Watch: Customer finds parasite worm crawling out of restaurant fish dinner

While out celebrating a birthday at a restaurant one of the diners got more than they bargained for. Photo / Jim Guinee / Facebook

While out celebrating a birthday at a restaurant one of the diners got more than they bargained for when they noticed something squirming around in their meal.

Jim Guinee, from New Jersey in the US, was out to dinner with his family and girlfriend for his aunt's 80th birthday, when his partner noticed something trying to escape from her fish.

She had already eaten half of her cod dinner when she noticed a parasitic worm wriggling around on the plate.

Guinee, who works as a lawyer, posted a video of the unwelcome addition to Facebook with the caption: "Happy 80th Birthday dinner to Aunt Dot and sorry to Jen about the surprise guest in your fish."

The post quickly gained a lot of attention, with people expressing their disgust at the stomach-churning discovery.

"Ugh irresponsible. Looks like more than one worm in there," one person said.

"OMG! That is just not right … disgusting. Thank god she saw it before she ate it!" another wrote.

But staff at the restaurant weren't happy with Guinee, slamming the video as a "callous and irresponsible reaction of an attorney of law to attempt to destroy our reputation & possible livelihoods due to something that could have happened to anyone, whether cooking at home or in a restaurant."

Many people agreed with the restaurant, saying that parasites are often found in fish but they are usually killed off during the cooking process.

"Nothing the restaurant could have done different. Parasites can be found in many animals including fish," one person said.

The restaurant cut that meal off the bill and have since stopped serving cod.