Cheesetella
One of two locally available chain options for Japanese-style cheesecakes and castellas
Cheesetella is one of the most unusually compelling dessert shops we’ve ever come across, but also one that has never rated above “okay” in our book. Competing with the better-known and now far more numerous locations of Uncle Tetsu’s Japanese Cheesecake, Cheesetella offers the nicest-looking Japanese cheesecakes we’ve ever seen, but unfortunately, not the best tasting ones.
The basic concept behind this Korean bakery is to riff on a novel style of cheesecakes and castella cakes (egg/honey cakes) popularized in Japan – impossibly fluffy, sometimes brightly or deeply colored sponge cakes that contain cheese but are not dense or packed with any decidedly cheesy flavor. You can order a cake plain, or filled with a layer of cheese, chocolate, green tea cream, or standard cream. For ages, the Irvine location also advertised a blueberry cream flavor that was never available, and was eventually covered over.
We’ve tried multiple variants, each visually arresting in its own way, and the purple ube cakes are especially memorable. That said, the cakes are mildly flavored and designed for those without a strong sweet tooth; without cream fillings, they’re about as intensely flavored as regular sponge cakes – except for the chocolate version, which tastes more like cocoa powder than milk chocolate.
Ordering at the Irvine location became almost comical to us: On our second visit, we attempted to order anything with their blueberry cream filling (unavailable) or a chocotella (unavailable) or a roll cake (unavailable), so we wound up settling for the purple ube cheesecake. The only other Orange County location, inside The Source in Buena Park, has similarly struggled with product availability, as well as quality and sizing. We strongly prefer Uncle Tetsu’s at this point for Japanese cheesecake, but would consider giving Cheesetella another shot in the future.
Stats
Price: $-$$
Service: Counter
Open Since: 2017 (OC)
Addresses
17655 Harvard Ave.
Irvine, CA 92614
949.998.1188
Instagram: @cheesetellaoc