Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Michelin-recognised Cantonese; book for groups.
Li Yen is a Michelin Plate-recognised Cantonese room in Bukit Bintang, priced at $$$ and built for considered dining rather than a quick meal. The honey-glazed BBQ Iberico pork and roast goose set it apart from standard hotel Cantonese, and the chef's recommendations page is the best guide for what to order. Book ahead for weekends; the format rewards groups who want to share widely.
Getting a table at Li Yen is achievable but not trivial. This is a Michelin Plate-recognised Cantonese restaurant inside Kuala Lumpur's Bukit Bintang corridor, which means weekend bookings move faster than most diners expect, particularly for larger groups who want the semi-circular velvet banquette. Booking moderate difficulty means you should reserve several days in advance rather than calling the morning of. If you are coming in a group of four or more, earlier planning is worth it — the room's layout and the breadth of the menu are built for sharing, not solo grazing. Solo diners and pairs have more flexibility, but the experience scales with the number of dishes you can reasonably order.
Li Yen is a formal Cantonese dining room at the $$$ price point — positioned above KL's casual Cantonese coffeeshop circuit but below the full-service $$$$-tier hotel dining rooms such as [Yun House](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/yun-house-kuala-lumpur-restaurant). The room signals its intentions clearly: embroidered wall panelling, bronze-framed mirrors, and a velvet banquette all communicate that this is considered dining rather than a quick meal. That matters because the food follows the same logic , this is classic Cantonese cooking presented with care, and the expectation is that you slow down and work through the menu.
The menu centres on the Cantonese canon: dim sum, honey-glazed BBQ Iberico pork, and roast goose are the headline items. What differentiates Li Yen from direct hotel Chinese restaurants is the chef's recommendations section on the first page of the menu, which typically spotlights one hero ingredient prepared in multiple ways , a format that rewards diners who are willing to follow the kitchen's lead. Portion sizes are offered across different scales, which makes the menu practical for tables of varying sizes and useful for those who want to order widely without committing to full portions across the board. This is worth knowing before you sit down: the menu architecture here rewards exploration rather than defaulting to the same two or three familiar dishes.
The Iberico pork and roast goose deserve particular attention. Both sit within Cantonese BBQ tradition , a category where technique and sourcing do the talking , and Iberico pork specifically brings a higher fat content and depth of flavour than standard BBQ pork preparations. Roast goose is rarer on KL menus than it once was, which makes its presence here notable. If you have been to Li Yen before and ordered primarily from the dim sum section, the BBQ meats are the logical next progression on a return visit. For a broader comparison of where Li Yen sits in the Cantonese dining tradition, [102 House in Shanghai](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/102-house-shanghai-restaurant) and [Chef Tam's Seasons in Macau](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/chef-tams-seasons-macau-restaurant) represent different regional expressions of the same cuisine at higher price tiers , useful context for frequent Cantonese diners calibrating expectations.
Semi-circular velvet banquette is the centrepiece of the room, but Li Yen's layout also accommodates more intimate seating configurations. Bar or counter-adjacent seating in a Cantonese room like this one functions differently from the counter experience at an omakase or open-kitchen format , here, the value of closer seating is proximity to service rhythm and the ability to manage pacing more directly with the team. For solo diners or pairs, a seat closer to the service flow is the better call over a large table where dishes can feel underpopulated. The dim sum format in particular benefits from a quicker service relationship: steamer baskets and small plates are better managed with attentive back-and-forth than left to accumulate at one end of an oversized table.
If you are returning to Li Yen and previously sat in the main banquette for a group dinner, a smaller table or counter-adjacent seat on a second visit gives you a different read on the room and on the kitchen's timing. Use it to work through the chef's recommendations section more methodically, ordering in rounds rather than all at once.
Reservations: Book ahead, especially for weekends and groups of four or more. Moderate booking difficulty means walk-ins are possible on quieter nights but are not a reliable strategy. Address: 168, Jln Imbi, Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur , central Bukit Bintang, accessible from most city-centre hotels. Budget: $$$ per head , expect a meaningful spend, though still below the $$$$-tier hotel dining rooms in the same city. Dress: The formal room setting suggests smart casual as a minimum; the embroidered panelling and velvet banquette are not incidental design choices. Hours: Not confirmed in our data , verify before travelling. Group size: The format scales well for groups of four to eight who want to share broadly; solo diners are accommodated but should plan their ordering around the flexible portion sizes.
