Unconventional mooncake flavours: yum or gross?
Mid-Autumn Festival is just one week away, and that can only mean one thing: mooncakes! Forget greasy pastries; Young Post's junior reporters tried some unusual types, including custard, chocolate and ice cream
Haagen-Dazs' Ice Cream Mooncake Delight Collection (5pcs) - HK$326
Although the "mooncakes" looked nice - smooth chocolate with a pretty design on top - they are not worth the price. Each one is just a scoop of ice cream covered in plain chocolate. We know Haagen-Dazs is an ice cream brand, but don't call these mooncakes: there is absolutely nothing "mooncakey" about them. They're not even the right shape! 1/5
Leanne Cheng and Alicia Geng, Sha Tin College
HeyYo!! Ice-Cream Mooncake (4pcs) - HK$398
HeyYo!! stayed loyal to the traditional mooncake shape, and added a piece of chocolate decorated with an elegant gold version of their logo.
The box offers four flavours: crispy chocolate, pink lady yogurt, cookies and cream, and pistachio. The thick ice cream was protected by a classy-looking chocolate casing, and instead of the egg yolk, there's a sweet Ferrero Rocher chocolate.
The pistachio flavour was the best, as it was a nice change from the common chocolate-pairing flavours. It was similar to a pistachio gelato - very flavourful, and able to satisfy those sugar cravings. Although it does not contain actual chunks of pistachio, you can really sense its fragrant, nutty presence.
Chocoholics will love this modern twist. 5/5
Joy Pamnani, PLK Ngan Po Ling College
Da Dolce's Gelato Moon Cake 'Venice' (4pcs) - HK$298
These trendy stamp-shaped mooncakes are wrapped in a crispy shell of chocolate. The ice cream filling comes in mango or hazelnut chocolate, and both were delicious. They were rich and creamy, although perhaps a bit too sweet. I would recommend them to anyone who doesn't like traditional mooncakes, though! 4/5
Charlotte Chan, Carmel Secondary School
Italian Tomato's Deluxe Assorted Chocolate Moon Cake Gift Box (8pcs) - HK$178
The set comes with four flavours: Earl Grey, French banana, honey lemon and strawberry cheesecake. The strawberry cheesecake was the best one, and even had bits of real strawberry in it. The honey lemon had a strange herbal taste. The French banana was also quite artificial, and the Earl Grey tasted like pistachio. This would make a good gift for adventurous foodies, though. 3/5
Charlotte Chan, German Swiss International School
Godiva's Mid-Autumn Festival Milk Chocolate Gift Box (1pc) - HK$150
The modern design and rich chocolate did a good job of hiding the multicoloured mix of green tea and lotus pastes. However, biting into the cake, my mouth was attacked by a dry, bittersweet mix of pastes that was quite disappointing. Not worth more than HK$100. 3/5
Anirudh Kannan, South Island School
Orchid Padaria's Almond & Earl Grey Tea Momoyama Mini Mooncake (1pc) - HK$17
The Earl Grey mooncake is the perfect choice for those who are above the age of 80. The taste was ... unique. It tastes like waxy brown Play-Doh when you first bite into the outer coating. This brings to mind a lot of thoughts - mainly disgust and disappointment.
I am sure that General Charles Grey would be upset by this horrible use of his Earl Grey. It truly tastes like a HK$17 mooncake, and it's definitely not my cup of tea. 1/5
Henry Lui, Sha Tin College
Kee Wah's Assorted Custard Mooncake (8pcs) - HK$188
This golden mooncake looks as good as it tastes. There are two flavours: custard and chocolate, both of which are delicious. The custard is rich, creamy and eggy, and the chocolate filling tastes like a brownie. The pastry is buttery and not too flaky nor too doughy. These are definitely worth it; you can buy a set of eight for just HK$188, making it HK$23.50 per mooncake. 5/5
Annette Kim, Chinese International School