Uncle Tetsu’s Japanese cheesecakes landed in Melbourne in a tiny Swanston Street shop in 2017, and the cake-loving masses are queueing up for a taste of this dessert with a cult status. The first Melbourne shop originally only offered Uncle Tetsu’s original cheesecake and muffin-sized honey madeleines, but since opening has added matcha and chocolate varieties to the menu.
Unlike American-style cheesecakes with a crushed biscuit base and dense, creamy filling, the Japanese version served at Uncle Tetsu’s is more spongy and light. The team at Uncle Tetsu’s, who let us have a peek inside their kitchen, have to make sure that the fluffy meringue base is peaked just so, before stirring together the meringue and eggy cream cheese batter by hand, to ensure the end product stays airy. The goal, one of the kitchen staff says, is for the cake to be soft and jiggly when it comes out.
Those used to traditional cheesecakes might be slightly baffled by the taste. When it’s still warm, the cake tastes and smells like french toast – it’s eggy, sweet and melt-in-your-mouth spongy. After it’s been in the fridge (Uncle Tetsu’s says the cake is good for up to 3 days), the cake gets more dense and cream-cheesy.
The cakes (a bargain at $18) sometimes fly out of the store so fast that often customers will get one that has been out of the oven in mere minutes. On our visit (just after the Swanston Store opening), we overheard someone at the till assuring a customer that their cake would be coming out fresh in 3 minutes and 20 seconds.
Not into the eggy dessert? The Uncle Tetsu’s honey madeleines might be twice the size as the traditional teacakes, but they’re great piping hot out of the oven. They’ve got a distinct honey flavour with a touch of vanilla, and is closer to a muffin in density with a nice crusty top.
You can also try the wibbly wobbly cheesecake at Uncle Tetsu's second store in Melbourne Central.