I came here recently twice for a weekend lunch and dinner. Both times I was equally satisfied with the service and food. Water was filled without you having to ask and there were enough waiters to serve everyone.
I would classify Maxim as a more upscale HK style cafe because they have a lot of the dishes typically served in a regular HK style cafe. The two basic choices between cream and Russian borscht soup also makes me feel this way. There is plenty of variety on the menu like sandwiches, soups, salads, burgers, pasta, curry, rice, steak, lamb and, of course, cakes as they are a bakery. They have regular lunch combos if you want to be frugal, or you can spice things up with more expensive lunch or dinner specials with the choice of salad or lobster bisque as an appetizer and a slice of cake as dessert.
For lunch I ordered some smoked salmon with shrimp pasta which was one of the lunch specials of the day with Russian borscht soup. The free bread they give you with the soup is not good at all. Very tasteless and cold. The actual soup itself was pretty good and I preferred it over the cream soup I also tried. The portion of the pasta was about average and the sauce used was not very good. However, I was able to eat the food from what my party ordered because their portions were much bigger. I really liked their Caesar salad and mashed potatoes. The deluxe club sandwich was really big and unfortunately, it was a hassle to eat because bits of tuna kept falling out. The Black Forest cake they picked out for me to eat was not to my liking, but that's only because I prefer more sweet cakes.
For dinner I ordered lamb chop with lobster bisque. The soup was made in a HK style which meant the lobster flavour was much more mild than if you were to have it at a typical western restaurant. The lamb was good quality and there was minimal amount of salt, pepper and seasoning which is what I prefer because you get a more clearer taste of the lamb. Others might find it too devoid of seasoning. Maybe it was because the restaurant was almost closing and they had to get rid of their cakes, but they let me choose what type of cake I could have for dessert this time. During my previous lunch visit, I was told there would be an extra $2 charge if I wanted to pick the cake out myself. I chose the mango cheesecake which was not very sweet again, but I guess that ends up being healthier.
All in all, this place has existed for a very long time (25+ years?) for a good reason. You might have to wait for a table on weekends. I would recommend Maxim for lunch and dinner and not for the cakes.