Mooncakes: 5 places to get the yummiest in time for the Mid-Autumn Festival

With September here, we know that Christmas has begun. But this month, there's the Mid-Autumn Festival and its yummy mooncakes to enjoy!

The Mid-Autumn Festival this year takes place on September 21 — on a kind of full moon that the Chinese believes to be at its brightest and fullest.

The Festival coincides with harvest time, and as such, it's a time to be thankful for all the harvest and the blessings that have come our way. To celebrate, mooncakes are on the agenda.

Below are 5 places in Metro Manila serving the yummiest mooncakes!

1. Hong Kong MX. What is a story on mooncakes without Hong Kong MX? The brand, so incredibly popular for their mooncakes, is back in the Philippines with mooncakes made and flown in straight from Hong Kong. The original Lava Custard Mooncake is always a good idea, with the silky custard and savoury egg yolks flowing from the cake's center.

Hong Kong MX offers a variety of sets like the Lava Quartet Mooncake set (two pieces of classic Lava Custard, two pieces of Lava Chocolate, two pieces of Lava Caramel Macchiato, and two pieces Lava Cheese). The Custard Duet meanwhile contains three pieces of the Lava Custard and three pieces of the Creamy Custard variant. The Delightful Moon Assorted combines three pieces of the Lava Custard with three pieces of the Lava Chocolate. Available on Facebook, Instagram, Lazada, Shopee, and more. 

2. Edsa Shangri-La. The hotel's renowned Chinese restaurant, Summer Palace, prepared a collection of 6 flavors including the crowd-favorte white lotus mooncake. Why so popular, you may ask?

Courtesy: EDSA Shangri-La

It's handmade and features lotus past filling with salted egg wrap in a thin golden-brown crust. Nice right? Other flavors include red bean, mixed nuts, durian, green tea, and black sesame. A two-piece box starts at P1,688, while you can also purchase them per piece beginning at P599 for the traditional and P388 for the mini. +632 86338888

3. Kee Wah Bakery. Here's something straight from 1940s Hong Kong: Kee Wah Bakery's super mooncakes. First produced in 1946, the classic HK bakery's mooncakes have remained unchanged. The Supreme Mooncakes come in the signature tin can, with the White Lotus Seed Paste Mooncake with Two Yolks and Golden Lotus Seed Paste leading the variety of flavors. They both weigh in at 185g/pc and each tin can (P3,400) comes with 4 pieces.

Courtesy: Kee Wah Bakery

If the 195/g moonies are a bit too much, Kee Wah offers mini 60g-mooncakes, which come in a box of eight pieces. 

Kee Wah also has the Celestial Series Mooncakes in sweet an savoury flavors. they come in a quadrangle mooncake gift box that hold 4 pieces (P4,500). There are also supreme assorted minis in a box of eight (P2,500) and supreme selected minis in a box of eight (P2,400). Website.

4. The Peninsula Manila. There is a reason why people would fly to Hong Kong just to get their hands on the Peninsula Hong Kong's glorious moon cakes, the egg custard mooncake, especially — oh just so fine and delicate but absolutely indulgent.

 This year, the Peninsula Manila is flying in those very moon cakes for our convenience and delight. An assorted box of eight mini mooncakes retails at P4,888, while a box of four mini egg custard mooncakes start at P3,399. You can place an order on Facebook or call +632 88872888.

5. Manila Marriott. May we interest you with mooncakes containing a whole alted duck egg at the center?

Courtesy: Manila Marriott

That's on offer from Manila Marriott, with varying fillings from Coconut, Red Lotus Paste, White Lotus Paste, and Wu Ren Yue Bing, which is a Cantonese mooncake with pecans, walnuts, cashews, toasted pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and more.

These come in a Mooncake Chest containing four or six mooncakes with Chinese Tea, a bottle of wine, or Man Ho's Signature Candied Walnuts.  The Mooncake Chest starts at P2,988. Give a 48-hour lead time for orders. +639176245980

— LA, GMA News