A man who fancied a steak went to a famous food chain Chilli's outlet at Sharjah’s Sahara Centre and ordered one.

As the dish was served, his hunger instantly turned into disgust as there were worms in the plate.

Infuriated, Bahaa Hijazi quickly took shots of the plate with his mobile phone, summoned the restaurant manager and protested.

The manager said sorry and simply offered him another free meal.

“But of course I refused and told him it is not a matter of another meal… it has to do with negligence and unhygienic practices at the restaurant,” Hijazi said, quoted by the Arabic language daily Emirat Alyoum on Saturday.

“I made clear to him that there should be an investigation and those responsible for this must be punished… I then called the Sharjah Municipality.”

Hijazi said a municipal inspector who came to the restaurant later met the manager, talked to him and fined him.

“This is not enough… the inspector did not bother take the normal procedures in such cases and enter the restaurant to check storage and the workers… I feel there the fine was not enough and stricter measures must be taken.”

But Emirat Alyoum quoted health director at the municipality, Shada Al Mualla, as saying there would be no tolerance with any eating outlet that does not comply with health rules and that it takes consumer complaints very seriously.

“As for the restaurant, our inspector did go inside the restaurant and made sure all foodstuffs are stored properly,” she said.

“This is the first time that we have penalised that restaurant…but in case the offence is repeated, we will take strict measures that could involve closure.”