Yi Long Court is the main Chinese restaurant of the Peninsula Hotel in Shanghai. It has two stars in the 2019 edition of the Shanghai Michelin Guide (and one in the 2020 edition). It is run by a veteran: Hong Kong-born Michelin-starred executive chef Tang Chi Keng opened this restaurant in 2011 before moving on to Hei Fung Terrace at The Peninsula Tokyo, and LiLi at The Peninsula Paris. Then in 2016 he returned and he has been at the helm since then.
A small tip: enter the Peninsula from the entrance on the Bund (precisely Zhongshan East Road). The restaurant is on the second floor.
The visit
I dined at Yi Long Court on a Saturday. I did not have a reservation and the restaurant was almost empty.
The main dining room was impeccably appointed and exuded understated elegance as you might expect from a Peninsula hotel. From the windows you can see Zhongshan road and some of Pudong’s skyscrapers at a distance.
I ordered the chef’s seasonal set menu reinforced by two dim sum dishes. The first was a trio of vegetarian steamed dumplings with mushrooms and truffles. The truffle flavor was quite distinct. Delicious.
The other dim sum was scallop dumplings with caviar. The caviar was probably unnecessary, but the scallops were meaty and tasty.
Then the first dish of the set menu arrived and it featured more dim sum items alongside two barbecued meats: glazed pork and chicken, a delicious spring roll with shrimps, and a classic shrimp dumpling.
At this point I also got the house spicy sauces: one based on tomatoes and one based on fish. Both only lightly spicy.
Finally I received a complimentary snack: sugar-coated walnuts. These were particularly addictive.
Then I was served a soup: the broth was based on dried scallops (conpoy) with shredded sea cucumber. The soup had a creamy texture and was enjoyable.
The next dish featured a wok-fried king prawn (yes, it was really big) with some scallops and vegetables. Perfect dish.
Next was braised minced pork with bean curd and hot chili sauce (known as mapo tofu). This dish marked a departure from Cantonese classics, introducing a Sichuan dish. The meat had a very good taste. It was a big dish to the point to be difficult to finish and markedly hot.
While I was still working my way through the mapo tofu I was served the last dish before the dessert, a bowl of Yangzhou fried-rice, particularly generous with shrimp. This is a simple dish but it was perfectly executed and cannot remember a better specimen anywhere else. It helped in finishing the mapo tofu (it would have been good to have the two dishes together since the beginning).
The last dish was a chilled mango pudding (with an almond cookie). I am not a big fan of mango, but this pudding was excellent (and also a big portion).
The check
Total check was 756.73 RMB (or 111 USD). The set menu alone was less than 500 RMB, the rest was an expensive bottle of water and the two dim sum dishes. The dim sum menu that I believe is available only for lunch has excellent value.
Overall I enjoyed the lunch very much and I was particularly impressed by the dim sum dishes. Thinking about the Michelin Guide, this restaurant is way above other Cantonese restaurants that I have visited so far in Shanghai, including Canton 8 (two stars as well), Lei Garden, or Seventh Son.
Where in Shanghai:
2/F, Peninsula Hotel Shanghai, 32 Zhongshan East 1st Road, Huangpu District
Booking and menu on the hotel website.