Gammeeok

Customers Sue Gammeeok Restaurant for Alleged Rat in Soup | Eater NY

"My husband and I have patronized Gammeeok for almost a decade and had only said positive things about it, so on March 11 we were shocked to find what we claim was a dead rodent—what I at first thought was a vegetable until my husband noticed the tail—in our sogogi gukbap delivered via UberEats. We had already been eating when we noticed; we both vomited afterwards, went to urgent care and were prescribed doxycycline, and we disposed of the specimen. I posted photos on Instagram, filed a complaint with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on March 13, and our lawyers filed a lawsuit in Manhattan Supreme Court on March 15. Gammeeok refutes the presence of vermin, saying it has been disinfected every two weeks, that staff ladled the soup four times while observed and that video exists of the transfer, and it says any issues found in a January 18, 2023 DOHMH inspection (which reported 79 points and noted the establishment “is not free of harborage or conditions conducive to rodents, insects or other pests,” and at one point had a C grade) have been fixed. Over March 11–12 the restaurant offered a refund and a $100 coupon (which it concedes) and, I say, offered $5,000 (which we rejected); the restaurant says it was threatened and plans to pursue legal recourse. An exterminator shown the photo thought it could be a mouse rather than a rat. Above all, I do not want this incident to be used to fuel race-based hate or prejudice—I remain a supporter of Asian cuisine and culture." - Emma Orlow