The Mid-Autumn Festival is here — a major harvest celebration in Chinese and Asian culture — when families gather in gratitude to feast, gaze at the moon, and light lanterns in hopes of a bright future. But no matter how you celebrate, all the festivities tend to orbit around one essential treat: mooncakes.
With so many types to choose from, it’s not uncommon for people to develop their own specific mooncake preferences — from no-bake, Durian-flavored snow skin mooncakes, to golden brown ones chock full of white lotus seed paste (two egg yolks, please!), there is something for everyone.
This year, Documented asked our audiences and some community leaders for recommendations on where to find the best mooncakes in the city — and you really delivered. Here is the ultimate people’s guide to New York’s best, and New Yorkers’ favorite, mooncakes.
Supermarkets and online stores
Many Chinese readers told Documented about their favorite mooncake brands, rather than their go-to store in the city.
One WeChat community member, Phoenix, said that Meixin Lava Mooncakes from Hong Kong were “highly, highly regarded within the community,” a common gift set for senior family members. An He also praised Meixin on WeChat, adding that Wing Wah, another Hong Kong brand of mooncake, was also a solid choice.
Our readers recommended purchasing these kinds of mooncakes from Asian supermarkets or online stores including:
- Po Wing Hong Food Market (49 Elizabeth St., New York, NY 10013)
- SeasonFresh Supermarket (45-10 83rd St., Elmhurst, NY 11373 and 31-25 Downing St., Flushing, NY 11354）
- Yami (online store)
Bakeries, restaurants and other local shops
If you want to support local businesses, New York City is speckled with bakeries and restaurants that sell their own hand-made mooncakes for the Mid-Autumn festival.
Alice Yang, hub coordinator at Welcome To Chinatown, recommended Double Crispy Bakery and Tai Pan Bakery (they also have a Flushing location) as her go-to bakeries for mooncakes, while a particularly energetic WeChat reader said that their favorite was Chiu Hong Bakery. All three are located in Manhattan’s Chinatown.
“I grew up eating that one,” said Lin W., pointing to the white lotus mooncakes on display at Double Crispy Bakery. They often have an egg yolk inside each one, which Lin says symbolizes the moon.
If you’d like to shop for some mooncakes and grab a meal while you’re at it, Congee Village and Kitchen Cô Út are restaurants that will be selling handmade mooncakes this season, too.
Té Company, in the West Village, sells a variety of mooncakes, including a coveted scallion-flavored option and Taiwanese-style ones, which are known for their trademark spherical shape and flaky crust.
“We’ve ordered from them over the past few years, and they don’t feel as oily as traditional mooncakes,” one WeChat user said about Té Company. Meanwhile, Té Company employees Sammy and Natalie P. say their staff has made about 10,000 mooncakes in preparation for the holiday.
“We probably started three weeks ago,” Natalie said with pride.
Lady M’s, a boutique bakery, was another Documented reader favorite, which sells highly elevated versions of the autumnal treat.
For those who have less of a sweet tooth, there are delicious savory options as well. One WeChat reader told Documented, “I have diabetes, so I’m really sorry to make a recommendation. As someone purely from the Northern part of China, I wholeheartedly endorse the fresh meat mooncakes from Yeah Shanghai Deluxe.”
Here are our top reader-rated bakeries, restaurants and shops:
- Chiu Hong Bakery (161 Mott St., New York, NY 10013)
- Congee Village (100 Allen St. New York, NY 10002 or 36-36 Prince Street Flushing, NY 11354)
- Kitchen Cô Út (85 Chrystie St., New York, NY 10002, United States)
- Té Company (163 W 10th St. New York, NY 10014 or 314 E 9th St. New York, NY 10003)
- Double Crispy Bakery (230 Grand St., New York, NY 10013)
- Tai Pan Bakery (194 Canal St., New York, NY 10013 or 37-25 Main Street, Flushing, NY 11354)
- Lady M (Multiple locations around Manhattan)
- Sweet Cake (137-06 Northern Blvd., Flushing, NY 11354)
- Yeah Shanghai Deluxe (50 Mott St., New York, NY 10013)
Mooncake Pop-ups
Just as the fall season can be fleeting, so too are mooncake pop-ups. In recent years, more and more chefs have tried their hand at mooncakes, bringing fresh perspectives to this traditional pastry — for a limited time only.
For one delicious day — September 26 — Ăn Xôi, a Vietnamese pop-up, is serving up mooncakes with young sticky rice, pandan and coconut, raspberry pistachio and red beans and jujube mooncakes on Forsyth street in Manhattan’s Chinatown.
Similarly, Rose’s Pineapple Shorts, a Taiwanese American baker, will be making a limited edition, three-day run of mooncakes for Welcome to Chinatown’s Mid-Autumn Festival, which goes from Oct. 2-4.
Pro tip: If you’d like to try one of the 10 flavors that the bakers at Taiwan Uncle Bakery are offering this year, DM them before they sell out!
The complete list, mapped
Supermarkets and online shops:
- Po Wing Hong Food Market (49 Elizabeth St., New York, NY 10013)
- SeasonFresh Supermarket (45-10 83rd St., Elmhurst, NY 11373 and 31-25 Downing St., Flushing, NY 11354）
- Yami (online store)
Bakeries, restaurants and other stores:
- Chiu Hong Bakery (161 Mott St., New York, NY 10013)
- Congee Village (100 Allen St. New York, NY 10002 or 36-36 Prince Street Flushing, NY 11354)
- Double Crispy Bakery (230 Grand St., New York, NY 10013)
- Lady M (Multiple locations around Manhattan)
- Kitchen Cô Út (85 Chrystie S.t, New York, NY 10002, United States)
- Té Company (163 W 10th St. New York, NY 10014 or 314 E 9th St New York, NY 10003)
- Tai Pan Bakery (194 Canal St., New York, NY 10013, United States)
- Sweet Cake (137-06 Northern Blvd., Flushing, NY 11354)
- Yeah Shanghai Deluxe (50 Mott St., New York, NY 10013)
Pop-ups:
Sam Hsiaomei Lee contributed reporting to this story.
