Best Mooncakes in Saigon 2019
Mid-autumn festival, known as Tết Trung Thu in the Vietnamese language, is one of the most important annual celebrations in Vietnam. This year, the Mid-Autumn Festival will fall on 13th September 2019 which happens to be a friday!
In Vietnam, this day and festival is celebrated with great fervour—kids running about freely holding traditional paper (or modern LED) lanterns, youths dressing up flamboyantly while parading Nguyen Hue street, lion dance troupes seeking permission to perform for residents in exchange for ‘lucky money’ at the heart of Saigon’s Chinatown—but one indisputable and irreplaceable feature of the Mid-Autumn festival regardless of one’s origin is definitely the mooncake.
Mooncakes are sweet or savoury cakes that are baked or dessert-style (mochi-skinned, flaky and other exotic preparations exist!), featuring all sorts of imaginable styles and fillings such as traditional sweet lotus paste, green tea and pandan, roasted chicken, coffee, caramel sea salt and taro, coconut and durian. We’ve even spotted Oreo, wasabi green bean and black garlic flavoured mooncakes this year. The possibilities are never ending.
We’ve put together a list of our favourite mooncakes in Saigon this year along with a summary of prices and flavours to make choosing your Mid-Autumn Festival gifts easier.
Le Méridien
3C Tôn Đức Thắng, Bến Nghé Ward, District 1
+84 28 6263 6688
Image source: Le Méridien
Prices: start from VND968,000++ per box of four mooncakes, with additional tea leave options available. Discounts apply for bulk purchases and 20%-off is offered to Club Marriott members.
Flavours: Le Méridien Saigon’s Latitude 10 restaurant introduces an exciting series of mooncakes (170g ea.) with six distinct flavours including Tiramisu, Takesumi Charcoal, Sesame, Green Tea, Green Bean and Roasted Chicken-Jambon paste.
Hôtel Des Arts Saigon
76-78 Nguyễn Thị Minh Khai, Bến Nghé Ward, District 3
+84 28 3989 8888
Image source: Hôtel Des Arts Saigon
Price: Hôtel Des Arts Saigon offers their premium box of four mooncakes priced at VND1,588,000++ per box. 10% Discounts are offered to Accor Plus Members and bulk orders.
Flavours:
• Golden Harmony - Baked custard mooncake filled with a sinful salted egg custard core.
• Heaven Delight - Traditional-style baked mooncake made with healthy peanut oil, 100 percent lotus seed paste and a single egg yolk centre.
• Pandan Royal - Special creamy white soft crust made by blending pandan and malaysian coconut.
• Imperial Pearl - Traditional baked style cake filled with almonds, walnut, melon seed, white sesame and more.
PARKROYAL Saigon
309B-311 Nguyễn Văn Trỗi, Ward 1, Tân Bình District
+84 28 3842 1111
Image source: PARKROYAL Saigon
Price: Box of 4 mooncake selections of your choice at VND828,000++
Flavours:
• Special mixed nuts (Chinese sausage, candied winter melon, cashew nuts, lotus seeds, sesame, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc.)
• Traditional Green Bean
• Custard Lotus
• Taro & Coconut
• Black Sesame
• Cheese
• Tiramisu
• Matcha Green Tea
Pullman Saigon Centre
148 Trần Hưng Đạo, Nguyễn Cư Trinh Ward, District 1
+84 28 3838 8686
Image source: Pullman Saigon Centre
Price: Pullman Saigon Centre’s stylish ‘Art at Play’ box of five different types of mooncakes are priced at VND988,000 Net.
Flavours:
• Roasted Chicken single yolk (150g) - Traditional-style baked mooncake filled with roast chicken, chinese pork sausage and toasted sesame seeds that are perfect with oolong tea.
• Lotus Pandan single yolk (150g) - A flavour that's close to the heart of many south-east Asians; nothing beats the fragrance of pandan leaves and lotus paste combined.
• Cheese Lotus (150g) - Cream cheese and lotus paste may sound like an unlikely combination but you’d be surprised by how delicious this rich mooncake is!
• Taro single yolk (150g) - Sweetened taro paste; a no-brainer when it comes to sweet treats.
• Lotus Tea by Phuc Long (80g) - A collaboration between Pullman Saigon Centre and the most iconic Vietnamese tea brand. A must try for tea lovers.
Bakes
267/2 Điện Biên Phủ Street, Ward 7, District 3
+84 90 2774244
Image source: Bakes
BAKES have released their first ever mooncakes this year! Head Pastry Chef Sara Wu originally hails from Jilin, China and was inspired by the shifting phases of the moon cycle. Each 125g mooncake is made from entirely natural ingredients, with no preservatives and a bamboo charcoal coloured shell. Each mooncake is individually hand-painted with an alluring crescent moon, galaxy finish.
