Residents of Austin, Texas love their sweets and desserts yet most new bakeries still can’t satisfy that craving for sweets like the new bakery Uncle Tetsu Japanese Cheesecake can. This bakery opened up on July 22, 2023, this past summer. Uncle Tetsu was originally opened by Tetsushi Mezokami in Hakata, Japan. Their niche dessert is their classic original cheesecake, which is a combination of the richness of an American cheesecake, and the fluffiness of a French Souffle. They also offer various other cheesecake flavors and a Basque Cheesecake, as well as other desserts noted on their website, uncletetsu-us.com. 

Now, in my opinion, the taste of the cheesecakes didn’t impress me at all. Before heading to the bakery, I did a little research on Yelp about their best-tasting cheesecakes. The reviews’ main consensus was that their Original Cheesecake and the Ube Basque Cheesecake were their best cheesecakes. So, I arrived with high expectations that their cheesecakes were going to blow me away, as this bakery has 4.4 stars on Yelp. The first bite I took into the cheesecake was a surprise, as the reviews were accurate that this cheesecake was definitely fluffy and airy, but the flavor was more lackluster than anything. So my initial claim is that Uncle Tetsu Japanese Cheesecake is not worth it. 

First off, the flavors of the cakes were not accurate, and they didn’t combine well with my tastebuds. The flavors that I tried were the Original Cheesecake and the Coffee Cheesecake. I also wanted to try the Ube Basque Cheesecake, but they were unfortunately sold out. Both of the cheesecakes had an interesting consistency that was really the only thing that incentivized me to keep taking bites. It was an airy yet moist cake, however, there wasn’t much cheese incorporated in the cheesecake. Apart from the texture, the flavor alone wasn’t anything to write home about. The Original Cheesecake flavor was just sweet and seemed like it needed more vanilla to diversify it, as well as more salt. The Coffee Cheesecake on the other hand, definitely had flavor, but it wasn’t what I expected. The flavor was parallel to a burnt pancake, and as for the texture, it felt like I was eating a huge wet pancake. I would prefer the Original Cheesecake’s flavor over the Coffee Cheesecake as it isn’t bad, it just feels like both are missing some ingredients. Although the flavor didn’t impress me, the cakes themselves were really cute because they had little Uncle Tetsu logos burned on the top. So if you go, definitely go for the photogenic abilities of the cakes. 

Another reason that I wouldn’t necessarily go to this bakery for all my dessert needs is because it was a long trek out there. Now this doesn’t really apply to everyone in Austin, but within our Bowie community, most students live in Shady Hollow or Circle C. The drive over there was 35 minutes, with some traffic. This isn’t a terribly long drive, but if you’re in a time crunch, a better bet for desserts is TCBY, Tiff’s Treats, or HEB. The average student most likely won’t make the drive to Airport Boulevard for mediocre-tasting desserts. 

Granted, I didn’t try that many flavors all at once, so I am not all-knowing about each and every flavor, so for all I know the Chocolate Cheesecake is the best ever. However, I didn’t get a lot of different flavors due to the fact that each cake is $13 and each Basque Cheesecake is $23. This might be chump change for some people but for the teenage demographic, no student wants to spend $13 on an outing to a bakery. Personally, when I’m out with friends, the most I’ll spend in a day is $20, which includes multiple events. I don’t want to spend most of my money on one trip to a bakery. They also don’t offer the option of getting a smaller size cake, so you are restricted to one size and one price.

As I was getting my cake, I was wondering where I could sit down and eat, but there was no seating in the establishment. There also isn’t a place to sit outside, not even a little bench. My friends and I had to go to a whole other bakery to sit down and eat. They also didn’t offer utensils to eat it, so we snagged some toothpicks from their sample cake at the front. This isn’t a total factor to rule out coming to this place at all, but again if I were to come 35 minutes out to get this dessert, I don’t want to immediately turn around and go back home. I would want to find a place to eat the cake to enjoy the adventure.

All in all, this bakery isn’t terrible or a bad experience, I just wouldn’t suggest it. I did have fun just because I went with my friends and they make it an enjoyable experience no matter where I am. The area that the bakery is in is really cute and there are a lot of fun little shops and restaurants around it to have fun in. I think one thing that could really make this bakery five-star is to clearly state what their cheesecakes consist of so people aren’t misled. I also think that they should make smaller options or at least give the option to get half of one cake. If they could also make a little sample box where they have a slice of each flavor in one box, that would make coming to the bakery more enjoyable. Lastly, if the bakery wasn’t as minimalist, it would be so much more approachable, if they added more decorations and seating, would make it more inviting. 

My final consensus is that the bakery isn’t worth it. The experience of going to the bakery was only really fun because I went with my friends, and there are plenty of other bakeries around that area that are far better. What you’re getting for the price is not adequate, and there are cheaper and better desserts around the Central Texas Area. If you live close by or have some free time, check it out just for fun if you want, but if you can’t go, don’t worry, you’re not missing out on much.