Diner finds cockroach in Bolognese while dining at Saizeriya outlet in Somerset

A woman got a shock when she found a small cockroach in her Bolognese pasta while dining at Saizeriya in Somerset.

After informing the store manager and having the staff assure her that they would void the order, she was still charged for the meal.

She apparently had to ask for a refund.

What happened?

Speaking to Mothership, 31-year-old import and export executive Apple Maglalang said she was dining with her group of friends and their children at the outlet in town at around 7:30 pm on Sep. 22.

She ordered Bolognese with egg, and dug in heartily when the food arrived.

However, halfway through the meal, she noticed an object that was darker in colour and looked out of place in her dish.

Thinking it was burnt meat at first, she was horrified to find out that it was a small cockroach.

She was so disgusted she almost threw up, she said.

Her friends also stopped eating and immediately checked their food.

Staff did not apologise

Apple brought the issue up to a waiter, who took away the food and brought it to the kitchen without a word.

The waiter then offered her a new dish, but by then Apple had already lost appetite, she said.

She was also "not feeling well".

She decided to escalate the matter to the branch manager, who offered to replace the dish or void her order.

She opted to void the order.

But she subsequently found that the branch manager had included the order in the bill.

She showed the receipt to the branch manager again, who refunded her.

If she had not checked the receipt, she would not have known that she was charged for it, she said.

"Very disappointed, very angry"

Apple said the lack of apology was what upset her the most, as well as the lack of service recovery.

She said the staff did not seem to care about the incident, only offering to replace her dish or void the order.

"I was very disappointed, very angry and mad about it," she told Mothership.

As a fan of Saizeriya who frequents the chain, Apple said she would no longer dine at the Somerset outlet after the incident.

A friend who worked in the food and beverage industry also prompted her to write a review on Google, where she realised another diner had also shared a similar experience and found cockroaches in their food.

Mothership has reached out to Saizeriya for comment.

Top photo via Apple Maglalang