Food Trends: Japanese Cheese Tart

Earlier this year, I was doing some shopping at the Westfield Centre, and I noticed a big “Coming Soon” sign advertising for a place called “Bake” featuring Japanese cheese tarts. Japanese cheesecakes and tarts seem to be really in right now, as you can see them all over Instagram and Facebook. I knew it was going to be a place I was going to have to come try to see what all the hype is about. Sadly, after they opened, there was always a massive line of people waiting to get tarts; usually they were backed up around the corner and almost into the BART station entrance. Based on previous experiences with waiting, I was concerned that the tarts were definitely not going to be worth waiting for, so I always turned around and walked away. One day, I ended up here fairly early in the day, and with no queue in sight, I knew it really was now or never to give them a try. So I hurried up to the register, and I decided to try one plain tart and one Matcha tart. It was all they had on the menu; therefore I should just get them both and be done with it if it turned out the tarts weren’t that great.

The tarts themselves have a really crisp pastry shell that holds the soft interior very well. I definitely preferred the plain tart as the cheese flavor is quite subtle and the matcha green tea really overpowered the flavor of the tart. They are also kind of on the sweet side, and I definitely prefer my cheese cakes and tarts more on the creamy side. Overall, the tarts were pretty good, although for $3.50 a piece, I was hoping they were going to be a lot better. I’m not convinced it’s something I’d really seek out again, and it’s definitely not something I would really line up for. For something sweet, I think there are probably far better options available.