2011 Mooncakes @ Li Yen, The Ritz-Carlton Kuala Lumpur

Even before we finished our last mooncake, I already had in mind which mooncake I wanted to get my hands (or rather mouth) on next. I was intrigued when I heard that one of the new mooncake flavours from Li Yen was wasabi, so we headed to The Ritz-Carlton KL as soon as we got the chance.

Our intention was to get a few types of snow skin mooncakes to sample. However, while waiting to be served, we sampled some of the traditional baked varieties (white lotus, lotus paste and red bean paste) and was impressed with the baked lotus paste mooncake, hence we got one of those too.

The Lotus Paste Baked Mooncake (RM17) from Li Yen is the smoothest we have eaten this year. It received nods of approval from everyone in the family. I also like that it is not too sweet.

So smooth

We also purchased 3 different flavours from the mini snow skin selection; Moet & Chandon Champagne Mini Ping Pei (RM9.50), Green Tea with Custard & Salted Egg Mini Ping Pei (RM9) and Wasabi with Lotus Mini Ping Pei (RM9). There is also a Moet & Chandon Ros Imperial Champagne Mini Ping Pei (RM16) but we didn't get it since I felt it was too expensive.

The snow skin mooncakes here are quite small, if I'm not mistaken they are about the same size as the Mandarin Oriental ones. Just enough to get a taste.

The Wasabi with Lotus Mini Ping Pei was the most distinctive... as soon as you bite into it, the wasabi hits you.. I think this is one you either love or hate. Personally, I found it an interesting contrast. Take small bites and you will be fine.

My favorite snow skin mooncake from Li Yen would be the Green Tea with Custard & Salted Egg Mini Ping Pei, one of the new flavours for 2011. The green tea flavours were subtle. The filling was really smooth; the custard and salted egg combination worked well together, I found this filling to be similar to the Flower Drum from Hilton KL.

The Moet & Chandon Champagne Mini Ping Pei is one of the popular snow skin mooncakes from Li Yen. Moet happens to be one of our favorite champagnes, so we were excited to try this. To be honest, I did not have very high expectations for this creation since Moet is an expensive drink and this mooncake was sold for RM9.50. We sniffed it, we licked it and we nibbled it, but we could not taste nor smell any champagne whatsoever. Having said that, I enjoyed the smooth lotus filling with salted egg yolk.

Mini Ping Pei mooncakes upclose

The mooncake festival falls on 12 September 2011 this year.. so another 13 more days left to feast on mooncakes. We are still on the lookout for good mooncakes to sample, so do share your favorites with us.

Verdict: The fillings of all mooncakes we tried from Li Yen were very smooth. The Lotus Paste Baked Mooncake and Green Tea with Custard & Salted Egg Mini Ping Pei is highly recommended.

Li Yen mooncakes are available until 12 September 2011.

Full set of photos, including mooncake menu available to view here.

Opening times: Monday -Saturday 12.00pm - 2.30pm (Lunch); Sunday & Public Holidays 10.30am - 2.30pm (Lunch); Monday -Sunday 6.30pm - 10.00pm (Dinner)

Location: Li Yen, Level 2, Ritz-Carlton Kuala Lumpur, 168 Jalan Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Tel: 03- 2142 8000

GPS Coordinates: 3.147115, 101.71531