A lucky diner found a pearl while eating an oyster dish at a famous New York City restaurant.
Bizarre on Female First
Rick Antosh was out to lunch with a friend and ordered his usual at the Grand Central Oyster Bar on Decemeber 5.
The 66-year-old told the New York Post that he felt a small object rolling around his mouth after he tucked into his favourite $14.75 pan roast - which contains a stew-like dish that includes six oysters.
He said: ''For a fraction of a second, there was terror. Is it a tooth? Is it a filling?''
The New Jersey, Edgewater resident said it turns out to be a pea-sized peal.
He is yet to have the prize appraised.
The occurrence of natural pearls in oysters is not completely understood - but anecdotally it has been estimated at one in 10,000 according to oyster physiologist Matthew Gray.