Header photo: Hong Kong Cuisine 1983
Mid-Autumn Festival, celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month in the lunar calendar, is a very popular Chinese holiday – some would say on par with Chinese New Year. This is the time of year when Hong Kong is ablaze with lanterns and mooncakes are produced in their millions. These round, rich pastries are traditionally filled with the likes of egg yolk, red bean and lotus-seed paste, but as the mooncake market has become more and more saturated in recent times, there are plenty of much more inventive creations too.
We’ve narrowed down the selection for you with our picks of the best mooncakes around town this year, as well as other notable Mid-Autumn Festival foodie offerings that are worth seeking out.
And once your mooncake craving has been satisfied and you still find yourself drowning in these festive pastries, you can drop off any packaged, unopened and unexpired mooncakes until 25 September at any one of Feeding Hong Kong’s community collection points. FHK will deliver the mooncakes to one of their charity partners to share with those most in need on or before Mid-Autumn Festival, which this year falls on Friday, 29 September.
HK mooncakes & more 2023
Ān Soy x esca vegetarian soy-milk mooncakes
Those with dietary restrictions can still indulge in these elegant mooncakes, a union between Michelin-starred chef Vicky Lau’s artisan soy-milk producer Ān Soy and vegetarian mooncake maker esca. Each eco-friendly wooden box contains three of Ān Soy’s oozing black sesame mooncakes made with soy milk and three of esca’s fragrant financiers flavoured with soy milk, osmanthus and salted egg.
Where: DATE by TATE, 210 Hollywood Road, Sheung Wan
How much: HK$498 (6 mooncakes)
To order: order online, with pick-up and delivery available between 19–29 September (excluding 24–25 September)
Chilli Fagara savoury tang yuan
Mid-Autumn feasting can sometimes be tough on the non-sweet-toothed amongst us, but Chilli Fagara has come to the rescue with its savoury take on tang yuan – a traditional Chinese dessert of glutinous rice balls filled with black sesame, served in a sweet, gingery soup. This time, the sticky rice balls are stuffed with an umami mix of minced pork, Chinese mushrooms and dried shrimp, and they’re immersed in a spicy, fragrant broth that’s become synonymous with the acclaimed Sichuan restaurant.
Where: 7 Old Bailey Street, SoHo, Central
How much: HK$96 for dine-in (2 tang yuan); HK$168 (6 tang yuan) for takeaway, with a 20% discount offered until 15 September
To order: order online, with pick-up available from 16 September, while supplies last
Ho Lee Fook mooncakes (first ever!)
Going back to basics, Chef ArChan Chan pays tribute to her native city with her collection of mooncakes at Ho Lee Fook – notably, it’s the first time the sophisticated Cantonese restaurant has entered the mooncake fray. Chef Chan has chosen her favourite traditional HK flavours – custard and salted egg – and transformed them into handcrafted Mid-Autumn pastries that speak to our heart.
Where: 3–5 Elgin Street, SoHo, Central
How much: HK$388 (4 mooncakes)
To order: order online, with pick-up available from 18 September, while supplies last (daily, 6–10pm)
Hong Kong Cuisine 1983 Suzhou-style mooncakes
These Suzhou-style mooncakes by Chef Silas Li of Hong Kong Cuisine 1983 differ from their Cantonese counterparts in several ways. The light, layered pastry is flaky and delicate, with the filling spanning a wide range of both sweet and savoury options – from red bean, purple sweet potato and lotus-seed paste with egg yolk to Yunnan ham with mixed nuts. It’s the meticulous craftsmanship that impresses us with this Mid-Autumn gift box.
Where: 1/F, Elegance Court, 2–4 Tsoi Tak Street, Happy Valley
How much: HK$488 (6 mooncakes)
To order: phone 2893 3788, with pick-up available until 15 September
Hotel ICON snow-skin durian mooncakes
It’s either love it or hate it when it comes to the pungent tropical fruit durian, but if you fall in the former camp, we have just the mooncakes for you. HOTEL ICON’s snow-skin Musang King durian mooncakes are making their Mid-Autumn debut, the brainchild of Executive Chef and renowned “Durian Prince” Danny Ho. The mooncakes themselves are actually produced in Malaysia, ensuring that the authentic flavour and aroma of Malaysian Musang King durian are present. In terms of the “snow skin” element of these no-bake mooncakes, they have an addictively chewy skin made of glutinous rich that’s similar to the texture of mochi, and the cakes are frozen and best served cold.
