Sunday, August 18, 2013

2013 Mooncakes @ Shanghai, JW Marriott KL & Li Yen, The Ritz-Carlton KL

The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Mooncake Festival 中秋节 is one of the most celebrated Chinese festivals and is held each year on the 15th day of the eighth lunar month. This year, it falls on the 19 September. It is a time of celebration with family, prayers, moon cakes and lantern parades. It is also a time to present gifts of mooncakes to friends and senior relatives to foster better ties with them.

Shanghai Restaurant in JW Marriott KL boasts two experienced Master Chefs from Hong Kong and offer an extensive selection of classic Shanghainese specialities and for this special occasion, they have created a range of tantalising Shanghainese mooncakes to please the palate.

Mooncakes from Shanghai restaurant, JW Marriott KL

Shanghai Restaurant's mooncakes are handmade, pork-free and contains no preservatives, hence they must be eaten within 3-5 days of purchase. Not like they would last longer than that in my house anyway ;)  There are a total of 6 flavours here, baked roasted chicken (RM11), deep fried yam paste (RM9), baked white lotus paste (RM9.50), snow skin with white lotus paste and single yolk (RM9.50), pandan flavoured snow skin with pineapple paste (RM9.50) and baked black sesame.

Shanghai Restaurant is one of few hotels in KL who still make their own lotus paste for the mooncakes; I was told that the white lotus is sourced from HK. I love how smooth the lotus paste is, and all the mooncakes are not too sweet. Because it is handmade, the skin for the baked mooncakes are very thin, exactly the way I like it.

The baked roasted chicken is the most popular mooncake here, and has similarities with the "kam tui" mooncake. The flavour is pretty unique, mainly savoury from the roasted chicken with hints of sweetness from the winter melon. The deep fried yam paste Shanghainese mooncake is also pretty unique, love the flaky pastry and smooth yam paste. I also enjoyed the snow skin varieties.





We also sampled some mooncakes from The Ritz-Carlton KL's Chinese Restaurant, Li Yen. We have been buying these mooncakes for the past couple of years, so we know these are good. They have 10 types of baked mooncakes (priced between RM15-21) and 4 mini snow skin flavours (RM9-16). For a touch of luxury, try the Moet and Chandon Champagne Mini Ping Pei (RM9.50) or Moet and Chandon Rose Imperial Champagne Mini Ping Pei (RM16). The durian mini ping pei (RM10) uses D101 durians and is pretty good. I also tried the baked white lotus paste with single yolk, love the smooth paste and creamy yolks.






Other than the delectable mooncakes, we were also treated to some dim sum from Shanghai restaurant. The baked chicken pie with walnuts (RM13) is one of their signature items, Hubby loved this as it reminds him of home. We also enjoyed the xiao long bao a.k.a Steamed Shanghainese meat dumplings (RM9.90), often named as one of the best in KL and we can see why. The XLB is made with finesse - very thin delicate skin and juicy, flavorful filling.

Baked chicken pie with walnuts

Pan fried beancurd skin with prawns (RM13) - crispy and juicy!


Steamed Shanghainese meat dumplings (xiao long bao)

So good!


The steamed prawn dumplings (RM12) had a super translucent skin and the prawns within were juicy and bouncy too. We also had the steamed pork dumplings (siew mai) (RM12). I LOVED the steamed cheong fun with duck meat wrapped in rice paper (RM14), their rendition of one of my favorite dim sum items cha leong - smooth cheong fun with crispy duck. The duck has been braised, deboned and then rolled with Vietnamese rice paper before being deep fried. What a great combination!



Steamed cheong fun with duck meat wrapped in rice paper


Braised noodles with assorted mushrooms and truffle oil - oh so fragrant!


Mooncakes are available at both outlets until 19 September 2013.


Opening times: Mon-Sat 12.00 noon to 2.30pm; 6.30pm-10.30pm, Sun & PH 10.30am - 2.30pm.
Location: Shanghai Restaurant,First Floor,  JW Marriott KL, 183 Jalan Bukit Bintang, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: 03-2719 8288


Location: Li Yen, The Ritz-Carlton Kuala Lumpur, 168 Jalan Imbi, 55100 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Tel: 03-2782 9033

GPS Coordinates: 3.146901, 101.715438


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