Shannon T.
Yelp
After drooling over their Instagram, I knew I had to go. To my dismay I arrived at something that didn't look like it was a cafe or even opened. I wasn't even sure I was at the right place, thought they were still transitioning from one location to another. Until someone who shared the kitchen popped out. I was told that I should order online and come by for pick up, and was strongly urged to do so because these cheesecakes were really good.
When I saw that they were doing a contactless store front, I knew I had to go. This was my opportunity to try it. I texted the owner to ask if the flavor I had my eye on was available. I was halfway there before the owner responded that they had one slice of pandan cheesecake left. There are multiple forms of payment with a card reader, and various apps to pay with online which made this a breeze. The owner Kiana, even popped to introduce herself which I thought was so nice!
The flavors here aren't your typical strawberry, chocolate, peanut butter cheesecakes, even though she does offer some variation of them. There's pandan, ube, lemongrass, ginger mango, passionfruit, matcha, guava, pineapple raspberry, and I heard she even cooks up something with the pickle brine from the other business that operates in that kitchen.
I thought this would be one of those situations where the food won't look like the picture. The pictures are obviously styled, they look stunning. Nope! The food looked just like what was on Instagram. I am a long time lover of cheesecake, dare I say it's my favorite of the cakes.
The condensed milk ube mirror glaze was a lot thicker than I thought it would be and held its form. It wasn't runny and goopy. Loved that it wasn't a sticky mess. The crust was very very thick, I've always wanted more crust on other cheesecakes. On the description, it says it's "jasmine scented almond shortbread cookie crust" slightly saltier than most crusts I've had, but still very enjoyable. I've only had the traditional graham cracker crust and I'm afraid this almond shortbread crust has ruined all other cheesecake crusts for me. I have been disappointed at a lot of places using pandan, because the flavor just wasn't there, not Muse cheesecakes though. Pandan was present indeed. I would have loved if it was a little stronger, but I think that would have overpowered the cheesecake. Each component of the cheesecake are so different and complex on its own. They come together in delicious harmony to make this beautiful slice.
I grew up with a lot of Vietnamese food and pandan has a very special place in my stomach.. heart! I've never seen jasmine used outside of tea and condensed milk outside of Vietnamese iced coffee. Kiana definitely has a way with these ingredients and she's a cheesecake goddess!
I really can't wait to try the calamansi, Ube, and whatever else is getting cooked up in this delicious kitchen.
