen and his pals were moved to new table. He said: “The staff were genuinely in shock. We had already paid and ordered so they refunded our meal and brought out fresh plates and desserts.
“I think it was with the general manager who came down and said, ‘Look guys, sorry this has happened. Obviously, this is very irregular, we hope it doesn’t put you off coming back’.
“He said he had been there for years and it had never happened before.
“I did feel for the staff as I did work in a cafe and I would have had no idea how to handle that. It was a crazy night.”
Despite the incident, Stephen added he will probably return to the restaurant.
He said: “It’s genuinely one of our favourite places to go, we’ve eaten there upwards of 100 times. In the short term it has put us off but long term we do love it there so we will see.”
The Mirror contacted the Ramore but a member of staff refused to comment.
The Causeway Coast and Glens Borough Council said environmental health officers are probing the incident.