Illustration of an elegant Cantonese dining room with red lanterns and skyline views (illustrative, not the actual restaurant)

Menu Guide · Chicago

Shanghai Terrace — Menu Guide

The Peninsula Chicago's Cantonese dining room channels 1930s Shanghai glamour — ebony, gold, and scarlet rooms with mahogany screens — and is widely considered one of the most atmospheric Chinese dining rooms in the city. Executive chef Elmo Han runs a menu of Cantonese dishes with contemporary nods to Shanghainese and Sichuanese classics. The restaurant ranked #46 on Chicago Magazine's 50 Best Restaurants list in July 2024. Note: Shanghai Terrace publishes no official menu prices online, so the figures below are all date-labeled from a 2025-era third-party listing and recent diner reviews. Everything is written in our own words.

At a glance

Location
108 East Superior Street, Chicago, IL 60611 (inside The Peninsula Chicago)
Chef
Executive chef Elmo Han
Cuisine
Cantonese (with Shanghainese and Sichuanese influences)
Price level
Upscale — OpenTable lists $31–$50 per person; dim sum $16–$21 (2025-era listing)
Reservations
Recommended; bookable via OpenTable
Awards
Chicago Magazine 50 Best Restaurants 2024 — #46

Hours

Per the official peninsula.com page (fetched October 2026): dinner is served Sunday, Wednesday, and Thursday, 5:00–10:00 PM (last food order 9:30 PM), and Friday–Saturday, 5:00–11:00 PM (last food order 10:00 PM). Lunch runs Friday–Sunday, 11:30 AM–2:30 PM (OpenTable listing, current). The restaurant is closed Monday and Tuesday (per a September 2026 third-party hours listing).

The signature: Peking duck

The Peking duck is the headline dish. One recent diner review cites it as a ~$78 dish (review crawled around June 2026; the review's own date is unknown — treat this as "reported in a recent review, exact date unknown"). Chicago Magazine (July 2024) called it "a classic done just right, happiness in a pancake."

Dim sum & more

The figures below come from a third-party menu listing dated "Updated November 2025" (not official):

  • Dim sum, $16–$21: dumplings including a lobster-and-chicken one with black truffle ($21), pork siewmai with black truffle ($20), green chive shrimp dumpling ($19), Shanghai-style steamed pork dumpling ($19), crab wonton ($18), barbecue pork bun ($17), shrimp spring roll ($17), spicy beef pot sticker ($17), vegetable dumpling ($16), and vegetable spring roll ($16).
  • Noodle soups, $28: braised beef, prawn and wild mushrooms, and roasted duck.
  • Salads and soups: Chilean sea bass in pumpkin soup $18; Peking duck salad $22; phoenix roasted chicken salad $22; wonton soup $16 (same 2025-era listing).

Critic's favorites

  • Dong po pork belly — singled out by Chicago Magazine (July 2024) as a standout, a tender cut of meat wrapped around braised seasoned taro.
  • "Happy Red Rice" — red rice with pistachios and egg, which Chicago Magazine (July 2024) called "a revelation."
  • Golden Shrimp — deep-fried shrimp with vegetables and walnuts, flagged as a house favorite in multiple recent diner reviews.

What we'd order

If we had one meal here, this is how we'd play it:

  • The signature: the Peking duck (~$78 per a recent diner review) — it's the dish the restaurant is known for.
  • To start: a couple of dim sum plates in the $16–$21 range from the 2025-era listing — the truffle-topped options are the interesting ones.
  • The critic's pick: the dong po pork belly and the Happy Red Rice that Chicago Magazine praised in 2024.
  • For the table: Golden Shrimp, the house favorite in diner reviews.

Planning your visit

  • Request the terrace when you book — in warmer months seating moves to an urban-garden terrace with skyline views; guests are asked to state their seating preference.
  • Parking: $35 flat rate with validation (per OpenTable).
  • Dress code: listed as Casual Elegant / Smart Casual (OpenTable).
  • Private dining: a private room for up to 30 guests with set menus (OpenTable).
  • Tradition: the Peninsula's handmade egg-custard mooncakes are made in-house — a legacy of Dim Sum Ambassador Chef Yip's 26-year tenure at The Peninsula Hong Kong's Spring Moon.

Official links

About these prices

Shanghai Terrace publishes no official menu prices online. The prices above are labeled by source: dim sum, noodle soups, and salads/soups from a third-party menu listing dated "Updated November 2025" (not official), and the ~$78 Peking duck figure from a recent diner review (exact review date unknown). Menus and prices change frequently; always verify with the restaurant before visiting.

More Chicago guides

← Back to all guides