Shark fin on ‘premium’ menu at popular Hong Kong chain Maxim’s despite pledge

Maxim’s claimed in 2017 to be the first Chinese restaurant chain to phase out shark fin, but still has a hidden menu called ‘The Premium’ selling the controversial product. WildAid activists accuse the company of misleading the public, but the chain claims the hidden menus don’t count

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Wildlife activists and children from WildAid stage a protest at Maxim’s Restaurant in Central. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 7:00pm, 12 Jun 2018Updated: 6:57pm, 11 Sep 2018

When the two women guests at the reception desk of Maxim’s Palace say they want to order shark fin, the black suited employee bends down and pulls out a menu from beneath the counter that is strikingly different from the ones on the tables.

Grandly titled “The Premium”, the special menu kept discretely out of sight includes superior shark fin soup with chicken, ham, and vegetable in casserole for HK$780 a pot, and stir-fried shark fin with bean sprouts, crabmeat and egg for HK$680 a portion.

“Can we order abalone, bird’s nest, shark fin as separate items, rather than as part of a meal?” the women ask at the restaurant in the Shun Tak Centre in Sheung Wan. “Yes, they can be ordered as separate items,” the employee tells them.

When the pair say they do not feel the set meal offered by Maxim’s will be suitable for the party they want to bring to the restaurant, the employee replies: “No problem. We can tailor a meal for you according to your request and budget.”

It seems a straightforward enough encounter and the requests would have barely raised an eyebrow in Hong Kong only a decade ago. Today, however, as environmental awareness continues to rise, the menu is a battleground for one of the territory’s biggest and most influential restaurant chains, and the activists campaigning to have shark fin taken off its menus.

A secret shark fin menu at Chiuchow Garden restaurant in Sha Tin. WildAid activists have obtained documentary evidence of shark fin being clandestinely offered for sale on secret shark fin menus in eight Maxim's restaurants across Hong Kong, including Chiuchow Garden. Photo: Alex Hofford

The women are undercover investigators for the wildlife conservation charity WildAid, who secretly recorded visits to Maxim’s outlets across Hong Kong after the chain claimed last year to be the first Chinese restaurant chain to have completely phased out shark fin dishes from its à la carte menus by the end of 2017 – after which it was only available by special request.