Food Review: YEN @ W Kuala Lumpur’s Cantonese Classics Are Yen Out Of 10!

Are you craving superlative classic Cantonese cuisine? We have the solution for you: make a beeline for W Kuala Lumpur’s YEN Cantonese restaurant.

YEN, which serves Chinese classics redefined, offers an imperial and authentic ambiance as delicious as its fare. A dining experience there is both convivial and elegant, made all the more fascinating by the inclusion of modern Oriental elements in its décor and dishes. If that isn’t enough reason for you to make a gastronomic pilgrimage there, take note: YEN recently debuted a new menu featuring modern Chinese cuisine with fusion twists.

The new menu – a sublime storm of flavours, textures, and colours created using premium ingredients – features 23 of the finest Cantonese and Chinese delicacies. Here’s what we tried:

Dim Sum

Take it from us – once you have dim sum at YEN, you’ll never want to have it anywhere else.

Serving a cultural experience in traditional bamboo steamer baskets, the dim sum menu consists of authentic and creative Cantonese dim sum specialties. Using traditional techniques and carefully-selected ingredients, the dishes are made to maximize taste and freshness. We tried 7 different dim sum:

First up was the Mini Abalone Siew Mai. The portion was generous and the abalone was juicy. The caviar on top was a clever choice, as it added flavour to the overall savouriness of the dish. Then we had the Shanghainese Chicken & Crab Meat Dumpling. It was so delicate, we had a hard time lifting it from the basket, and the juice was already oozing out. Stuffed with chicken and crab meat, it was really good and full of flavour.

Next, we had Pan Seared Lamb and Cabbage Dumpling with Vinegar Sauce. Lamb isn’t a common meat in Chinese cuisine, especially in dim sum, but YEN definitely nailed it in their new menu. We loved how the lamb stuffing was cooked perfectly, and, with each bite, you could taste tender, juicy lamb meat. We also liked how there’s a hint of ginger that gives the dumplings an extra kick. We were definitely impressed, as we’d never heard of or tasted lamb dumplings before.

Following that was the Deep Fried Prawn Roll – another “unusual” dim sum dumpling. Like, where on earth would you find dim sum with mango? The fried ,crispy exterior and mango matched perfectly, and it all just melts in your mouth, giving you a mildly sweet and savoury taste.

The Fish-shaped Prawn Dumpling was next. This was really cute and smokey (dry ice effect, of course!). Taste-wise, it was just beautiful and juicy. We liked how it was soft and silky on the outside, but crunchy and juicy on the inside. We also tried the Monk Jumped Over The Wall – a weird name, but definitely a huge bao, which is filled with braised south African abalone.

Last but not least, we sampled the Traditional Glutinous Rice, best known as lo mai kai. We’re not a big fan of lo mai kai, but this definitely changed our perspective. Who would have thought a twist is all it takes to give this classic dish a savoury upgrade? YEN’s traditional glutinous rice comes with loads of cheese that adds a nice, creamy and rich flavour to the overall dish. This alone can be quite filling, as it’s really rich. If you’d like to tone down the sweetness, you could always add some chilly sauce.

Soups

We indulged in two kinds of soup:

The first was Double Boiled Chicken Soup, which can never go wrong. It has lots of ingredients, such as five-finger fig root, abalone, conch and chunks of farm chicken. It’s wonderfully flavourful – similar to the soups your mum or grandma would make when you’re feeling sick. With simple flavour, but rich ingredients, this soup is perfect for cleansing your palate, especially after having loads of rich, flavoured dim sum.

Next we had the Szechuan Braised Grouper Fish Soup. This concoction definitely gave a punch to our taste buds. It tastes a little like tom yum soup, only less spicy, and is more on the sour side. The fish chunks were a little chewy, but it was still good and there were loads of veggies. Comparing both soups, the chicken soup was the winner.

Mains

YEN’s Golden Duck (Whole Duck With 2 courses)

The biggest joy here is undoubtedly one of YEN’s hallmark dishes – The Golden Duck. Literally, a golden goose! The whole duck has a gold, crispy, paper-skin texture, adding just enough crunch and taste to the meat. We absolutely loved the crispiness we experienced with every bite. The meat was simply juicy, as it was perfectly roasted, and emitted a heavenly aroma. Biting into it with a bao base, you can feel the juices oozing out and experience a burst of flavour in your mouth.

The Stuffed Vegetarian Gluten with Pumpkin Sauce was up next. It was surprisingly delicious for a vegetable dish! The stuffing was mainly mushrooms, carrots and broccoli. You get a kind of crunchiness with every bite. The pumpkin sauce was really nice, with its hint of sweetness.

Then, we tried the Grilled Chicken Mid Joint Wing. Who doesn’t love good friend chicken? Beautifully-glazed with honey barbeque sauce and sprinkled with sesame seeds, this dish is super savoury, juicy and sweet. We loved everything about it.

Desserts

Ah, you know we always have room for dessert. And YEN prepared three different, but unique, desserts for us to try. The first was the Snowflake Chinese Pancake filled with Avocado paste. Okay, we’re definitely not veggie peeps, but this dessert was so good that’ll you’ll be amazed that avocado could taste so good! The pastry skin is flaky and crispy, and is sprinkled with silky, fluffy icing sugar. The best way we can describe it is that it’s like a crispy, deep-fried pancake with avocado paste that tastes like pandan kaya. No joke!

Next up, we had the Milk Pudding with hints of truffles, chilled Aloe Vera, and tiny pieces of honeycomb on the side. This pudding looked unassuming, but the taste was just amazing. After a rich meal, this is the kind of dessert you’d want. It’s super milky, but has the right amount of sweetness. The honeycomb was really sweet, but so was the pudding. We also loved the presentation – the pudding was served on a black plate, with a swerve of banana leaf. The chilled Aloe Vera added a refreshing, crunchy texture to the pudding. It’s our first time trying Aloe Vera, and it was a good combination for the pudding.

We saved the most impressive dessert for last – Crispy White-Swan-shaped Puffs stuffed with juicy durian flesh. Comprising mainly puff pastry, this dessert was delightfully sweet, but not greasy from the durian filling. If you’re a durian lover, you’ll definitely enjoy this one.

Overall, YEN delivers a special dining experience with Chef Tan’s distinctive brand of comfort food that’ll open your senses to classic Chinese food with a modern twist. So head to W Kuala Lumpur and check out this amazing offering – from dim sum to soups, roasted golden duck to seafood, and other items on their new menu.

Fore more information or to make a reservation, check out their website.