Two diners at a popular Hong Kong hot-pot restaurant were caught attempting to smuggle raw seafood, beef and instant noodles out in a shopping bag, footage that has since gone viral online, local media reported. The incident occurred at The Aquatic Market in Tsuen Wan Plaza, according to The Standard. The widely shared clip, believed to have been recorded on a staff member's body camera, shows the pair placing uncooked seafood, a bag of beef, and packets of instant noodles into a shopping bag before they were stopped by staff. The footage begins with a restaurant employee confronting the diners after surveillance cameras flagged the activity.
"Please take them out (from the bag) for hygiene reasons. You can enjoy all the food here," the staff member is heard saying.
At first, one of the diners denied any wrongdoing, but then reluctantly removed a plastic bag containing seafood. He insisted that another bag of beef did not belong to the restaurant. The employee pressed the point, saying, "Please take all the items out. You can take your time to enjoy the food as much as you like, but we cannot let you take them home."
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Reports indicate the couple did not apologise before leaving. The restaurant opted not to involve the police.
According to Hong Kong barrister Albert Luk Wai-hung, the conduct could amount to theft under local law, which can carry a sentence of up to 10 years' imprisonment. Even though the food was not taken beyond the premises, the behaviour could be treated as "attempted theft," he said.
Social media users reacted strongly, calling the couple's actions "embarrassing" and "shameful," while praising staff for handling the situation calmly and respectfully. "The quantity of ingredients they attempted to take could easily serve as two extra meals," one commenter observed.
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Many users also criticised the restaurant for releasing the video to the public. Following the online uproar, the hot-pot restaurant issued a public apology, stating that the footage had been recorded solely for internal staff training and was never intended for public release, according to the South China Morning Post.
"The video was recorded purely to improve service quality and help our team handle unexpected situations. We had absolutely no intention of filming customers or making the footage public," a company spokesperson said. The restaurant added that it regretted the leak and had launched an internal investigation and a review of its data-management procedures to ensure a similar incident does not recur.