Mid-Autumn Gift Guide | Rising Star Mooncakes May Become Your Premium & Classy Choice!

The Mid-Autumn Festival evokes different emotional connections for different people. Watching dragon dances, strolling under lanterns, worshipping the moon goddess… Celebrations may vary, but eating mooncakes has long been a tradition in every household.

Nowadays, the variety of mooncakes on the market is overwhelming, so you really need to be picky when choosing, or you might end up with a disappointing one. Among all the mooncakes I’ve tried, there’s only one that truly won me over — an exquisitely crafted local Hong Kong brand: Royal?

The mooncake gift box is elegant and luxurious, featuring gold-trimmed edges, hollow-cut patterns, and intricate paper artistry that preserves the texture of leather. The edges are reinforced with neat stitching, adding a retro yet refined touch. It has a double-layer design: the upper layer is a lift-off lid, while the lower layer is a drawer-style compartment — perfect for storing necklaces, earrings, and more, so you’ll never lose them.

The Royal? Group operates a large factory of nearly 7,000 square meters in Hong Kong, certified under the latest international food safety standards ISO22000:2018 and the HACCP management system. Recently, their mooncakes have frequently appeared on social media platforms and in newspapers and magazines, earning high praise and quickly becoming a popular internet-famous mooncake.

It’s reported that Royal?’s products were co-developed by two heavyweight master pastry chefs. One is Master Ye Wing Wah, the creator of the egg custard mooncake, who served as the head of the dim sum department at Hong Kong’s Peninsula Hotel’s Gaddi’s for over 30 years. In 1986, inspired by egg custard buns, he invented the egg custard mooncake, creating the legendary success of the Peninsula’s egg custard mooncake, which has remained a bestseller for over 30 years. The other is his only official apprentice, Master Lai Wing Kwun, a Michelin two-star chef who has worked as head chef in five-star hotels around the world and founded the dim sum department at the Shanghai Peninsula Hotel.

Both masters are dedicated to preserving authentic Chinese pastry culture with their exceptional craftsmanship. This year, the master and apprentice duo jointly created several series of flowing-center mooncakes. Not long ago, Royal?’s flowing-center mooncakes even won the Monde Selection World Quality Selections’ top Gold Award — the only flowing-center mooncake to receive this honor — a clear testament to the brand’s impressive strength.

My top recommendation is the Classic Flowing Center Duo Gift Box, which includes two flagship products: the flowing-center egg custard mooncake and the flowing-center sesame mooncake. The “star of the show,” the flowing-center egg custard mooncake, comes in a mini size. When you cut into it, the golden, smooth flowing filling slowly oozes out, releasing a rich aroma of creamy custard and salted egg yolk. The sweet-and-salty flavor is perfectly balanced. The flowing-center sesame mooncake is a Royal? original — it was my first time trying a black sesame-flavored mooncake, and it felt quite unique. The sesame flavor is rich, smooth, and velvety, with absolutely no graininess. Black sesame lovers will be very satisfied.

Reunion is the hope of the festival, and longing is the flavor of Mid-Autumn. On this holiday filled with deep festive spirit, picking out exquisitely delicious mooncakes to share with family and friends also adds a touch of elegance and fun to the celebration.