Mooncakes Singapore 2010

It's Mid Autumn Festival! Or... mooncakes time!!! Today we managed to find time to visit the Mooncake Fair at Takashimaya B2. And of course took the chance to sample as many mooncakes as we can. :) 

So here we bring to you the highlights of the various vendors for Mooncakes Singapore 2010!

Royal China, Raffles Hotel

The clear winner gotta be the mini snow skin with bird's nest, almond and macadamia nuts. Very strong almond taste with is creamy and the macadamia nuts provides the crunch.

Also worth a mention is the mini snow skin with Griotte Cherry Truffle & Lotus paste. Nice liquor center with cherry. The mango truffle & lotus paste is not too bad too! (8pcs - $46) You forsake the 10% discount if you include the bird nest's mooncakes in the assorted box. Very worth it if you ask me.

Royal China has one of the best snow skin. It turns soft very fast at room temperature though. But I don't think it will last so long once you bite into it.

Evidently, this is one of the three mooncake packs that we bought.

Jewels Artisan

Two stand outs for us from Jewels. The mini snow skin mooncake with champagne ganache truffle and mini snow skin with espresso truffle.

They have the best champagne ganache truffle is the best we tasted in the mooncake fair. Maybe because of their background in chocolate making. 

The espresso truffle accentuates the chocolate. Delightful. 

The salty caramel was interesting too. (8pcs - $48.15) 

Shang Palace - Shangri La Hotel

The kumquat lemon paste is quite special. The rest of the mooncakes tasted decent but did not wow us. ($50 per box)

TWG

Yes. You did not see wrong. TWG actually offers mooncakes. They incorporated tea elements into 4 baked versions and 4 snow skin versions.

We tasted the Constellation - infused with Singapore Breakfast Tea and Grand Empire - Napoleon Tea. And we were not impressed by either. ($60 for 4 mooncakes, $68 (2 mooncakes with Tea and Cotton Tea filter)

Side note: The staff were all non-Chinese. 

Fullerton Hotel

The Hibiscus Strawberry snowskin and Lavender Macadamia Green Bean in Snowskin were both outstanding.

Very much like the Hibiscus Cheese Filo we had at Eden Sanctuary Floral Cafe. Slight tart taste well balanced by the strawberries. A delight.

The lavender was just... special. The green bean did spoil it a little bit though. ($55 per box)

Swissotel Merchant Court

Had the durian truffle. Did not impress. And the staff weren't too friendly. So did not ask for the vodka orange snowskin mooncake. Hope you get better luck. (Box of 8 - $54)

Ocazzion

The mango & passionfruit was a hit for us. Well balanced sweetness from the mango and sourness from the passionfruit. Creamy filling and good texture of the snowskin.

Their signature Soursop with Pulp snowskin is very nice. Somehow there is a fuzzy taste that comes along with the sweet and sour filling. ($45-48 for a box of 4)

Pioneer Seafood

Only tasted the Mao Shan Wang Durian Mooncake. Nice but did not blow us away. It is supposedly their signature, so did not ask to taste the rest. ($46 per box of 4)

Canele

Very interesting concept. All the snowskin versions had regional names. We tasted the Kyoto (green tea) and Asiana (natural purple sweet potato).

Both were decent. But we weren't sold enough to get the assorted box. 

They do offer savoury versions of scallop and abalone.

(Prices not available)

Peony-Jade Restaurant

The durian mooncake was excellent. We had the mao shan wang version. A pity that the golden phoenix durian was sold out.

Do check this outlet out. They have many special flavours like Japanese Yuzu and Chempedak. And yes, the Teochew Yam Paste Mooncake. (~$50 per box, ~$60 per box for durian and yuzu)

Goodwood Park Hotel

No sampling available. But I suppose the durian ones should be good for a place well known for it's range of durian products. (~$46 per box) UOB & Citibank15% discount only available at Goodwood Park.

Ritz Carlton

The lychee-tini was sold out and we only managed a taste of the Jujube paste snowskin. It is basically a red-date paste with walnut mooncake. It has a real intense taste. It is like eating a red date straight. Get it if you love red-dates.

(~$40 per box)

Victoria Peak Mooncake

From Hongkong. We were impressed by the snow skin series. The white lotus with custard is nice and creamy, the red bean paste with plum is perky and the green tea paste with raspberry is a surprise. 

Have to admit not all will take to the special flavours, but they are really worth tasting. ($30 per box). Durian snowskin not too bad, with the discount it is the cheapest durian mooncake available at the fair. (usual $48 selling at $35 per box at the fair.) 

Summer Palace, The Regent

Rare taste of the baked version for us. We were focusing on the snowskins. The Parma ham and Pork Floss is special. And so is the Ginseng and Ginger Paste with pine nuts is very intensed in taste and flavours. ($49+ per box)

Dragon Phoenix Restaurant

The single yolk pandan tasted like kaya. Very fragrant and tasty. ($42 per box)

Fairmont Singapore

Only tasted the champagne truffle & chocolate ganache. Not too bad but you know our favourite. ($52 per box)

Park Palace, Park Hotel Group

The lychee & lychee is outstanding. Strong lychee flavours and not too sweet. Tasty! Also outstanding was the baileys truffle & mint snowskin. Subtle baileys taste and the mint was a master stroke that cuts through the dense lotus paste. We almost bought a box of this, but the champagne ganache from Jewels edged this out. ($43 per box)

Garden Pastry & Cake

Crispy Skin Yam mooncake. One of the two that we really liked. But they don't keep long, so we did not buy any. ($34 per box)

Home's Favourite

The Black Gold Top Grade Mao Shan Wang was excellent. But I still like my durian from a shell. And again the Golden Phoenix Durian Mooncake is sold out. ($68 per box)

Hilton Singapore

They are better known for their cheesecakes. The mini cheese mooncakes series are new. Didn't leave an impression on us.

Four Seasons Durian

Good durian filling. Exactly what you would expect from a place that specialises in durians. They do have other snowskin varieties like yam and lychee. (Durian ~$40 for D24, $88 for mao shan wang, Other flavours $42 per box)

Zhen Wei Mooncakes

Only had the crispy yam. One of the better ones we tasted. (~$40 per box)