Shanghai Terrace at The Peninsula Chicago

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I was in Chicago recently and hosting a private party here at the Peninsula. I forgot how much I missed Shanghai Terrace. I used to come here more often was I lived here.
A beautiful Chinese restaurant serves more of Cantonese style, than the name has to offer. When I first walked in, I thought I was in China. The décor, furniture, and the charming vibe taken me back to the old days in a movie.
For those who complains about how expensive here, it likes you drive a Mercedes Benz and complain that parts are expensive for repairs?! It’s a 5 stars hotel and venue, what do you expect, right?
— Lobster hot & sour soup was tasty, the lobster chunk was big.
— Chicken & Lobster truffle dumplings, delicious, anything got truffle on it, I’m in love.
— Foie gras & duck dumpling
— Steamed Pork dumpling Shanghai style Xiao Long Bao — was perfect soupy and fatty.
— Peking duck and roasted pork, the pork was OK, but the duck was perfectly juicy and melt in your mouth.
— Abalone, scallop, prawn, special for May 2016 menu.
— Australian abalone with pok choy, my first time tried Australian abalone, it was crunchy, chewy in texture than the Monterey Bay or Hokkaido ones.
— Lobster and long life noodle, special request for the chef and he accommodated. It was flavorful, the garlic and onion were all over it, just how we like it.
2 glasses of wines, and 2 cocktails later, dinner + tax + tip was about $ 550. For the quality of food, drink, and wine we had. It’s very well priced for this part of town. Service was impeccable. Our waitresses were kind, biggest smile, and so polite, caring, and extremely accommodating. The type of service that you want when you travel. The type of service when you dine at a 5 stars venue.
Post dinner, we went to the terrace outside to enjoy a beautiful night in Chicago. What a memorable it was for me and my ex. We always love it here.

The food isn’t bad, but for a restaurant that was apparently voted Best Chinese restaurant in Chicago, I was expecting something better.
I sampled a variety of dishes for dinner, including a few dim sum plates, the Peking duck, the Maine lobster, and beef noodle. The Peking duck was a disappointment, with skin that had gone soggy and a relatively low ratio of skin to meat. The other dishes fared a bit better, but were lacking in finesse. For example, the beef noodle was indistinguishable from what one might find at a regular take-​out Chinese place. The seafood shumai was one-​dimensional, paling in comparison to the scallop shumai at Hakkasan, which features fresh scallops resulting in a bright refined taste.
Service, while friendly, was also not quite up to Peninsula standards in terms of overall attentiveness. Pacing also needed improvement, as all of our courses somehow managed to arrive simultaneously, resulting in a haphazard and crowded table arrangement.
However, the terrace setting was very enjoyable — sleek and elegant Asian-​inspired décor, and on a warm evening it made for an excellent dining atmosphere.

Shanghai terrace has been my most favorite restaurant as a kid! My family and I dine here weekly and we always have a great experience. Great food and excellent service. We love dining outdoor in the summer and spending time at the ice rink on the terrace during the winter time!

Awesome outdoor dining experience! The ambiance is very pretty and relaxing. The terrace is shielded from the wind and they have plenty of heat lamps so it is great place for dining outdoors in the fall too. The service from the waitstaff is always impeccable.
All of the entrees I have had have been excellent. I especially like the Kung Pao shrimp and chicken, fried rice, shrimp spring rolls and crab wontons. I love that the food is never greasy. This restaurant is also very amenable to substitutions on any of their entrees.

–Shanghai Surprise–
Our friends, who we were staying with, made the reservations for us.
They ended up having to cancel, so we went as a party of two instead.
The hotel where it’s located (the Peninsula Chicago) was swanky.
We walked in and noticed there was some sort of formal function going on in a large room adjacent to the restaurant.
Guests were outfitted in tuxedos, gowns, furs, and jewels!
We felt slightly underdressed.
The hostess greeted us and offered a table near the entrance. We chose to wait for a table with a view, one that was more central to everything.
She mentioned we could wait at the bar up the stairs, and she’d retrieve us when our table was ready.
We walked upstairs and into the cozy bar, and sat down.
The server brought us some nibblly things as we looked over the drink menu. I’d already had a few beers earlier, so we decided to skip the drinks.
It was a nice place to people watch while you wait. The hostess came in shorty and led us to our table inside.
I loved the way it was decorated; warm colors, dark wood, and splashes of red throughout. The subdued lightning and other touches made it feel like we were in an upscale place in China (although I’ve never been).
Our table had a view of the terrace from inside. It was a blustery and chilly night.
We’ll have to come back when the weather is more favorable, and sit outside like we initially planned.
This isn’t a vegan restaurant, but they did have options.
We had–
Vegetable Dumplings: They were soft pillows of deliciousness.
Pineapple Tofu In Basket: crisp tofu, sesame seeds, pineapple sauce.
Vegetarian Szechuan Mapo Tofu: asian vegetables, pickled cabbage, szechuan pepper corn.
The food was really good, but where they stood out for us was the service. Service was top notch! In fact it was the best service I’ve ever had in a restaurant.
Thank you for having vegan options!
We dined 5-​7-​2016

