The largest Morton's Steakhouse in the world, and of course it's in China.

Yes, the largest Morton's Steakhouse is in China, Pudong to be exact.  Pudong is across the river from downtown Shanghai.  Pudong is considered a suburb of Shanghai, sort of like Brooklyn or the Bronx.  

I belong to the American Women's Club of Shanghai, the largest American Women's Club in the world with 800 members. Doesn't it seem that everything in China is the biggest or largest?  I am part of the Luncheon Committee which is what I consider one of the best and most enjoyable positions of the club.  The work is not too difficult and as there are 3 of us on the committee the work is divided and you never feel you have a lot to do.  We are tasked with finding great restaurants and getting a good deal on the luncheon for the ladies.  Actually we, Martina, Gaby and myself think that the luncheons of past were quite dear and decided that getting a good deal should be one of the criteria in selecting the restaurant.  The luncheons now are no more than 150RMB ($23.00) which includes: appetizer, main, dessert and one glass of red or white wine, coffee and tea.  Previously it was of no consequence if the cost was 200RMB ($30.76) or 250RMB($38.50) for the lunch, which we thought was an outrageous cost for a mere lunch! We hope to figure out how to get the price down to 100RMB ($14.00) one day.  But that is a personal and private goal of the committee, not a need or interest of the club overall.

And part of the process....having to go and try out the venue.  An opportunity to have lunch with my pals! No the club does not subsidize our meals, it's on us, but it's so much fun and we would go out to lunch anyway so it's not a big deal!  We decided to try Mortons as we had been hearing such good things about it from out friends.  A beautiful restaurant!

Apparently this Morton's seats more than 250 persons and they are booked to capacity on Friday and Saturdays! The view are considered great, but for me it's just a view of the city.  That sounds jaded, but I have realized a great view for me includes water.  This restaurant does not have a view of the Bund or main river running through Shanghai, therefore not a great view in my opinion.

 There is an open kitchen and everything looks wonderful, clean and so organized.  And the smells emanating from the grill are luscious!

 These are not the menu boards that you order from, I think they are just a listing of options from the kitchen.  As they are located near the open kitchen it's just something to read and reference as you are considering your meal. In Chinese as well, of course!

I went with Martina, Gaby is home with her new grandbaby ( a girl!) and we choose the Business Lunch as it seemed like the best value. You choose: Hamburger with French Fries, Grilled Salmon and green beans, or Grilled Shrimp and Scallop over sauteed spinach and grilled veggies.  Includes cup of soup or salad: Lobster bisque or French onion soup or Caesar or mixed field greens.

 The lunch set was 188RMB = $28.90, Yikes! But it was all in the name of research!

 We ordered a sparkling water to drink and they brought out this lovely hot onion loaf with creamy salty butter on the side.  Yummmmmm!

 Martina ordered the Lobster Bisque soup which had large chunks of lobster, as many as you can fit in a small cup.  She said it was delicious. And here is her Grilled Shrimp and Scallop meal.  Looks incredible. It was served with a side of butter sauce which you can see peeking out on the left hand side of the picture.

 I had the Caesar salad and the grilled salmon.  Fantastic.  The salad was too big and I could not finish it and so was the salmon, I ended up taking half of my meal home.  As Tony is away I don't like to cook too much for myself lately so this was going to make a perfect dinner for me.  The meal, including the sparkling water and much to our surprise a 10% included gratuity came to 510RMB or 255RMB each = $39.23 - WOW! Glad it was two meals for me.  Shanghai is expensive and this is a top tier restaurant serving high quality food and fantastic service! 

It is a great place for a business lunch.  These guys must have a really large expense account because lobster isn't cheap any where but these are flown in from America so you know it had to cost a pretty penny.

After our meal we met with the manager and told them our requirements. Fortunately they did not laugh at us but actually said they would consider putting on a special menu for the group.  We are waiting to hear from them. It was great afternoon with a special friend!