The Mandarin Cake Shop

The Mandarin Cake Shop on the mezzanine of the Mandarin Oriental Hong Kong is the cake counter that every hotel counter in Asia descends from: rose petal jam, the Mandarin cheesecake, mooncakes and chocolates since the 1960s.

The shop opened with the hotel in 1963 and became the model: a hotel pastry kitchen selling to the city, with a jar of rose petal jam as its emblem. The jam is made to a recipe from the 1960s and sold in small and large jars; beside it sit the Mandarin cheesecake, the seasonal cakes, the mooncakes, the chocolates and the Christmas collections that Hong Kong queues for. The counter looks over the Clipper Lounge, where the same scones are served with the jam.

The Cake Shop is the best gift shop in the city: a jar of jam, a box of chocolates, a cheesecake for the flight.

What to buy

• Rose petal jam
• The Mandarin cheesecake
• The mooncakes in autumn
• The chocolates