Where: Lobby, Hotel ICON, 17 Science Museum Road, TST East
How much: HK$498 on or before 11 September or HK$598 after 11 September (4 mooncakes)
To order: order online, with pick-up available between 15–29 September (last order on 27 September)
Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour x Lee Keung Kee egg-waffle-flavoured mooncakes
We can personally vouch for these petite golden mooncakes that taste just like egg waffles, a Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour partnership with famed gai daan jai purveyor Lee Keung Kee Egg Waffles in North Point, which opened over 30 years ago and is still packing in the punters today. Each set contains six individually wrapped mini egg-waffle-flavoured custard mooncakes, along with two sets of peanut butter and condensed milk sachets for drizzling over the pastries for that perfect HK touch (we highly recommend heating up the mooncakes first). The home-grown collab continues with the box itself, which has been strikingly designed by talented local artist Leon Lollipop.
Where: The Farmhouse Deli, 2/F, Hyatt Centric Victoria Harbour Hong Kong, 1 North Point Estate Lane, North Point
How much: HK$268 (6 mooncakes)
To order: order online, with pick-up available until 29 September
Lady M Moonglow mooncakes
For chic Mid-Autumn gifting, no one does it better than Lady M. This year, the arch-shaped Moonglow gift set, which resembles a luxury handbag, is fitted out with six small drawers and two inner compartments that can be used to store jewellery and trinkets after you’re finished feasting. Inside the drawers are six individually packaged mini mooncakes in three inventive Asian-inspired flavours – yuzu-milk custard, pandan-matcha custard and lychee-rose custard.
Where: Lady M boutiques around town (except HK International Airport)
How much: HK$638 (6 mooncakes)
To order: phone 3956 1494, with pick-up available until 2 October (from 28 September–2 October, voucher redemption is only available at the ifc mall and Harbour City boutiques)
The Landmark Mandarin Oriental mooncake bento
It’s the bento-box packaging that’s particularly noteworthy with The Landmark Mandarin Oriental’s Mid-Autumn gift set this year. Echoing the hotel’s environmentally conscious approach, the double-decker bento box containing six mini egg custard mooncakes is made of biodegradable corn-fibre materials. If you choose not to keep your bento for use as (microwavable) food containers later on, another option is to return the set of two-tiered boxes with wrapping to the hotel by the end October – in return, you’ll be gifted with a glass of sommelier’s selection champagne or red or white wine at Amber, MO Bar or SOMM (and the boxes themselves will be repurposed for use as containers for the hotel’s in-room amenities). It’s a win-win!
Where: 2/F, The Landmark Mandarin Oriental, 15 Queen’s Road Central, Central
How much: HK$458 (6 mooncakes)
To order: order online, with pick-up available until 29 September
Matchali x esca vegetarian matcha mooncakes
A collab with vegetarian mooncake specialist esca (see Ān Soy above), Matchali’s matcha mooncakes are another unique addition to the Mid-Autumn scene, showcasing ceremonial-grade matcha sourced from a fifth-generation tea farm in Uji, Japan – the matcha capital of the world. These handcrafted, preservative-free pastries come in two flavours that pay homage to the 852 – matcha almond and matcha red bean. There are also three covetable gift sets up for ordering, two of which include the mooncakes alongside a tin of hojicha or matcha powder, chawan (tea bowl), chashaku (tea scoop) and chasen (tea whisk) to bring your tea to life.
