A few months ago, we wrote about Chef Yang 46, a Szechuan restaurant located in Clifton, NJ. It was fantastic. We had such a great time and the owner liked the post, so they invited us to another restaurant they owned in Manhattan. Of course, we were thrilled to check it out. As much as we love the food scene in Jersey City, there aren’t many Chinese/Szechuan/Shanghainese restaurants like you have in Manhattan. It’s been a while since I’ve had an authentic Chinese meal.

Red Peony is a Shanghainese-centric restaurant that just opened this fall in Midtown, New York. It is the second restaurant lead by Connie Zhang, who also owns the Royal Queen, the largest Chinese restaurant in the US. We went there on a weekday and were greeted by Red Peony’s PR person Yvette. She gave us a tour of the space, which was beautiful. I felt like I was transported to Shanghai. They have a VIP room that looks like it’s straight out of movie, topped with gold trimming and red handkerchiefs folded to look like peonies.

Yvette was kind enough to give us more background on the space and concept:

The name Red Peony refers to the national flower of China which is also known as “the king of the flowers”. The 2-floor restaurant has 75 seatings, and a private room can seat up to 20ppl. The interior design of the restaurant will transfer the diners back to Old Shanghai in the 1910s which was heavily influenced by European style at the time.

When they asked what we wanted to eat, we asked them to surprise us with their favorite dishes. Let’s just say, they went above and beyond.

They first brought out dim sum – pork steamed soup buns, egg custard buns, and shrimp shumai with pork

Other menu items we tried include:

Garlic Chicken

Spare Ribs Old Fashion Shanghai Style

Stir-Fry Snow Pea Leaf

Whole Fish with Dry Pepper and Hot Spicy Oil

The food was delicious, and we had a blast. I definitely recommend for authentic Shanghainese food. No need to travel 20 hours away to enjoy some great food!

More info about Red Peony:

Website: redpeonyrestaurant.com

Location: 24 W 56th St, New York, NY 10003

Hours: Mon-Sun 11:30am – 09:45pm

Price Range: $$$

Seating: 75 – 90 ppl

Signature Dishes: Pork Steamed Soup Bun, Peking Duck, King Crab