I am not posting about my Tokyo trip today, but instead I'm doing a review on a new Japanese bakery that just opened in Toronto called Uncle Tetsu's Japanese Cheesecake. It is still Japanese/Japan related though, lol. Soooooo what is the hyper about this Japanese Cheesecake that every person in Toronto is crazy about?! I only found out in like April (a month after the shop opened) that it exist and I saw a massive long line up in front of the shop that got me curious. I'm going to be very honest in this review here. Before going to the shop and buying the cheesecake, I actually never heard of the shop before or tasted the cheesecake from anywhere else. But I have heard that people would wait in line for as long as 3 HOURS to get the cheesecake. WHATTT?!?!?! I did not wait 3 hours to get mine for the first time. I waited for about like 1 hour and 20 minutes which is still long if you ask me. I don't even know why people would wait 3 hours in line for this, I wouldn't! lol.
So because of the crazy long line up in front of the shop everyday, they have decided to open 4 hours early now from their original opening hours from 11am-11pm to now from 7am-11pm to help minimize the wait time in line. Umm....it still not helping in any way (as of now) because I pass by the shop almost everyday when I go to work and I still see people lining up even at 7:30am in the morning! The line up is especially long after 4pm everyday so I highly recommend you to line up early like between 1-3pm where the line up is more bearable and shorter. Also, each person is only allowed to purchase 1 cheesecake and they only take cash! So better have cash with you before you even get in line to wait because they are not accepting debit or visa. =P
What I do like about the shop is the cute drawing and writing on the black chalk boards. It's just soooooo Japanese style and cute and I like that you can wipe off the board and always add/change new things to it. It saves money too cuz you don't need to print digital images or have a LCD display screen and whatnot, you can conveniently change what is on the menu board easily. Very smart and unique idea in my opinion.
And then on the wall on the right side of the shop, there is a bunch of picture frames with pictures and articles about the shop and its history for customers to read while they wait in line. I found this pretty interesting too and I have learned from reading the articles that the shop is originated from Hakata, Fukuoka and it has been opened since 1990 and there are shops opened in many countries all over the world including China, Taiwan, Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and Toronto is actually its FIRST North America shop outside of Asia. I guess that makes us Canadians very lucky, especially Torontonians. XD
I guess the BIG question is, is it worth the wait? What does it taste it? Is it really that awesome as people say? To be truthfully honest, I don't see why the cheesecake is so popular. I did not find the cheesecake to taste "amazing" but just alright! Yes, it is very soft and the soft texture does make it very unique and special but however, I find the "cheese" taste to be too light for my liking. Perhaps I'm a person who prefers to eat things that have a much stronger taste to it. I really find the cheesecake rather plain and nothing special. Though I must say the cheesecake does taste slightly better cold after you put it in the fridge but I still don't see what is so good about it.
So will I line up again to buy it? The answer is no. I actually had 3 of the cheesecake already in 2 months of time. The first time I bought one myself to try and the second time my brother bought one. And then the 3rd time, I accompanied a friend to line up to buy one and decided to buy one again (since I am already in line, might as well) But it is not a cake that I see myself to buy repeatedly again and again. I would probably buy it maybe once in a blue moon when the line up is not long. Which by the way, since I pass by it every morning before going to work, I can easily just walk in the shop early in the morning at 7am to get one without lining up at all but I don't do that because I honestly don't see a point in doing so, lol. I don't like/love it enough for me to keep buying one after another. But maybe that's just me. I'd say it is worth a try yourself so you can use your own judgement to say whether it is worth the wait time or not or if it is really that good. I cannot speak for everyone but I wouldn't say or recommend to someone that they must try this! I would just say you wouldn't miss out on much even if you didn't try this, that's all. I know some people are a great fan of the cheesecake and would even buy one everyday but I am just not that big of a fan.
However, there is a new matcha cafe opened right next to the shop that I tend to like better because I LOVE everything matcha/green tea! I'll write a review of that in my next post to explain why. =P
If you would like to know more about Uncle Tetsu and its cheesecake history, you can visit their official website: http://uncle-tetsu.com/system/english/?lang=en
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