Where: 5 Moon Street, Wanchai
How much: HK$380 (4 mooncakes); Tranquility Mooncake Set – HK$660; Full Moon Set – HK$820; Harmony Mooncake Set – HK$880
To order: order online, with pick-up available from 1 September, while supplies last
Mercato Gourmet x De Vivo Mid-Autumn Festival panettone gift box
In terms of non-mooncake offerings this Mid-Autumn season, Mercato Gourmet’s panettone gift box is our pick of the lot. Just like mooncakes in Hong Kong, panettone is a traditional festive gift in Italy, with its round shape also symbolising joyful reunion. The luscious panettone itself is crafted in Pompei, Italy, by De Vivo, a pastry shop with over 60 years of history. This specially designed gift box showcases four mini panettone in a quartet of boozy fillings – limoncello, chocolate-rum, pistachio and hazelnut. Each panettone variety is heavenly; we can’t get enough of the soft, silky texture of the bread and the rich, creamy fillings.
Where: Mercato Gourmet shops in Happy Valley, Mid-Levels, Wanchai and TST
How much: HK$588 (4 mini panettone)
To order: purchase in-store, with pick-up available until 15 September
The Mira Hong Kong x Bombshell Lotus Luna Bomb
This is quite a whimsical Mid-Autumn Festival offering. The smashable white chocolate Lotus Luna Bomb by couture patisserie Bombshell, with its white chocolate Jade Rabbit of Chinese folklore nestled beside, is fashioned to look like a pastel full moon surrounded by a dreamy cosmic ring. The “bomb” is filled with an assortment of sweets (pink bunny marshmallows, chocolate bonbons, jellybeans, gumdrops and more) that will be unleashed once the shell is cracked open with the accompanying mini hammer. Underneath this Mid-Autumn masterpiece is a drawer containing eight mini egg custard mooncakes courtesy of Cuisine Cuisine at The Mira Hong Kong, so traditionalists will be satisfied too. What’s more, the stylish rabbit-shaped gift box doubles up as a lantern (or fashion accessory!) when lit up from inside.
Where: COCO, G/F, The Mira Hong Kong, Mira Place, 118–130 Nathan Road, TST
How much: HK$988 (Luna Lotus Bomb + 8 mooncakes)
To order: order online, with pick-up and delivery available until 29 September (4-day advance order required)
Ralph’s Coffee mooncakes
We’re suckers for cute packaging, and we’d be hard-pressed to find something cuter this Mid–Autumn than the mooncake gift box offered up by Ralph’s Coffee. Inspired by the brand’s signature green-and-white trike with its flower basket and canvas umbrella (the brolly can even open and close), the delicate tin box opens to reveal six mini mooncakes in two flavours – custard lava and matcha lava. The standout for us is the heady matcha variety, which mimics Ralph’s Coffee’s matcha latte made with organic Kotoshina matcha from Uji, Japan.
Where: Ralph’s Coffee shops at LANDMARK PRINCE’S (Central) and Harbour City (TST)
How much: HK$488 (6 mooncakes)
To order: purchase in-store, while supplies last
Regent Hong Kong Lai Ching Heen mooncakes
It’s the inaugural Mid-Autumn season for new-to-the-scene Regent Hong Kong, and the five-star hotel is kicking off with an uber-sleek two-layered teal gift box featuring six mini egg custard mooncakes handcrafted by the esteemed culinary team of Executive Chef Lau Yiu Fai and Head Chef Cheng Man Sang of two-Michelin-starred Cantonese restaurant Lai Ching Heen. Edible gold flakes add to the luxury appeal of these mooncakes, with the four enticing flavours ranging from classic to contemporary – white lotus-seed paste with egg yolk, red bean paste with mandarin peel, green tea custard and Earl Grey tea custard.
Where: The Lobby Lounge, G/F, Regent Hong Kong, Victoria Dockside, 18 Salisbury Road, TST
How much: HK$428 (6 mooncakes)
To order: order online, with redemption available until 29 September (daily, 1–8pm)
Venchi chocolate mooncakes
If celebratory eating isn’t complete for you unless chocolate is involved, we urge you to check out Venchi’s Mid-Autumn collection of celestial-inspired gift boxes and hampers. They’re packed with chocolate mooncakes in creative flavours like caramel swirl, lemon-vanilla tea, coconut and dark chocolate and smoky rose tea. The gift boxes come in various shapes such as rectangle, circle, double layer and even a festive lantern shape, with prices to suit all budgets.
Where: Venchi boutiques around town
How much: from HK$120
To order: purchase in-store or order online for delivery, while supplies last
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