They say the best seafood is served fresh, but Japanese Twitter user Rika Nakayama (@3nakayamaerika8) got a surprising reminder of how fresh it can be before serving when she was out for a stroll one night in the city.

Nakayama found herself in a situation she never expected in life, and saying words in an exchange she certainly couldn't have imagined when she found something slithering on the ground in front of her that night. Sharing the episode and a photo of her shocking finding on Twitter, many quickly understood why she felt like she was so out of her depth:

"I never thought I'd have to say something so unrealistic in my life.

Passing through the restaurant entrance curtain, my eyes locked with with owner's.

'Uh, excuse me...but your eel is running away...'"

What Nakayama saw on the ground was an escapee from a fresh batch of unagi delivered to a nearby restaurant! As unagi is delicacy preferred to be prepared and serve as fresh as possible, the eel must have just been taken to the restaurant moments before straight from the water. The slippery eel somehow managed to wiggle its way out of the restaurant and onto the street in a break for it.

Nakayama was able to get the eel back to the nearby restaurant by letting the owner know, but it certainly must have been a surreal sight to spot unagi darting across the city streets.

The wildness of it all made the picture and episode take of virally on Twitter, with many remarking it shows just how fresh some seafood is served--with others noting it just goes to show you can see anything late at night in the city.