Full moon rising: what your favourite Mid-Autumn dish says about you
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a season of big round tables and family gatherings, of glowing lanterns strung across the streets, of dishes that arrive steeped in history and meaning. It is a festival that speaks in symbols: circles of reunion, fruits of the harvest, flavours chosen not just for taste but for what they represent.
Mooncakes may draw the spotlight with their rich fillings and gilded crusts, but the true measure of the celebration is found in the savoury and the fragrant, the lavish and the delicate. Each carries a story that has travelled through generations, each a reminder that dining at this time of year is as much about memory as it is about appetite.
And so, the dish you reach for first is more than a matter of hunger; it’s a quiet reflection of self, a gesture that hints at the traditions you honour, the flavours you seek, and the way you choose to celebrate.
For those who favour taro and lotus root
At Ming Pavilion, roots run deep. The pan-seared taro dumpling with minced pork and shrimp offers crisp edges and a yielding, earthy heart. Alongside sits a colourful stir-fry of baby lotus root, French bean, eggplant and okra. In Mid-Autumn lore, taro is a charm for good fortune, while the lotus root’s interlinked chambers speak of unity across generations. Choosing them together suggests a nature grounded yet forward-looking—someone who values connection and heritage, but delights in seeing tradition dressed with a little artistry.
Ming Pavilion’s pan-fried taro dumpling with shrimp and minced pork
Crispy lotus root with crunchy green beans at Ming Pavilion
For those who prize tangerine peel
The Chinese Restaurant at Hyatt Regency treats aged tangerine peel as treasure: over a decade in the making, its aroma deepens into a mellow, honeyed citrus. In smoked and deep-fried sea bass, the peel infuses both marinade and glaze, lending a lingering brightness to the fish’s sweetness. Symbolising prosperity and the rewards of patience, it speaks to those who value flavour–and a life–that unfolds slowly, revealing its depths over time.
Smoked and deep-fried sea bass with tangerine peel, The Chinese Restaurant at Hyatt Regency
For those captivated by osmanthus
Royal Garden Chinese Restaurant’s stir-fried lobster with conpoy and osmanthus is as much a Mid-Autumn feast for the eye as the palate, golden flecks of egg resembling tiny blossoms scattered across sweet lobster and the savoury richness of dried scallop. Osmanthus blooms in autumn, its fragrance tied to romance and harmony; choosing it marks you as someone who seeks not just flavour, but moments that linger. Fragrant, golden and impossible to forget.
Royal Garden Chinese Restaurant’s stir-fried lobster with conpoy and osmanthus
For those devoted to pomelo and hairy crab
At The Legacy House, the pomelo pith, marinated until translucent and delicately citrus, is a year-round tradition, its name a blessing for protection and good fortune. Hairy crab, by contrast, is the season’s fleeting jewel, its golden roe a celebration of autumn’s abundance. Choosing them both during Mid-Autumn Festival suggests a nature that honours ritual yet seizes the moment, knowing that the best tables balance constancy with the thrill of the ephemeral.
The Legacy House’s pomelo pith is available all year round
Hairy crab, by contrast, is the season’s fleeting jewel
NOW READ
Hong Kong’s best Cantonese restaurants for dim sum and more
Breath of fire: How Hong Kong chefs are defining the future of ‘wok hei’