I’ve tried many Peking ducks in different restaurant and i would say this is the best one (and pricier — i guess good stuffs are expensive). The Dim Sums are OK, better than most of the Chinese restaurants, but it’s not a pity if you skip it, same thing with their noodles. I understand it’s a kinda a fancy restaurant, but 4 pieces of pot stickers are not really worth your $ 18, you can buy a bag of 25 for $ 5 bucks in a grocery store… that might sound cheap but it’s how it is… i will spend that money with some sushi probably but not pork pot stickers… the servers are very friendly and this is a very nice place, so 5 stars ! — Again, Try the duck !

You’d be hard pressed to find better east of Hong Kong. Birds-​nest soup dessert might even best Hong Kong.

My favorite Chinese restaurant in Chicago! The Peking duck, vegetable dumplings were so good! Will definitely come again and try other dishes!

«Everyone eats and drinks. Yet only a few appreciate the taste of food.» — Confucius
My mom and partner in crime were in the mood for Chinese food. In their minds (egg rolls, pork spare ribs, pork fried rice)… In my mind… something more amazing than Americanized. Voted Chicagos’ best Chinese/​Cantonese (authentic) restaurant, I had to try it. Its’ received great reviews. A bit on the pricey side, but we made do. Upon entering this 1930’s-esque upscale setting, we were sat closer to the front door and across the service entrance. Thank goodness it was not a romantic date. The table has cloth mats, ornate chopsticks, and mini ship chopstick holders. Attention to detail. Of course, nothing expected less with Peninsula hotels.
Our server is beyond helpful, and well versed. He is not pretentious or even snooty. Normally I would have a few glasses of recommended wine, but I’m on medication from a recent surgery. Our server recommends a light and very refreshing Virgin Ning Sling made with orange, lychee, fresh mint passion fruit, soda. ($ 9, pretty stiff, no pun intended for a non alcoholic beverage).
We start with dim sum. Spicy beef potstickers ($ 13) Four in a steam basket. Mildly spicy, the dumpling itself was a little chewy. Tastes good, but I’ve had better. Grade B. Foie gras and duck dumplings ($ 14), also four in a steam basket. Purple chewy (maybe taro?) sticky texture but with an incredibly flavorful minced filling, and the hoisin sauce goes perfect. I give these an A, highly recommend. The shrimp spring rolls ($ 13) have a light flaky exterior and tightly rolled served with a sweet orangey sauce (I won’t dare call it duck sauce — quack lol). Tasty. Give it a B+, I recommend this too.
I opted for the Wok Fried Asian Vegetables with Roasted Garlic ($ 16) Chinese broccoli with garlic sauce and cloves of garlic. Cut for me, so I don’t look crazy trying to shove the entire stalk and bulb in my mouth. Ahhhh. Grade — A.
Mom had the wonton soup ($ 16), beautiful wonton dumplings, plenty of them. Tasty broth. B+
Shanghai Terrace Fried Rice ($ 18) wagyu beef, shrimp, with chicken instead of the duck, taro, onion, egg. Very tasty. You can tell that they rinse their rice first, giving it a better separated perfect texture. Good sized portion! B+
Shanghai Fried Noodle ($ 18) shrimp, pork, chicken, peppers, basil, premium lime soy. Tasty, and no lack of toppings throughout the dish. Grade A.
Staff is right onto of everything, even the busier notices our water and fills it before asking. Anticipating our needs before we do. A+
Because I pretty much never say no to dessert, I said we’ll share the Shanghai dessert trio. Blood orange yuzu pavlova, Strawberry Coconut Yuzu verrine, and mango passion dumplings.($ 15) I might sound like a dessert critic here, but only because I have been making pastries a good portion of my life, and am able to dissect them with a keen palate. The blood orange sorbet was on point. No crystallization here, smooth. Set inside a yuzu (Japanese citrus) cremeaux filled pavlova (meringue vessel). The best option in my opinion. The Strawberry layered verrine (glass shooter) was okay, the coconut was good, but could have packed more punch. Unfortuntely the little donut ball on the top (as I tried sharing by cutting in half with my fork was as hard as a rock). The server told me it may have been refrigerated. Note: do not refrigerate your balls! Fresh and always sealed tight. Refrigeration of baked goods makes them hard and inedible. The dumplings, cute and skewered, a little sticky, rolled in sesame seeds were okay, and in a ramekin of mango/​passion purée. Not too well thought out. A bit chewy. I notified the server, and he apologized and it was removed from the bill. Service A++ outstanding. Also, like any good server, he brought this to the attention of the manager and the chef. As a chef, if you don’t know something isn’t right, how can you fix it?

