Morton's grand debut

Succulent jumbo shrimps come served with a chunky cocktail sauce. [Photo/Provided to China Daily]

Pure unadulterated beef flavors on a plate.

Molten chocolate cake with its delicious liquid center.

Shanghai

Chicago steakhouse Morton's has opened its largest outlet at the International Financial Center, and Shi Yingying gets a first bite.

Big beef is here, and if there is any doubt that it is making a loud entrance, Morton's of Chicago has silenced the critics. This is the American steakhouse's largest outlet across its 77 properties worldwide, and will easily accommodate more than 400 happy dinners.

To call Morton's just a steakhouse seems a disservice to the quality of food on the menu. What distinguishes Morton's from the rest is its "Chicago style", says waitress Stella Chung, who has spent more than nine years working with the company.

"It is the grander style, with cigar-smoking guests ordering a bottle of nice wine and really having a good time during the meal. That's the concept," she says.

Diners familiar with the brand will feel right at home here with its global brand menu, service style, decor and even the same Frank Sinatra songs playing in the background. All the classic Morton's signatures are here - leather banquettes, mahogany panels, glass partitions etched with the logo and walls decorated with photographs of celebrities who are big beef fans.

The Morton's experience starts when you are ready to order. The wait staff wheels a cart to the table with its very visual "bistro board" - a selection of steaks of all sizes and seafood cleaned and shucked and all neatly ready on platters.

Black tiger shrimps from local markets, scallops from Boston and Alaskan king crabs - once you name it, it's yours on the plate in minutes.

A monster lobster is also part of the act but don't get too excited unless you have a bonus in your pocket or you're willing to blow the entire week's food budget.

This menu on wheels includes a full selection from entre to dessert.

Chung is especially good at recommending the correct cuts and portions for the new diner.

"I guess that's because it's my 6,000th time," she laughs.

Or, you may actually want to pick your steak from the kitchen, and executive chef Corwin Leong is more than happy to show you because "that's what the open kitchen is for - if you're not sure which cut you want".

Many diners get very enthusiastic about the bread basket, where Morton's classic brown loaf is encrusted with delicious morsels of roasted onions. But pace yourself, because the star acts that follow demand full attention.

For example, you cannot ignore the colossal shrimp cocktail with four large juicy crustaceans made even juicier with a chunky cocktail sauce, or the jumbo lump crab cake with its mustard mayonnaise, which can make the seafood lover go teary with joy.

"Bone-in rib eye is our best seller. I guess the Chinese just like meat with bone attached," Leong says. No wonder, since all gourmets worth the label know meat near the bone is the most succulent, especially if it is beef that comes from Queensland's Rangers Valley Farm in Australia. (US beef is currently unavailable in China.)

For ladies lunching or dining at Morton's, the single cut filet mignon and Wagyu strip sirloin are the most popular, at more manageable portions of 250 and 240 grams.

After feasting royally on beef, desserts provide the final flourish to finish the meal, and there is no lack of choices from hot chocolate lava cake to whipped cream-topped key lime pie, or as David Martin, regional director of operations, describes it, the carrot cake which is "just vegetable".