Price and Flavours: The BAKES mooncake set is priced at VND550,000 and comes with 3 flavours...
• Rich coconut and crispy cashew caramel insert
• Chocolate with a moist dark chocolate and kumquat truffle insert
• Smooth black sesame with creamy salted duck egg curd insert
Maison Marou
69 Calmette, Nguyễn Thái Bình Ward, District 1
+84 28 3729 2753
Image source: Maison Marou
Arguably Vietnam’s best chocolatier and chocolate patisserie, Maison Marou is amongst the small handful of artisanal chocolatiers in Vietnam who crafts chocolate out of locally grown cocoa beans.
Price: Each 100g mooncake is made with 70% Lâm Đồng dark chocolate and priced at VND170,000. Larger boxes of 4 or 9 mooncakes are also available at VND680,000 and VND1,480,000 respectively.
Flavours: This year, Maison Marou is offering two utterly unique, gourmet mooncake flavours that are bound to steal the limelight:
• Chocolate & peanut praline
• Chocolate & kumquat jam
Dai Phat
738 Sư Vạn Hạnh, Ward 12, District 10
+84 918679222
Image source: Dai Phat
Dai Phat bakery’s mooncakes have been a hit with locals for many years. The secret lies in combining Vietnamese tradition with Taiwanese baking know-how. This year, its creative line of mooncakes feature numerous varieties including traditional Taiwanese-style flaky mooncakes, traditional Hong Kong-style baked mooncakes, adorable rabbit-shaped mooncakes and other delights such as trendy salted-egg yolk ‘lava’ custard mooncakes.
Codes, Flavours & Prices:
• 001 Amicable Set (3 x Taiwanese flaky mooncakes) - VND102,000
• 002 Amicable Set (3 x Hong Kong style mooncakes: coconut, green bean, seafood XO) - VND102,000
• 003 Amicable Set (3 x rabbit-shaped mooncakes: durian, lotus pineapple & lychee) - VND102,000
• 004 Amicable Set (3 x multi-coloured flaky mooncakes: almond, taro & coconut) - VND102,000
• 005 Amicable Set (3 x salt-egg custard mooncakes) - VND102,000
• 101 Quality Set (2 x 150g Hong Kong style mooncakes: coconut, green bean) - VND140,000
• 102 Quality Set (Set 002 + 004) - VND204,000
• 103 Quality Set (Set 002 + 3 x Taiwanese sticky rice cakes) - VND186,000
• 104 Quality Set (Set 001 + 002) - VND204,000
• 105 Quality Set (1 x 150g Hong Kong savoury mooncake with single yolk + 1 x 150g mochi-skinned lotus paste mooncake) - VND157,000
• 201 Sophisticated Set (Set 101 + 102 + 3 Taiwanese sticky rice cakes) - VND288,000
• 203 Sophisticated Set (2 x 150g Hong Kong savoury mooncakes and 2 x 150g Hong Kong sweet mooncakes) - VND284,000
• 205 Sophisticated Set (3 x 150g Hong Kong savoury/sweet mooncakes with single yolk + 1 x 150g mochi-skinned lotus paste mooncake) - VND289,000
Dai Phat is also offering more luxurious boxed combinations; including an ultimate indulgence Minh Long Set which features abalone, bird’s nest, coconut & preserved orange, and macadamia mooncakes encased in 4 unique porcelain receptacles specially designed by Minh Long Porcelain for the occasion.
Star Kitchen
Level 2 8/15 Lê Thánh Tôn, Bến Nghé ward, District 1
+84 349 681 044
Image source: Star Kitchen
This year, Vietnamese tradition meets Japanese sophistication in Star Kitchen’s Minh Nguyệt Đoàn Viên (in English, Reunion Under the Luminous Moon) series of mooncakes. The creative flavours were designed by non other than Star Kitchen’s Japanese founder Mr. Yuya Arashima and his talented Vietnamese team of pastry chefs. Star Kitchen also happens to be one of the most popular pastry schools in Saigon among Japanese and Vietnamese housewives.
Price:
• Đoàn Viên box of 6 mooncakes at VND855,000
• Minh Nguyệt box of 4 mooncakes at VND570,000
• Vọng Nguyệt box of 4 mooncakes and Japanese tea at VND808,000
Individual mooncakes flavours are also available for sale.
