Best chinese moon cakes in GTA?

[Royaljelly]

Any suggestions for where to buy the best moon cakes in GTA? Is the local stuff any good, compared to the imported stuff?

My wife and I usually end up getting 3-4 boxes as gifts from work and we usually buy give out a box or two to other friends as well.

So far only tried the ones from Dragon Dynasty restaurant (single yolk - my parents and sister used to fight over the yolk segment!), a little dry and the yolk was bland.

We also have a box from Costco... haven't cracked it open yet.

[Royaljelly]

For anyone who hasn't had mooncakes before but wouldn't mind trying and don't want to spend an arm/leg for a box, I noticed that Costco is now selling theirs for $5.97 per box and it's decent quality as well (I tried one last week). They might go fast at this price. I'm sure lots of other places will start putting them on sale today/tomorrow to clear stock.

[vorpal]

At the risk of sounding hideously uncultured, are there any lotus paste mooncakes available without the yolk? I could have sworn that I was given a complimentary one exactly like this several years ago after spending a large amount of money at an Asian grocer in Mississauga, and I loved it. The yolk really isn't my cup of tea, though.

[sweetie]

There are ones available with out the yolk(just lotus seed paste or just red bean paste), they are just harder to find.

[chocabot]

i don't think they're harder to find. Asian Farm and other grocers in Chinatown will have no yolk lotus paste mooncakes in boxes of 4. The bakeries will also sell them individually. If you like them plain it's cheaper so that's a bonus.
salty and sweet - the yolk is the best part!

[Teep]

They come in 0 to 4 yolk configurations. The more yolks the more expensive, obviously! I like the saltiness of the yolk to offset the sweetness, but a single yolk cake already has enough of that even if you have an eighth of a cake.

[dkua]

You can also find little "mini" mooncakes with no yokes at Kim Moon Bakery(?) in Chinatown I believe. They're not bad.

[skylineR33]

My family gets "Wing Wah" white Lotus seed paste with double yolk every year for the last few decades, it is the oldest (or one of the oldest) mooncake maker in HK. Well, most of the mooncake on the market are Cantonese (HK) style anyway.

I am not into moon cake. But personally, I like the newer style "ice skin" moon cake which can be found in First Markham Place (since I eat/force to eat too much of the traditional one when I was a kid !)

[Royaljelly]

Interesting, I don't think I've tried the ice skin version before... what's it like? Is the skin really thin, or made of a different ingredient completely?

[skylineR33]

It is not as rich, not as sweet and less oil. It is quite different from the traditional one. The one I just ate uses green bean paste. The skin is made with glutinous rice flour I believe. It is served cold.

It comes with different favour and packaging as gift.

[chocabot]

they sell it in freezers. you can get them at T&T or First Markham. I quite like them but i think they work out to be almost $5 a pop too.

TLong - I would buy these moon cakes going forward despite the price. I'm the only one who eats them in my household and it takes me forever to finish one, so the extra moistness keeps them from drying out. Also, mooncakes are incredibly fatty to begin with so if it's extra fat that contributes to the texture it doesn't really bother me. I haven't compared nutritional contents so i'm just assuming they have more oil.

[T Long]

Chocabot: OK, I'm convinced...I'm going to fork out the $ for what I will call the "Splendido" (or "Susur") of mooncakes. I will follow your lead of only having a little piece at a time too. Thanks.

[T Long]

Got my "Splendido" mooncakes today...I understand tomorrow is the big Moon Day. And they were on sale at a 40% discount....just had 1/8 of a cake with my afternoon tea...life is good.

[skylineR33]

Is Wing Wah on sale now ?

I checked yesterday everything which includes Maxim, Ke Wah are on sale, except Wing Wah.

[T Long]

The mfr is Mei-Xin...the variety that Chocabot referenced in the 2nd post to this string....Teep mentioned that they are also known as Maxim, but I cannot find this name referenced on the tin....so its not Wing Wah....but I did not look for anything but Mei-Xin.

