Dead mice are thought to be found in cream soup at Vancouver restaurants

The owner of the chowder restaurant in Vancouver apologized after a customer who allegedly found a dead mouse in a bowl of soup.

Ashton Phillips, owner of Crab Park Chowdery, said two women were in his restaurant on December 27 when they made a suspected discovery. He said the staff apologized, gave them a refund and a $ 100 gift card. He said the situation ended with the women leaving the restaurant peacefully.

Then the same day, a video of the incident was posted to Instagram. Since then it has gained thousands of views, hundreds of negative comments and has produced several complaints to the Vancouver Coastal Health.

"Today my friend ordered Manhattan clam chowder and there was a little surprise in it," the poster wrote.

Phillips told CTV Vancouver that it is not possible for mice to enter their products because soup is cooked in a different kitchen and stored in a large plastic bin with a safe lid.

"We were a bit surprised by it all," Phillips said. "We have gone through hard and rigorous work to ensure that we offer the best health and safety standards."

Examiners had allowed Crab Park Chowdery to remain open, but the kitchen space outside the location where the soup was prepared had been closed.

Vancouver Coastal Health spokeswoman Tiffany Akins told CTV Vancouver that the inspector found "evidence of mice" in space, located inside Mamie Taylor's, a separate restaurant in Chinatown.

Phillips said the staff at Crab Park Chowdery had thrown away all of the remaining soup and started making dishes again from the start.

However, the restaurant reportedly had a previous problem regarding mice.

The Vancouver Coastal Health confirmed there were signs of rodents, especially rat droppings, during an inspection at the Gastown site in February, but it seems the problem was overcome in the same month.

The follow-up inspection carried out on February 23 did not find a problem with rodents, and routine inspections were then carried out in April and October.

With video continuing to get online attention and generating dozens of reviews of new stars on Yelp and Google, Phillips said he was worried he should close the shop.

"I built this thing from the ground up. We've been here for two years now and have videos or just pictures – sorry, I'm going to be emotional," Phillips said. "Videos or images that only threaten to blow things up are really unfortunate."