Stomper visits Tangs Market after rat fell onto diner's food: 'It's the safest place to eat'

A Stomper visited Tangs Market after a rat was seen twitching on a food tray after falling from the ceiling.

Stomper Mike shared that he visited the food court on Dec 8 and noted how 'empty' it was.

Several readers had alerted Stomp to a video circulating online of the incident that occurred on Nov 25 at the food court located in the basement of Tang Plaza at Orchard Road.

Stomper Anonymous witnessed the rat falling from the ceiling and said: "Everyone around that table was shocked, not only the person (whom the food belonged to)."

Following the incident, the Singapore Food Agency (SFA) and the National Environment Agency (NEA) conducted two rounds of joint inspection and found a rat infestation and five stalls with hygiene lapses.

"NEA will be taking enforcement action against the building management for rat infestation at the ceiling areas. SFA will also be taking enforcement action against five food shops found with hygiene lapses," the agencies said.

Tangs Market was then closed on Nov 30 for cleaning and sanitisation.

Although Mike only ordered a coffee, he was not put off by what happened and said he would come back to eat.

"They had sanitised the whole food court and the toilet was spotlessly clean," he said.

"It is understandable that people will still naturally harbour the fear as the scary video of the rat is hard to erase from their hard drive, it will linger for years.

"However, it's the safest place to eat. Think Monopoly -- the safest place is in the jail. The safest place is where the tornado just passed.

"After this rat incident, there'll be more checks by government agencies and Fei Siong will be more thorough in its audit."

The Stomper also suggested that the food court give out vouchers to its customers to bring people back and regain customer confidence.