[skylineR33]

Thanks. Mei-Xin = Maxim.
I am just wondering if Wing Wah is going on sale that early because it rarely on on sale, just got a box $37.8 white Lotus seed paste with double yolk on Sunday, also get a Ke Wah from HK ...

[EPIcureanTO]

Thanks for the heads up- on "moon Day" I was wondering why I was craving dense eggy pastries this week- I forgot!

Anyone know if there are any left @ T& T? ( This is when I wish I still lived on Dundas..)

[Royaljelly]

I was @ T&T on promenade last night and they still had lots of boxes of various brands left over, all on sale.

[Teep]

The ice skin version is sort of like a mochi, a glutinous rice pastry, and is not baked, so it's much more perishable.

At T & T, you can find a huge selection of mostly imported stuff, that is where we get our Wing Wah cakes. There also mini-sized, low-sugar, and non-Cantonese versions, (Chiu Chow style, Taiwan style...) which includes fruit, tea or even savoury/salty flavours. The best thing is you can buy INDIVIDUAL cakes, so you're not stuck with four of the same and get bored after the first one.

[sweetie]

The ones from Costco are good value for your money. I personally do not eat the moon cakes, but everyone else in my family does. They all report the taste is good, for $11.00 a box how can you go wrong.

[Royaljelly]

I tried the Costco ones last night and agree they're actually pretty decent quality for the price. Made in Macau, I think.

[dkua]

Personally I like the mooncakes they sell at Lai Wah Heen.

[deelicious]

T&T has a great selection from famous to off-brand. They have a frozen version too.

[chocabot]

i always get the lotus paste w/ 1 yolk so that's all i can comment on.
i've bought different varieties from diff chinese supermarkets, chinatown centre in chinatown as well as individualy from kim moon bakery.

the best so far (and the most expensive for me at $36 for 4) is a gold and yellow box relief of a chinese woman floating across the sky... i don't know names. i bought it at ding dong convenience at first markham place after much talk with the owner about popular and expensive brands.

The man at Ding Dong said it's the best in his opinion over the more popular brand in hong kong. i have seen this box sold at other retailers in that mall and i'm sure it's in chinatown too.

the lotus paste is very smooth and the yolk not dry at all. it's not too sweet and the pastry is rather flexible - not crumbly, (more oil?)

The box also says on the sticker in back:
imported by tai foong intl. ltd.

made in hong kong by mei-xin (hong kong) ltd.

[T Long]

I've had these given to me by some Chinese friends and find them very sweet and tasty, but I've hesitated to buy them to eat because of the cost. Even ones that I think were baked in Toronto can be in the $20 for 4 range...and I've never noticed them being much cheaper. If I did, I would wonder whether I would be an idiot to buy. Do they ever go on sale, say after the celebration period? Also what kind of yolk is used...duck??

[chocabot]

it is suppose to be duck.

i haven't seen them "so on sale" but if you do let me know!

individually at kim moon, 1 yolk lotus paste is like $5

[Royaljelly]

The only time I've ever seen them go on sale is the same night or the morning after the actualy mid autumn festival day. I've seen signs say "50%" but when I've actually got there, all the good stuff was gone.

I've tried some of the others like red bean etc, and I still prefer the lotus paste the best.

[chocabot]

mooncake sale!

t&t has boxed lotus seed mooncake w/ 2 yolk on sale for 26.88 reg 32.88 advertised in flyer. no brand mentioned.

[chocabot]

it's expensive so i hesistate to buy every year.
i cave every year.
but it's so rich you can't really eat more than a 1/4 at a time (i portion 1/8s)

that yellow/gold box one i mentioned is significantly better than the other boxes i've tried - probably cos i paid so much more:0(
before this year i felt they were all more or less the same quality.

[T Long]

Your description of the high end moon cake intrigues me. So given what you know today...is this the moon cake you would buy going forward, given that its up to 2X the price of an "adequate" variety??

[Teep]

Mei-xin is Maxim's of Hong Kong, their mooncakes get good reviews

The yellow woman on a red back ground is the regular lotus seed paste. The white background would be for white lotus seed paste