Mid-Autumn Mooncakes

By Kerry Allen & Tom Mangione

30 September this year spells the beginning of Mid-Autumn Festival, the nationwide public holiday celebrated with such festivities as burning incense for deities like Chang’e (the Chinese goddess of the moon), floating sky lanterns and most importantly, giving mooncakes as gifts to loved ones. 

Of course with so much selection around, it’s difficult to know where to go, whether you’re looking for a box of traditional flavours like egg yolk or lotus paste, or something a little out of the ordinary, like red wine and cranberry. Talk Magazine did the legwork and sampled offerings from ten of the best places to go in town. Here are our top picks. 

Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao

For the mooncake hoopla of Mid-Autumn Festival, the Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao has decided to go green. Joining up with an initiative started by Hong Kong TV and movie actress Kara Hui, RMB 10 of every box of mooncakes sold will be donated to the eco-friendly NGO World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). In addition, the delicacies all come in packaging made from 100 per cent recycled material. We tried the Deluxe Mooncake Box featuring White Lotus Puree with Egg Yolk, Walnuts and Red Bean Purée, and Maccha Purée. Kerry was most taken with the Maccha Purée, commenting that it had a "strong, robust flavour" full of the concentrated, granular texture of maccha. Tom was wild for the Walnut and Red Bean Purée. Heavy on the walnuts, the subtle, mildly-sweet red bean paste served as a light backdrop. 

Price: Deluxe Mooncake Box (six pieces) - RMB 188
Hilton Shanghai Hongqiao. 1116 Hongsong Dong Lu, near Zhonghuan Lu. Tel: 3323 6666 ext 51310

Hyatt on the Bund

The five elements of feng shui make their way into the mooncakes from Hyatt on the Bund, with a serving of tea serving as one of the elements (Fire) to cleanse the palate and invigorate the senses. The Pineapple mooncake (Earth) was the most unique; with real dried pineapple pieces mixed in with the thick pineapple jelly, this mooncake maintained the original tartness of the fruit without being too sugary. The other three offerings rounded out the set more subtly: a crunchy, yet light Black Sesame (Water), a slightly citrus Black Tea with Lime (Wood) and a buttery, White Lotus Egg Yolk (Gold) that sticks to the roof of your mouth.

Price: Five Elements Mooncake set (four pieces with tea) – RMB 248
Hyatt on the Bund. 199 Huangpu Lu, near Wuchang Lu. Tel: 6393 1234

The Langham Xintiandi 

Ming Court restaurant connoisseur Chef Tsang is the mastermind behind these mini mooncakes, which, coming in the traditional flavours of Lotus Paste and Egg Yolk, locals will love. Rich and full of flavour, it doesn’t take much to be full from one of these; however our Western palates formed doubts over the Double Egg Yolk, finding their saltiness quite an acquired taste. The Mini Custards however, are lovely and biscuity, and it didn’t take long for us to collectively finish the last few bites.      

Price: Mini Custard with Egg Yolk (eight pieces) – RMB 198; White Lotus Seed with Double Egg Yolk (four pieces) – RMB 198
Ming Court in the Langham Xintiandi. 5F, 99 Madang Lu, near Taicang Lu. Tel: 2330 2430. E-mail: [email protected]

Grand Hyatt

Grand Hyatt might well win the award for the most impressive packaging, with its elaborately decorated electric blue and pink circular box with a mini Jin Mao Tower on the front. And the mooncakes inside, a selection of four different traditional flavours, were equally impressive. Tom commented that the traditional Egg Yolk and White Lotus Paste was "like a warm omelette", with a very strong, very rich taste. The green bean paste was also a favourite, a very crumbly mooncake that at first doesn’t taste of anything and then exploded into full flavour on the back of the palate. 

Price: Celebrate in Style mooncake package (seven pieces) - RMB 288
Grand Hyatt. 53 – 87F, 88 Shiji Dadao, near Dongtai Lu. Tel: 5049 1234. E-mail: [email protected]

Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel

Taking influence from the five elements of feng shui, the Jumeirah offered something really special, and we found ourselves bowled over by the presentation as soon as we opened the box (and that’s before we got to the free iPhone cover). Each individual mooncake was set apart with its own individual shape and colouring. The ‘Water’ mooncake for instance, a crystal cheese flavoured mooncake, was a terracotta cream jelly paste with markings like a shell. 

The individual flavours definitely set this box apart, and we particularly liked the ‘Fire’ mooncake, which was chocolate iced coffee flavoured and smelt like a warm chocolate brownie, with a caramel texture. The ‘Gold’ Kumquat Bean Paste was rich with a marzipan texture and the ‘Earth’ mooncake, made of Turkish dates, had a sweet and fruity taste like a fig biscuit, with a lingering aftertaste. 

