I will be the first to admit that Vietnamese people eat some really strange things, like cobras, rats, and squeazles. But we’re totally okay with preparing recognizable American livestock for Americans in our Stateside restaurants, which is why allegations that a Vietnamese restaurant in St. Petersburg, FL served rat meat to its customers really ticked off its owner.

Advertising

Local station WTBL News ran a story last week on an anonymous complaint to the state’s Board Of Health, which claimed that the employees of Thuy’s Cafe served rats, captured on the roof and near the dumpster, and slaughtered in the tin shed behind the restaurant, to its customers.

This did not make owner Thuy Le very happy, and he took to his Facebook page to denounce their allegations:

This allegation, which apparently came from some “anonymous source” (which I believe was prompted by jealousy) was not supported by any evidence whatsoever, is totally untrue, utterly false, and blatantly defamatory.THUY CAFÉ HAS NEVER DONE, AND WOULD NEVER DO, ANY SUCH THING!

Furthermore, he was peeved that they used footage of

Real Vietnamese People From Vietnam as a way to address the fact that some Vietnamese people, somewhere in the world, eat rats.  “The worst part was that the story also contained ‘file footage’ showing rats being cleaned and cooked IN VIETNAM(!), thereby easily implying that similar activity occurs at Thuy Café!” he groused in an email to the Huffington Post.

We take issue with the premise of WTBL’s story, because the entire thing makes no sense. First of all, why cook rats when they can cook for us? And second, why cook rats and not charge $100 per plate? Come on, guys. Use your head.

[Huffington Post]

Tags: Rats