Li Yen holds a Michelin Plate in both 2024 and 2025 , a consistent recognition that indicates kitchen reliability and quality of product, even if it sits below Michelin Star level. The Michelin Plate designation in KL's Chinese dining category is a meaningful signal: the city's Cantonese segment is competitive, and consistent recognition across two consecutive years confirms this is not a flash-in-the-pan listing. Google ratings stand at 4.0 across 289 reviews, which for a formal hotel-adjacent restaurant at the $$$ tier is a solid floor. Compare that to comparable Cantonese rooms in the city such as [Elegant Inn](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/elegant-inn-kuala-lumpur-restaurant) or [Sek Yuen](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/sek-yuen-kuala-lumpur-restaurant), which operate in a different register but serve a similar constituency of diners who take Cantonese cooking seriously.
Li Yen is the right call if you want a formal Cantonese room at the $$$ tier with Michelin recognition, the flexibility of varied portion sizes, and a menu that rewards exploration beyond the dim sum staples. It is less suited to diners looking for the casual, high-volume Cantonese experience , for that, [Foong Lian](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/foong-lian-kuala-lumpur-restaurant) or [Restoran Pik Wah](https://www.joinpearl.co/restaurants/restoran-pik-wah-kuala-lumpur-restaurant) serve a different but equally valid version of the tradition. If you are already familiar with KL's broader Cantonese circuit and want to move up a register without crossing into the full $$$$-tier commitment, Li Yen sits in a useful middle ground. Returning visitors specifically should use the chef's recommendations page as their primary guide and lean into the BBQ meats section rather than defaulting to dim sum alone.
For more on eating and drinking in the city, see our full Kuala Lumpur restaurants guide, our full Kuala Lumpur bars guide, and our full Kuala Lumpur hotels guide. Further afield in Malaysia, Auntie Gaik Lean's Old School Eatery in George Town, Christoph's in Penang, and The Dining Room at The Datai Langkawi are worth knowing. Closer to home in the Klang Valley, Lavo and Lavo Gallery in Petaling Jaya and BM Cathay Pancake in Seberang Perai round out the regional picture. See also our full Kuala Lumpur experiences guide and full Kuala Lumpur wineries guide.
Yes, with caveats. The semi-circular velvet banquette and formal room are set up for groups, but Li Yen's varied portion sizes mean solo diners can sample dim sum and a main without over-ordering. The $$$ price point adds up fast when dining alone, so prioritise the chef's recommendations page and stick to two or three items.
Li Yen's strength is its chef's recommendations section, which often features a single hero ingredient prepared multiple ways — that's where the kitchen shows range. If a set menu is available, it works well for groups of four or more who want to cover ground across the Cantonese repertoire. For a la carte flexibility, the portion-size options give you similar coverage without committing to a fixed format.
Yes. The room — embroidered wall panelling, bronze-framed mirrors, velvet banquette — is designed for occasions that warrant $$$ Cantonese dining. Michelin Plate recognition in both 2024 and 2025 signals consistent kitchen reliability, which matters when the meal has to land. Book ahead for weekends; a walk-in on a significant date is a risk not worth taking.
Li Yen's layout accommodates more intimate configurations beyond the central banquette, but this is a formal Cantonese dining room, not a bar-counter experience. If counter or bar seating is your preferred format, manage expectations: the room prioritises table service. Confirm seating options when you book.
At $$$, Li Yen is priced above KL's casual Cantonese circuit, and the Michelin Plate across two consecutive years (2024 and 2025) supports that positioning. The honey-glazed BBQ Iberico pork and roast goose are the anchors; if classic Cantonese in a formal room is what you're after, the price is justified. If you want something more modern or chef-driven, DC. by Darren Chin or Dewakan sit at a similar tier with different propositions.
For modern Malaysian fine dining with strong tasting-menu credentials, Dewakan is the obvious comparison. DC. by Darren Chin offers a more personal, chef-driven format at a comparable price tier. Beta focuses on Malaysian ingredient-led cooking with a contemporary edge. Molina and Aliyaa serve different cuisines entirely — Aliyaa for South Indian, Molina for Spanish — so they're alternatives only if you're open to a different direction.
Start with the chef's recommendations on the first page of the menu — these tend to showcase a hero ingredient across multiple preparations and represent the kitchen's current focus. The roast goose and honey-glazed BBQ Iberico pork are the headline items. Dim sum rounds out the meal well given the varied portion sizes, which let you order broadly without waste.
Keep this venue in your Pearl passport, rate it after you visit, and track it alongside every other place you collect.
