The Mid-Autumn Festival, also known as Mooncake Festival, is a popular lunar festival celebrated by Chinese. It is held on the 15th day of the eighth month in the Chinese calendar (3rd Oct this year), and people would celebrate by carrying lanterns and eating mooncakes.

Every year, hotels and restaurants put on their thinking caps and come up with the most innovative traditional and snowskin mooncake flavours to entice customers.

By now, I am sure your letter box is flooded with mooncakes promotions from the various credit cards, and you probably already have a list of places that you are considering.

Let me make your life easier by giving you recommendations on some of the mooncakes that you must try for Mid-Autumn Festival 2012.

Which is the best mooncake for 2012? Where to buy mooncakes for gifts? Read on to find out!

Crystal Jade

This Mid-Autumn Festival 2012, Crystal Jade is offering a limited edition Premium Gold Treasure box ($88 for a box of four) which comprises white lotus paste with double yolk, red lotus paste with double yolk, white lotus paste, and mixed nuts and ham.

For something different, you can go for Crystal Jade’s Kindred Bliss ($22 for a box), a selection of four yogurt and pudding mooncakes with mango, mixed berries, apple and original flavours. It’s perfect if you want something that is lighter in taste.

391 Orchard Road
#04-19 Takashimaya SC
Tel: +65 6512 0800
Available: 27 Aug to 30 Sep 2012

Jiang-Nan Chun Four Seasons

Tea lovers would be happy to know that Jiang-Nan Chun at Four Seasons is offering baked mooncake with low sugar Pu’er tea paste and pine nuts (S$57 for a box of 4). Their baked mooncake with silver lotus paste and double yolks (S$59 for a box of 4) is also one of my favourites in town.

190 Orchard Boulevard
Four Seasons Hotel
Tel: +65 6831 7220
Available: 1 to 30 Sep 2012

Mandarin Court Chinese Restaurant

I also like the baked mooncake with white lotus paste and single yolk ($55 for a box of four) from Mandarin Court Chinese Restaurant. If you are like me, a fan of traditional mooncake, this is another place to consider.

Other options include: baked mooncake with mixed nuts and Jamón Ibérico ($62 for a box of four), and baked mooncake with macadamia nuts and low sugar white lotus paste ($55 for a box of four).

333 Orchard Road
Level 35 Orchard Wing Mandarin Orchard
Tel: +65 6831 6262
Available: 24 Aug to 30 Sep 2012

Man Fu Yuan

For mooncake festival 2012, Man Fu Yuan’s mooncakes (first photo of this post) come in a classy packaging of gold and purple. Durian fans must not miss the snowskin ‘Mao shan wang’ durian mooncake with coconut.

You can get it in a box of four pieces, or as part of Man Fu Yuan’s sensational collection of snowskin mooncake combination ($54.80 for box of four), which includes three other flavours: green tea paste mooncake combined with fragrant dragonball Jasmine tea infused skin, lotus with macadamia nuts and sesame paste with white sesame seeds. The mooncakes not only look good, but they taste even better.

80 Middle Road
2F Intercontinental Hotel
Tel: +65 6825 1062
Available: 1 to 30 Sep 2012

Paradise Group

For those who are getting the mooncakes as a gift, go for Paradise Group. Their mooncakes come in an elegant Chinese Imperial box with striking blue and white porcelain design.

Paradise’s snowskin mooncakes ($48 for a box of eight) are infused with delicate Oriental flavours like Hakka lei cha in pandan snowskin; rose with purple glutinous rice in yam snowskin; sweet osmanthus in osmanthus snowskin; and imperial ‘Mao shan wang’ durian in mango snowskin. The flavours are definitely not for everyone, but those that love it, love it!

2 Orchard Turn
#04-07 ION Orchard
Tel: +65 6509 9660
Available: 19 Aug to 30 Sep 2012

Peony Jade Restaurant

If you are a fan of the flaky Teochew ‘orh ni’ mooncakes, then you have to get the ones from Peony Jade Restaurant: Teochew ‘orh ni’ mooncake with single egg yolk ($56 for a box of four) or the ‘orh ni’ mooncake with fragrant golden pumpkin ($54 for a box of four).

The traditional mooncakes from Peony Jade are also worth a mention. The chefs have created a low sugar white lotus paste with macadamia nuts & two yolk mooncake ($56 for a box of four).

3A River Valley Road
#02-02 Clarke Quay
Tel: +65 6338 0305
Available 3 to 30 Sep 2012

Raffles Hotel

Like many others, I had my first taste of the legendary champagne truffle mooncakes ($64 for a box of eight) a few years ago, and since then, they have become my all time favourite mooncakes. Yes, hall of fame standards – it is that good.

1 Beach Road
Raffles Hotel Singapore
Tel: +65 6577 8888
Available: 10 Aug to 30 Sep 2012

Swensen’s

Over at Swensen’s, you can get the popular ice cream mooncakes – available in six delicious flavours: strawberry fields forever, durian royale, Yummy Yam, Sticky Chewy Chocolate, Cookies ‘N’ Cream Dreams, and Mocha Almond Delight.

Ice cream mooncakes, what’s there not to like?

2 Orchard Turn
#B1-31 ION Orchard
Tel: +65 6884 5967
Available: 11 Aug to 30 Sep 2012

TWG Tea Salon

The mooncakes from TWG Tea Salon would win a prize if there was a competition for the prettiest mooncakes. For Mid-Autumn Festival 2012, TWG has unveiled a collection of eight mooncakes – four traditional and four snow skin mooncakes – infused with the most popular TWG Tea’s blends.

For the traditional mooncakes ($48 for a box of four), you have Constellation (gold) – brown lotus infused with Singapore breakfast tea, roasted melon seeds and a salted egg yolk; Moonlight (red) – white lotus paste infused with silver moon tea, filled with wild berries and red fruit marmalade heart; Dragon (chocolate brown) – lotus paste infused with 1837 black tea, sprinkled with chocolate chips and orange marmalade; and Pagoda (yellow) – moonlit night tea infused lotus paste with dried mango and chestnut heart.

2 Orchard Turn
#02-21 ION Orchard
Tel: +65 6735 1837
Available: 30 Aug to 30 Sep 2012

Xin Cuisine

Another place that you should check out for snowskin mooncakes ($48 for a box of six) is Xin Cuisine Chinese Restaurant at Holiday Inn Singapore Atrium.

With intriguing flavours like soursop and chocolate crunch; lavender chocolate and chempedak lotus paste; champagne chocolate and pandan lotus paste; peranakan mooncake with durian paste; rum and raisin chocolate and Chinese dates paste; and black truffle walnut and white lotus seed paste – there’s something for everyone.

317 Outram Road
4F Holiday Inn Atrium
Tel: +65 6732 3337
Available: 1 to 30 Sep 2012