The Experience
Morton's Shanghai is the world's largest Morton's — four hundred seats on the fourth floor of Shanghai IFC Mall, directly at the heart of the Lujiazui financial district, with a terrace that frames the Oriental Pearl Tower and the Bund on the west bank of the Huangpu. The scale matters. Lujiazui is the working capital of Chinese finance, and Morton's understood early that what the district needed was not another Chinese restaurant but a Western power table that could absorb — in a single evening — multiple international deal dinners, a birthday, two client entertainments and an expat family celebration without any of them crossing into each other's line of sight.
The architecture delivers. The main dining room is composed as three linked spaces rather than one large hall, so conversations stay localised. Nine dedicated private dining suites — plus two additional private rooms reserved for cigar and wine service — provide fully separable environments with independent AV facilities and dedicated service brigades. The private alfresco terrace overlooking the Pearl Tower is one of the best business-entertainment outdoor spaces in Pudong; on a clear evening, it is the power view.
The cooking is orthodox Morton's — USDA prime beef aged 21 days minimum, hand-cut in-house, served with the classic tableside presentation where a server brings the raw cuts on a trolley for inspection before ordering. The steak programme runs from a 6oz filet mignon through a 24oz porterhouse and on to the signature 48oz double porterhouse that Morton's built its brand around. The seafood selection — live Maine lobster, Canadian sea scallops, jumbo shrimp cocktail — is the best of any steakhouse in the city. The wine list is a serious Napa-and-Bordeaux-heavy programme with genuine depth at the high end.
Per-person spend runs ¥800–1,600 for dinner depending on the cut. Wine pairings push higher. It is expensive by Chinese steakhouse standards and entirely at market by international comparison — and what you are paying for is not the steak itself but the absolute legibility of the room. When you book Morton's in Pudong, your client understands exactly what kind of evening you are proposing.
Why It's Perfect for Closing a Deal
Shanghai deal dinners run on two templates. The first is a Cantonese banquet — long, shared, gradual, and preferred by Chinese counterparts. The second is the Western steakhouse — direct, individually-plated, and faster-paced, which most Western executives prefer when the goal is to get to the ask. Morton's is Shanghai's most polished version of the second template. The private suites have AV for deck presentations; the brigade knows how to pace a three-hour dinner; the maître d' has been at the door for over a decade and remembers returning clients. This is where Pudong does business over medium-rare. See more in our best restaurants to close a deal.
Why It's Perfect for a Team Dinner
The private-room scale and the family-style shareable sides make Morton's unusually effective for team entertainments of eight to twenty-four. Order a selection of cuts for the table, sides in the large format (creamed spinach, hash browns, steamed asparagus with hollandaise), a cheesecake platter to share. The room handles noise well, the kitchen scales without slipping on timing, and the bill arrives on a single corporate-friendly tab. It is the best large-group Western restaurant in Pudong for business entertainment.
Signature Dishes & What to Order
Start with the jumbo shrimp cocktail or the Morton's signature tuna tartare. Order the 24oz porterhouse if the table is sharing, the 14oz New York strip if solo. The double-cut filet Mignon is the canonical order for visiting executives. The seared sea scallops are reliably the best non-beef main on the menu. Sides: creamed spinach, jumbo lump crabcakes, hash browns with onions. Finish with the chocolate layered cake or the classic warm chocolate cake with Grand Marnier. Wine: the house Napa Cabernet list is deep; ask for the mature Bordeaux selection if the client appreciates it.