Flavours:
• Takesumi black charcoal gold leaf lotus paste single yolk (150g) - VND171,000
• Cheese coffee (150g) - VND142,500
• Mixed nuts and fruits (150g) - VND142,500
• Coconut durian (150g) - VND142,500
• Avocado chia seed single yolk (150g) - VND152,000
• Sakura berry and cheese (150g) - VND 142,500
• Green tea crust with green tea and almond single yolk (150g) - VND161,500
• Wasabi green bean and white chocolate (150g) - VND152,000
Phương Diêm Thuận
108 Phạm Phú Thứ, Ward 3, District 6
+84 28 3967 0388
Image source: Phương Diêm Thuận
A reputable mooncake maker in Saigon’s Chinese enclave, Phương Diêm Thuận prides itself as one of the largest independent mooncake makers in Ho Chi Minh City that sells freshly baked mooncakes directly to customers and their multi-generational families without the help of third-party distributors.
If you don’t speak Vietnamese, ordering using the code numbers may be helpful.
Codes, flavours and prices:
• 32 - Red bean paste with almonds and double salted egg yolk (210g) VND92,000
• 30 - Green tea almond lotus seed paste with double salted egg yolk (210g) VND95,000
• 28 - Pineapple with double salted egg yolk (210g) VND100,000
• 26 - Taro with double salted egg yolk (210g) VND91,000
• 24 - Pandan lotus seed paste with double salted egg yolk (210g) VND93,000
• 22 - Pumpkin seed paste with roasted watermelon seeds and double salted egg yolk (210g) VND91,000
• 20 - Coconut with double salted egg yolk (210g) VND86,000
• 17 - Green bean paste with double salted egg yolk (210g) VND86,000
• 14 - Lotus seed paste with double salted egg yolk (210g) VND91,000
• 11 - Mixed nuts and ham with double salted egg yolk (210g) VND110,000
• 9 - Pandan taro paste with double salted egg yolk (210g) VND95,000
• 7 - Mixed nuts with eight treasures cured pork leg and ham and double salted egg yolk (210g) VND113,000
• 6 - Mixed nuts and dried shrimp with double salted egg yolk (210g) VND135,000
• 5 - Mixed nuts with double salted egg yolk (210g) VND111,000
• 3 - Mixed nuts with roasted chicken and double salted egg yolk (210g) VND124,000
• 2 - Mixed nuts with roasted chicken, sharksfin and double salted egg yolk (210g) VND140,000
• 02 - Mixed nuts with roasted chicken, abalone and double salted egg yolk (210g) VND145,000
• 1 - Special mixed nuts with sharksfin, roasted chicken and quadruple salted egg yolk (800g) VND490,000
• 00 - Special ‘Three Deities’ mixed nuts with sharksfin, roasted chicken and sextuple salted egg yolk (1kg) VND590,000
• D8 - Vegetarian mochi-skinned lotus seed paste (210g) VND55,000
• D9 - Vegetarian mochi-skinned mixed nuts (210g) VND57,000
Other single salted egg yolk and eggless flavours are available.
Hỷ Lâm Môn
548-550 Nguyễn Trãi, Ward 8, District 5
+84 28 54104072
Image source: Hỷ Lâm Môn
Another renowned ethnic-Chinese bakery with humble beginnings at the heart of Saigon’s Chinatown in District 5, Hỷ Lâm Môn has been selling pastries since 1984 and has since expanded to 9 branches around Ho Chi Minh City while producing more than 130 types of cakes and baked snacks on a daily basis. Their list of seasonal mooncake offerings are a true reflection of the preferences and traditions of the Saigonese palate.
Codes, Flavours and Prices:
• AA - Special roasted chicken with Shark Fin (250g) VND205,000
• 9A - Special lotus seed paste with double salted egg yolk (250g) VND160,000
• 2A - Special green bean paste with double salted egg yolk (250g) VND147,000
• A - Special roasted chicken with ham (250g) VND177,000
• 66 - Roasted chicken with double salted egg yolk (220g) VND164,000
• 11 - Mixed nuts with double salted egg yolk (220g) VND149,000
• 99 - Lotus seed paste with double salted egg yolk (220g) VND139,000
• 22 - Green bean paste with double salted egg yolk (220g) VND126,000
• 88 - Coconut with double salted egg yolk (220g) VND126,000
• 33 - Black bean paste with double salted egg yolk (220g) VND126,000
• 55 - Taro with double salted egg yolk (220g) VND139,000
• X2 - Green tea lotus seed paste with double salted egg yolk (220g) VND152,000
• D2 - Pandan lotus seed paste with double salted egg yolk (220g) VND152,000
• M2 - Black sesame paste with double salted egg yolk (220g) VND128,000
Other single salted egg yolk and eggless flavours are available.
Banner Image source: Hôtel Des Arts Saigon
