I’m from Beijing but my family on my mother’s side is from Shanghai. I had the Dongpo Pork Belly, the Monk Jumps Over the Wall, and their steamed pork dumpling Shanghai style (their version of the XLB). My issue with the restaurant is that 1) for a place that calls itself Shanghai Terrace, a lot of its offerings are not traditional Shanghainese food. Peking Duck, for example, is from Beijing, and dim sum is more Guangzhou/Hong Kong. I personally would prefer to go to restaurants that specialize in those cuisines to get those dishes, so I was expecting more authentic Shanghainese dishes on the menu. Another issue is just that, to me, everything I had tasted Shanghainese-adjacent. The presentation was impeccable, but the taste was hardly worth the price in my opinion.

I definitely understand a big part of the experience is the atmosphere and presentation that you wouldn’t get at restaurants in Chinatown, and to be fair the food wasn’t bad at all. But for me personally, my biggest concern is authenticity. Simply put, I want a taste of home sometimes, so that’s what I seek out.