Startling footage has surfaced, capturing the unsettling sight of two sizable rats feasting on a stove in the kitchen of an Adelaide pub.

The video, which was shared with 9News, clearly shows the rodents brazenly munching on the grill at the Hotel Metropolitan.

These unwelcome visitors were discovered on Tuesday evening by Andrew Antonna, a seasoned chef with four years of experience at another dining establishment.

Antonna was taken aback by the scene, remarking, “I’ve never witnessed anything like it before.”

He described the scene, noting, “They were scampering across the grill, the fryers, even on the plates … just having a good time.”

“I walked past there last night and people were eating there and I just felt disgusted.”

Publican Damien Peterson has sought to assure the public that his restaurant is aware and dealing with the problem, and that the kitchen will remain open.

“I am as disturbed as anybody else watching that vision,” he said. 

“Since we have been aware of this problem, specifically every morning, we deep clean the kitchen just to make sure that if we have any visitors, there’s no trace of them.”

“I eat food out of this kitchen every single day… and some of our customers were actually eating half an hour ago while I was telling them about the problem,” he added, pointing to the Metropolitan’s five-star health food rating.

Peterson said the hotel has spent close to $10,000 on pest control this year alone.

He also claims he isn’t alone, saying the city of Adelaide is facing a major rodent problem.

“We have secured any food source that they might be chasing inside of the building, but we have literally at some points had rats chew through the floorboards to get into the building,” he said.

The Adelaide City Council says it regularly conducts inspections and action varies based on the circumstances.