CNY 2018: Li Yen, The Ritz-Carlton, Kuala Lumpur

Welcome the Year of the Dog at Li Yen, the award-winning Cantonese restaurant at The Ritz-Carlton, Kuala Lumpur. Executive Chinese Chef Leung Kwai Hong has specially designed six exquisite Lunar New Year set menus that are perfect for gatherings with family and loved ones.

The Lunar New Year feasts are available for both lunch and dinner from 15 February until 18 February 2018. The lunch set menus are priced from RM1,388 nett per table of 10 persons while the dinner set menus are priced from RM1,888 nett per table of 10 persons. Should guests wish to enjoy the Lunar New Year specialties before 15 February, they are available with advance notice. Please scroll down to the end of this post for the full set menus.

We were delighted to be invited over to Li Yen last week for a preview of their festive offerings. Chef Leung handpicked some of his signature dishes to showcase during the luncheon.

Start your meal with a prosperity toss, with the option of including salmon, tuna or abalone for a ritzy twist. Li Yen, translates to "beautiful garden" in Chinese and the Prosperity Yee Sang with salmon rosettes is befitting for the occasion. It was a shame that we had to mess up this beautiful creation during the toss.

From the lunch menu, we sampled the delicate Steamed Siew Mai with Crab Meat, Steamed Oyster with Sea Moss and Deep fried meat and minced prawn roll; a trio which were not only delicious but full of auspicious meanings (ie oysters signify "good things" and sea moss means "luck is coming"). The dim sum platter features a cute pup pulling along gold ingots, a nice touch to commemorate the Year of the Dog.

The warm, comforting Double boiled chicken soup with abalone and mushroom came with a sizeable abalone (excellently cooked too, I must add).

Fish is a must-have dish during Chinese New Year as its homonym "yu" means surplus or abundance for the new year. The Steamed bamboo fish was one of my favorite dishes of the afternoon; fresh bamboo fish fillet were alternately arranged between meaty Chinese mushrooms and Chinese ham, which adds a lovely savoriness to the dish. 

Chicken symbolises prosperity, togetherness of the family and joy. Li Yen's special roasted chicken was a delight to savour, with its extra crispy skin and juicy meat. 

For those who prefer to have their prawns peeled, the Stir fried prawns with chilli paste will be right up their alley. The prawns were fresh with an incredibly bouncy texture, and was stir fried with a sweet-tangy chilli paste and sugar snap peas.

A traditional favourite during the festive season, this Steamed claypot rice with Chinese waxed meat (Lap mei fan) features premium Chinese sausages specially flown in from Hong Kong. This outstanding dish requires up to 45 minutes to prepare for the rich, wonderful flavours of the vegetables, Chinese herbs and meat to infuse into the rice. Hubby loved this so much, that he couldn't stop gushing about how amazing it was... a week later, he was still singing praises about this dish to our friends. Not to be missed!

For dessert, we had the Black sesame dumplings in red bean soup. Dried tangerine peel is added to the red bean soup, giving it a lovely aroma and distinctive flavour.

CNY Menus (Lunch)

CNY Menus (Dinner)

Operating hours on 15 - 18 February 2018.

15 February, Thursday
Lunch: 12.00pm – 2.30pm
Dinner: 6.00pm – 10.30pm

16 – 18 February, Friday to Sunday
Lunch: 10.30am – 2.30pm
Dinner: 6.30pm – 10.30pm




For reservations and enquiries on the Lunar New Year dining experiences, kindly call Li Yen at +60 3 2782 9122 or send an email to liyen@ritzcarlton.com.my.



Non-halal/ Serves pork.

Location: Li Yen, Level 2, The Ritz-Carlton Kuala Lumpur, 168 Jalan Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (accessible from Hotel Wing)

Tel: 03-2142 8000

GPS Coordinates: 3.146901, 101.715438

Website: http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/KualaLumpur/Default.htm


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