I’ve never understood the need to kill and eat animals that don’t provide you with the basic needs of life. Case in point is Shark Fin soup. Something that is cruel, wasteful and utterly unnecessary is still being made and served in our local eateries. If you want to get your blood boiling just watch the video below…
I’m including a list of local eateries who still serve this shit along with their phone numbers if you’d like to call and demand they stop serving it. Sadly one of my favorite restaurants is on this list and I won’t be going back until it’s off the menu. So long China Garden in Woodland Hills, it was fun while it lasted.
Café Sierra
Hilton Los Angeles/Universal City
555 Universal Hollywood Drive
Universal City, CA 91608-1001
(818) 506-2500
Capital Seafood and Capital BBQ and Dim Sum Express
2700 Alton Parkway, Suite 127
Irvine, CA 92606
(949) 252-8188
CBS Seafood Restaurant
700 N Spring St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 617-2323
China Garden Restaurant
21618 Ventura Blvd.
Woodland Hills, CA 91364
(818) 347-0100
China Gate Chinese Restaurant
979 Dewey Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 384-1119
China Tea House
4 Sepulveda Blvd
Torrance, CA 90505
(310) 325-6716
Dragon
966 S Vermont Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 387-8833
Elite Restaurant
700 S Atlantic Blvd
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 282-9998
Empress Pavilion Restaurant
988 N Hill St # 201
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 617-9898
Full House Seafood Restaurant
963 N Hill St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 617-8382
Furiwa Seafood Restaurant
13826 Brookhurst St
Garden Grove, CA 92843
(714) 534-3996
Fu-Shing Chinese Restaurant
2960 E Colorado Blvd
Pasadena, CA 91107
(626) 792-8898
Golden City Restaurant
960 N Hill St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 253-2660
Golden Palace
6411 Lankershim Blvd
North Hollywood, CA 91606
(818) 766-6508
Golden Pheasant
1077 W Carson St
Torrance, CA 90502
(310) 320-1038
Golden Soup Restaurant
1039 E. Valley Blvd. #201
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 312-9586
Hop Li
11901 Santa Monica Blvd #102
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 268-2463
Hop Li Seafood Restaurant
526 Alpine St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 680-3939
Hop Li Seafood Restaurant
10974 W. Pico Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90064
(310) 441-3708
Hop Woo Barbeque Restaurant
845 N Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 617-3038
Hop Woo Barbeque Restaurant
1 W Main St
Alhambra, CA 91801
(626) 289-7938
Jin
74 W 8th St
Los Angeles, CA 90005
(213) 386-8976
JR Seafood Restaurant
11901 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 268-2463
Lai Lai Chinese Restaurant
3377 Wilshire Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90010-1850
(213) 387-2070
Mandarin West
At the Westin Bonaventure Hotel
404 S Figueroa St
Los Angeles, CA 90071
(213) 683-8866
Mandarin Tiger
18900 Ventura Blvd
Tarzana, CA 91356
(818) 345-0151
Mission 261
261 S Mission Dr
San Gabriel, CA 91776
(626) 588-1666
Moo’s
4817 Torrance Blvd
Torrance, CA 90503
(310) 542-5270
NBC Seafood Restaurant
404 S Atlantic Blvd
Monterey Park, CA 91754
(626) 282-2323
Ocean Seafood
747 N Broadway
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 687-3088
PCH Chinese Restaurant
1841 Pacific Coast Hwy
Lomita, CA 90717
(310) 326-5640
Plum Tree Inn
937 N Hill St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 613-1819
Prince Seafood
11828 South Street
Cerritos, CA 90703
(562) 809-1812
E-mail: [email protected]
Regent Seafood Restaurant
747 N Main St
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 680-3333
Sam Woo Restaurant
15333 Culver Drive Ste 720
Irvine, CA 92604
(949) 262-0688
Sea Empress Seafood
1636 W Redondo Beach Blvd
Gardena, CA 90247
(310) 538-6868
Sea Harbour
3939 Rosemead Blvd.
Rosemead, CA 91770-1951
(626) 288-3939
Seafood Paradise Restaurant
8602 Westminster Blvd.
Westminster, CA 92683
(714) 893-6066
Seashore
5137 Calle Mayor
Torrance, CA 90505
(310) 373-0751
Shin Peking Chinese Cuisine
3101 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 381-3003
Spring Garden Restaurant
187 N Sierra Madre Blvd
Pasadena, CA
(626) 796-2531
Sun’s
6441 N Figueroa St
Los Angeles, CA 90042
(323) 258-1929
Szechwan Chinese
2107 Pacific Coast Hwy
Lomita, CA 90717
(310) 534-2280
Ten Ten Seafood Restaurant
669 N. Euclid Street
Anaheim, CA 92018
(714) 991-8412
Vip Harbor
11701 Wilshire Blvd #16
Los Angeles, CA 90025
(310) 979-3377
VIP Chinese Restaurant
705 1/2 S Western Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90005
(213) 389-8532
Young King
3100 W Olympic Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90006
(213) 487-6154
Entire list of US restaurants
Entire list of Canadian restaurants
Hat tip to Tim Ferriss.
Wow. What a list. I had no idea that it was that pervasive in LA, the SGV is well represented in this list of shame.
Holy Fuck: Empress Pavilion downtown AND Sea Food Paradise in Westminster!! Both are faves — no more!
And on a side note in March while exploring the Chinatown section of Bangkok, there was not a single restaurant that didn’t shout it loud in their signage that they offered either shark fin or bird’s nest soups, the former irrevocably reprehensible, the latter only a little less so not only because it’s decidedly less cruel and wasteful but mainly because it’s main ingredient is bird vomit.
Just so you know, there is imitation shark fin’s soup. I haven’t eaten the real stuff since a kid after finding out what they do to the sharks.
A lot of Asian restaurants have shark fin soup on and off the menu (especially if they do catering and banquets), so as a practical matter, it’s hard to avoid it if you’re eating at a place that serves a predominantly Asian neighborhood (i.e., SGV/SFV/Westminster/Garden Grove/Torrance/etc). For better or worse, this is a very cultural dish, and it’s going to take considerably more than a bunch of (mostly non-Asian) people demanding its removal to get them to change their practices. Not saying it’s not worth the effort, but there’s just a cultural shift in eating habits and expectations that has to take place somehow…
There are a few places mentioned in this Chowhound thread about potential eateries that may not serve shark fin – http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/727627
Pretty sure WP24–Wolfgang Puck’s restaurant in the Marriott/Ritz near the Staples Center–serves it. I remember hearing Jonathan Gold mention it in his review on “Good Food.”