I had a sweet affair with mooncakes over tea with foodies and bloggers as Vikings Luxury Buffet restaurant launches new food offerings this September. We welcomed the Mid-Autumn Festival with enticing variety and colorful moonncakes especially crafted by Vikings’ resident chefs. Such a sweet treat!

The Mid-Autumn Festival is said to be the second most important Chinese celebration (next to Lunar New Year). Chinese celebrates the Mid-Autumn (or Mooncake) Festival to pay homage to the moon (as Lunar New Year pays tribute to the sun). Farmers pray for a bountiful crops and families exchange cakes with moon design on it.

I remember back in History class, I had read a story when mooncakes were used to spread a word for a call to revolt in China. There were special messages hidden in the mooncakes and they were distributed to the people. In the old Chinese tradition, mooncakes were used by elders to share a story starting off with the design of the mooncake. During our sweet tea time at Vikings, we also heard interesting stories from our Chinese food bloggers (surprisingly, most of the invited bloggers have Chinese blood!) 🙂

In the Philippines, Mooncake Festival is usually celebrated through a game where winners get to take home mooncakes. I have not experienced participating in one (yet), but a mooncake buffet was what I had yesterday.

Sharing with you what to expect from Vikings this September..

Click Read More to see more of the Vikings Mooncake Selection..

 

Minced Goat Cheese Mooncake with Mango Coulis (right)

I love the creamy cheese embraced by light, flaky crust. The mango puree added a sweet-sour hint to the creamy flavor. Vikings’ resident chefs do know how to play with flavors.

 

Beef Bourguignon Mooncake with Choron Sauce

This is my favorite from the mooncakes selection. It is a cut between an empanada and fried siopao. I could ask for a serving of rice to enjoy the meaty filling. The Beef Bourguignon is an adaptation of the recipe Beef Burgundy, a stew prepared with beef braised in red wine and beef broth flavored with garlic, onions, and mushrooms.

 

 

Crusty Shrimp Cheese Mooncake

It was like having a delightful tuna sandwich spread in a soft flake. Inside is a more flavorful filling of shrimp and cheese!

 

Asado Mooncake is your traditional mooncake in bite-size serving. It is made with dried lotus seed, red bean and salted egg yolk. It is best eaten with a big bite (ditch the knife and fork!).

When the stars of the tea time were served, everyone was in awe!

Choco Trifle Mooncake and Wild Berry Cheese Mooncake

 

 

 They were so pretty I didn’t want to touch them!

They were more like macaroons pretending to be mooncakes! Haha.

The Wild Berry Cheese Mooncake is really wild with its sweet crust (I could almost taste the confectioners sugar)! But digging deeper the fancy pink coating, was a creamy cheesecake filling!

 

The Choco Trifle Mooncake was eeveryone’s favorite. The yellow sweet crust is an enticing contrast to the dark pure chocolate ganache. 

 

These two colorful, wicked treats were a bit too sweet for me, and I suggest having them with freshly brewed black coffee.

 

Saving the best for last.. the Salted Lotus Mooncake!

Thick, golden mooncakes in various designs.

 Inside: a thicker filling of salted egg and red bean paste. My mom knows I don’t eat much of red beans, but the smooth and cream-like texture of the Salted Lotus Mooncake is a different red bean experience for me. I liked it! I also love the contrast of sweet and salty flavors.

 

For those who fancy traditional mooncakes, you can also find them in the Vikings Luxury Buffet. Enjoy the mooncake selection with premium tea (again, I don’t usually drink teas but I kind of enjoyed it yesterday with the specialty mooncakes served to us!) to wash down the sugar and sweet taste in the palate. Then, go for more servings of mooncakes!

 

 

It is always a great time to eat at Vikings!

 

You can taste and enjoy the Vikings’ mooncake selection every weekends of September (limited time only!). Hurry, hurry! Vikings always has something good and innovative in the table and every month, resident chefs collaborate and add new dishes to give variety to the usual Vikings offerings.

 

Chef Malek visited us and said “hi!”. I love how he proudly said that he is a Filipino by blood (because he met an accident and had blood transfusion donated by a Filipino :)) Too cute! If you have eaten at Vikings, you would know that chefs roam around and interact with guests. 🙂

 

You might want to read: What Makes Vikings a Luxurious Buffet Restaurant?

 

Last June, they offered a truly Pinoy dishes, and July was a celebration of American food. I missed the street-style food trip last August (huhh… huhh..). Anyway, this is a bit early to announce, but I heard that a specialty restaurant by Vikings is opening soon! Nui by Vikings! I heard it would be more luxurious and glamorous! (as if dining at Vikings is nothing like luxurious!)

 

Anyway, keep following me for more updates 😉 Don’t forget to share your pictures on IG with hashtags: #eatlikeaviking and #anontraditionaltradition. 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

Vikings SM Megamall
4th Floor, Mega Fashion Hall, Bldg. D, SM Megamall,
Julio Vargas cor. EDSA, Mandaluyonghttp://www.vikings.ph/
656-3888, 656-4888, 656-5888https://www.facebook.com/vikingssmmegamall/
Instagram: @vikingsluxurybuffet
Twitter: @vikingsbuffet

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