Service and food are absolutely 5 star experience.
The wait staff provide superb 5 star service with absolutely no hint of pompous or condescending attitude.
Food is authentic and very high quality.
Lobster dumplings, chicken fried rice, Peking duck, Kang pao chicken were all superb.
While this might appear to be unusual, plain white rice is also amazing.
I asked the waiter, why the rice is so good.
He went on to explain the process with the importance of washing the rice to steaming it, vs boiling it in water. The plain white rice, is truly exceptional!
I tried the crispy noodle dish. It was nice but next time, I would skip it.
The tenderloin dish was also very good but the Kang Pao chicken had more complex flavors and spices and is by far, my favorite. I doubt if you can get better peking duck, even in China town.
If some one knows an amazong peking duck in China town, please message me here.
Over all, the Shanghai Terrace is, all the way, a true 5 star dining experience!

My boyfriend took me here for my birthday and it was perfection! So romantic and everyone working there is peaceful and attentive, kind and respective of your space and the fact we wanted a larger table and more privacy to celebrate and talk… it was just lovely. The food here is top notch! The crab wontons, shrimp rolls, firs gras and duck dumplings were perfect to start and enough for two. Then we had the pepper steak which was so tender it was the best I have ever had!!! I want more!

Pretty decent place.
The ambiance is amazing. We got outdoor seating for a early fall/​late summer afternoon. Really nice feeling and great services.
Got some starters and dim sum. The dim sum items are great.
Got the egg plant and the shrimp. Both are great especially the egg plant!!!
Desserts are okay. One of the trio with mango sorbet is the one I will recommend.
Overall decent food, great ambiance and services, however I feel it is still a little bit over priced.

The combination of restful setting, superb food and faultless service make this Chicago’s best Chinese restaurant, and one of its top restaurants overall. It’s particularly delightful when it’s warm enough to eat on the terrace, a surprisingly serene environment considering it’s just a half dozen or so floors above Michigan Avenue.
We put ourselves in our waiter’s hands, and he assembled a delightful multi-​course meal for us.
We began with an assortment of six pieces of dim sum, individually plated for each of us. This item is not listed on the menu (nor is any form of dim sum sampler) so it is worth asking about. Although I am not a huge dim sum fan, this was clearly the best I have ever had; each was light and flavorful, and even the crab rangoon managed to be delicate and appealing.
Next we shared a split serving of hot and sour soup, also the best I’ve had, with less vinegar and more broth flavor. Plenty of tender lobster chunks made it special.
Peking duck is available in a full or half portion, and the half is perfect for sharing as an appetizer. It’s served with the traditional cucumber, scallions, pancakes and sauces, but the duck was so perfect we ate most of it by itself. Crispy skin and no layer of fat at all made it among the best duck dishes I’ve had. Next time I might try the five spice duck to compare it.
For entrees we shared scallops in black truffle sauce, and a spicy shrimp dish. Both were good, and were different from anything else we’d had, but I felt the preceding courses were better.
Perhaps the highlight of the meal was an amazing red rice dish that I didn’t see on the menu. It was vegetarian, and included various nuts, broccoli and other tidbits, and had a rich, mouth-​filling flavor that was remarkable. I would definitely ask for this again.
Finally we finished with a fruit and sorbet plate. Our waiter added a bit of coconut sorbet, which turned out to be the highlight.
A well-​conceived wine list offers many selections designed to accompany the food, including a small half bottle section. Wine prices are erratic, with some barely above retail, and others sky high, so careful browsing is required, but will be rewarded.
This was a great meal, and I’m sure we will return often to this surprising oasis in the midst of the city.