Price: Jumeirah mooncake collection (five pieces) – RMB 298
Jumeirah Himalayas Hotel. 1108 Meihua Lu, near Fangdian Lu. Tel: 3858 0728. E-mail: [email protected]

Sheraton Shanghai Hongqiao

The Sheraton Shanghai Hongqiao’s offerings were an instant hit, with each mooncake playing wonders on the palate and delivering a fresh, lingering aftertaste, the same as if you had actually poured yourself a cup of aromatic herbal Chinese tea. Available in a six piece set, the Sheraton’s offerings comprise flavourings of Green, Dahong, Jasmine, Pu’er and Oolong Tea, plus a Blue Mountain Coffee thrown in for good measure. And an extra RMB 40 will also get you an additional two traditional lotus paste with double yolk mooncakes.

Kerry in particular couldn’t get enough of these tea flavours, particularly the Dahong Tea, which had a very strong, floral taste, and the Pu’er, which hit the back of the throat and left a lingering freshness.

Tom however preferred the Blue Mountain Coffee, which was strong like an espresso with a spiced, caramelised interior. “Tastes like Christmas,” he said.      

Price: Mid Autumn tea series (six pieces) – RMB 268; Deluxe tea series (8 pieces) – RMB 308
Bauernstube in the Sheraton Shanghai Hongqiao. 2F, 5 Zunyi Nan Lu, near Xianxia Lu. Tel: 6278 8888 

Marriott Hotel City Centre

The Marriott Hotel City Centre’s Assorted Nuts with Chinese Ham mooncakes are a shock to the system: large, rich, crunchy pieces of biscuit that are so packed full of flavour that you have to pace yourself after one bite. Like a cross between a cereal bar and a ham sandwich, they’re an acquired taste, but provided you can stomach them, they’re a worthy traditional offering, and come beautifully served in a wood-effect box decorated with Chinese calligraphy. 

Price: Keepsake Mooncake Imperial box (four pieces) – RMB 238
Marriott Hotel City Centre. 555 Xizang Zhong Lu, near Fengyang Lu. Tel: 2312 9888 

Pullman Skyway

The four mooncakes from the Pullman Skyway were most noteworthy for the intensity of their flavours, for those who like them heavy and strong. The Purple Sweet Potato mooncake came on with just right amount of sweetness and continued to linger on the tongue. Kerry said, “I want to inhale it.” 

Tom described the Rose Sweetened Bean mooncake as “a gardener’s mooncake,” because the aroma of rose proved so strong that it began to fill the room as soon as we took it out of the package. The Ham with Five Mixed Nuts, a traditional mooncake flavour, was determined to be “a shot of pork straight to the face”, and the White Lotus mooncake was so rich and decadent it proved to be more like a slice of pound cake than something derived from a flower. 

Price: “Bo Yun” Mooncake gift box (eight pieces) – RMB 268
Pullman Skyway. 15 Dapu Lu, near Xujiahui Lu. Tel: 3318 9988 ext 8101

Kerry Hotel Pudong

The Kerry Hotel offers a wide variety of mooncakes, featuring exotic names like XO Sauce with Dried Scallops, 'Monk Jumps Over the Wall' and Imperial Abalone. However when it came time to taste, the six mooncakes in the “Jia Yue” mooncake collection that we tried were all seemingly down to earth both in flavour and expression. Light and understated, the Kerry Hotel’s mooncakes were surprisingly refreshing. Tom commented that the Pumpkin mooncake was “like pumpkin pie, but without all the spice”. 

The Red Bean Paste mooncake was also very mild; fans of traditional mooncakes will like this one. However, it was the Red Lotus Paste, with a flavour resembling peanut butter that had us both wanting more.

Price: “Jia Yue” Mooncake collection (six pieces) – RMB 98
Kerry Hotel. 1388 Huamu Lu, near Fangdian Lu. Tel: 6169 8888

Hotel Indigo

True to its artsy edge, the six mooncakes from the Hotel Indigo that we tried were most notable for their uniqueness and daring. The Red Wine and Cranberry mooncake matched real bits of dried cranberries with a tangy, red wine jelly. Kerry exclaimed, “It’s so floral, almost like eating a rose!” Still, the Green Gold mooncake was her favourite: “It’s like almond marzipan; I could devour this!” Tom was most impressed with the Blue Mountain Coffee mooncake which he found resembled a frappuccino, “a strong coffee, full of cream and sugar”. The most daring of them all, however, was the Pine Nuts and Red Bean Paste. The savoury pine nuts instantly clashed with the cloyingly sweet red beans, but resolved mysteriously on our tongues into something that wasn’t half bad. 

Price: Indigo Indulgence mooncake box (six pieces) - RMB 228
Hotel Indigo. 585 Zhongshan Dong Er Lu, near Dongmen Lu. Tel: 3302 9999