If you’ve had the pleasure of visiting Japan, you’ll notice that if there’s one thing that people are willing to line up for, it’s good food. Be it chewy udon noodles, fluffy shokupan, or crispy gyoza, if it’s good there’s going to be a line. We’ve joined many lines in Tokyo and the results were almost always out of this world.

The best Japanese cheesecake

Promised to be one of the greatest cheesecakes in Tokyo is Mr. Cheesecake. Mr. Cheesecake is touted as Tokyo’s most elusive and exclusive cheesecake. Ironically, there are no lines…but only because they don’t have a physical store. The creamy rectangular shaped cheesecakes are sold online for just two days a week and sell out in minutes. Japanese food fanatics have started calling it the phantom cheesecake. Even if you do manage to be one of the lucky ones who get to purchase a cheesecake, you can’t choose the date or time of delivery.

Behind Mr. Cheesecake is chef Koji Tamura. His cheesecakes are made with an indulgent combination of cream cheese, sour cream, heavy cream, yogurt, tonka beans (a super fragrant bean with warming flavors like vanilla, cherry, almond, and cinnamon), white chocolate, vanilla beans, and lemon. The result is an incredibly creamy yet light cheesecake that’s reminiscent of Basque cheesecake, but much more delicate. Tamara recommends having it three ways: frozen, straight from the fridge, and at room temperature. The different temperatures affect the taste and texture.

Unfortunately we never had the chance to order a Mr. Cheesecake while in Tokyo, but luckily chef Tamura released an official recipe online in light of Covid. The recipe, while having several different steps, is really simple to execute. And the result is delicious: super creamy, super luscious, lightly sweetened, tangy cheesecake.

I made the cheesecake twice, once in a regular loaf pan and once in a mini pan. I didn’t quite get the height that I wanted in the regular size loaf pan or in the mini, so I suspect that they must use a Japanese standard size. Nonetheless, I love this cheesecake. I froze some for the sake of doing three side-by-side taste tests.

What makes this cheesecake so delicious?

The frozen cheesecake from the fridge had a firm frozen custardy texture with the lemon really shining through. From the fridge the cheesecake had that classic melt in your mouth texture with a hint of vanilla and balance of sweetness. Room temp was my favorite with a melty almost creamy middle that was velvety and soft, almost reminiscent of a creme brûlée but cheesecake-y and a bit more firm.

How to make Mr. Cheesecake

1. Cream. Stir the cream cheese along with the sugar over a double boiler until smooth.
2. Melt. Heat the cream with the chocolate until the chocolate is melted.
3. Mix. Combine the cream cheese mix and chocolate cream mix.
4. Make the batter. In a seperate bowl, mix together the sour cream, yogurt, egg yolks, and vanilla. Whisk the cornstarch in until smooth.
5. Combine. Stir everything together.
6. Bake. Pour the batter into a lined baking tin and bake in a water bath. Let cool completely and enjoy!

Hope you get a chance to try this cheesecake out! It’s the easiest and simplest way to get a taste of Tokyo right now 🙂

xoxo steph

PS – I excluded the tonka beans because they’re quite difficult to find but if you want to add them in and have them, you need 1/2 a tonka bean, grated. It’s added into the white chocolate mix.

PPS – I thought the lemon was a bit too bright so when I made the second mini cheesecake, I left it out and loved it even more.