Whenever I go to Chicago, grabbing drinks at the Peninsula Hotel’s terrace is a must. Sure, the cocktail menu doesn’t have the most variety; however, the calming atmosphere is enough of a reason to stop by. After a long day of traveling or walking around the city, the Shanghai Terrace feels more like a relaxing oasis in a excluded island than a hotel bar. Adorned with canopy seating and lots of foliage, it is a breath of fresh air. As for drinks, the terrace carries your typical cocktails, wines and beers; however, there’s nothing crafty or extremely creative about the selection.
Additionally, the service is usually fantastic. One time, a waiter randomly gifted me a stuffed bear with the hotel’s logo — a very sweet gesture!

Would give this 3.5 stars if I could. Had dim sum and entrees. The terrace itself was beautiful and was a great place to enjoy the evening. The service was good but a bit slow.
Overall the food was good but for the price I would expect a little more on the flavor elements. There was something that was missing in all of the dishes to take it to that next level of delicious

The dim sum is superb as is the beef terderloin and prawns. All their chicken dishes in the soup is also this extremely good

I had high expectations for Shanghai Terrace, unfortunately I was disappointed. I went here for dinner during Chef’s Week.
Starters:
Dim Sum Trio — vegetable spring roll, crab dumpling and beef pot sticker
I thought all three were good and nicely presented.
Lobster Hot and Sour Soup with tofu, spinach, bamboo shoots and spring onion
The soup was not balanced at all. I kept trying to finish it, but I couldn’t because it was way too sour.
Entrée:
Shredded Beef Tenderloin with ginger, scallion and oyster sauce
This was my favorite dish of the night. The beef was delicious and extremely tender.
Dessert:
Asian Pear Tatin — macadamia cake, pineapple cream and mandarin sorbet
I didn’t finish the dessert either. The sorbet and cake were good, but the pear was very hard to eat. I expected it to be a lot softer in texture.
Drinks:
Sour Cherry Old Fashion — orange infused makers mark, ginger ale, sweetened cherries and thyme
The drink was too strong for me so I asked my server if the bartender could add more ginger ale.
Service:
Our server was very friendly and I liked how she explained every dish that came out.
Ambiance:
It’s a beautiful restaurant. I imagine it being a fun place to go to during the summer months.
I expected more from a fine dining restaurant. I’ve had much better Chinese food for a lot less money. Even though I wasn’t impressed with the food, it was a still an enjoyable dining experience with lovely atmosphere and service.

After having eaten in many excellent Asian /​Chinese establishments in NY, Chicago and San Fran, and looking at the prices, our expectations were high and sadly this place did not live up to them.
We were 3 men, so on the manager’s recommendation we ordered 3 — 4 dishes; «Pan Fired Chilean Sea Bass ginger crushed, fermented bean, cilantro oil glaze», Wagyu beef with scallions, Kung pao chicken and Happy fried Rice.
Friends did not like the Sea Bass, noting it didn’t seem very fresh, I thought it tasted average and the «fermented bean» added a not so fresh taste and odor. The Wagyu beef was good, Kung pao chicken was very average and Happy rice should have been sent back, but wasn’t. We all agreed that the food tasted mediocre and were over priced for what was offered.
Good service, but the food was average and overpriced. For better food, I suggest one try Big Bowl or Lao Sze chuan instead.

The ambiance of the establishment is quite nice — the long, narrow corridor-​like entrance lies next to the hotel’s rooftop terrace. In the winter when I went, the man-​made ice-​rink (made with faux ice) was lit up beautifully with holiday lights.
I suppose that if you were entertaining guests who aren’t choosey about Asian food or you really felt deprived of Chinese grub, it isn’t a horrible option. Having said that, I was not impressed by the food. The ingredients used in its dishes were not truly Chinese (e.g. button mushrooms in lieu of shitake/​dong gu, no true Chinese vegetables were used in the noodles and stir fries — think broccoli instead of bok choy).
I would only go back if I were in a bind or were staying in the hotel and didn’t want to venture outside beyond the confines of the hotel and expose myself to aggressive Chicago winds.

One of my favorite places in the city. The terrace is great all seasons and provides a great backdrop for dinner.
My family and I frequent this place because of the service and high quality of the food. It does come at a premium so know that going in.
I prefer the
shrimp dumplings
Kung pao
Happy rice
Dumpling soup
Jasmin tea
The pork dumplings didn’t turn out the way they should but the rest of the meal was fantastic.