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Joanne Yau

The name Mr Cheesecake might be familiar among dessert enthusiasts. Founded in 2018 by Koji Tamura, its product has been dubbed the “The Best Cheesecake of Your Life” and has captured the hearts of Japanese people and dessert lovers worldwide.
The buzz surrounding Tamura’s cheesecakes reached Hong Kong earlier this year. When its pop-up store at K11 Musea in Tsim Sha Tsui opened on March 2 – it closes on September 30 – there were long queues of people waiting for a taste, some who remembered enjoying the cheesecake in Japan.
On August 12, Tamura introduced a milk tea cheesecake exclusively for Hong Kong.
Tamura, who grew up in Tokyo, can still recall the cheesecakes his mother gave him on his birthdays as a child, including one with freshly made strawberry sauce.

He spent years honing his skills and techniques in fine-dining restaurants in Japan and France, where he started working on desserts. His cheesecakes were served in those restaurants, but he wanted to expand his customer base.
“I wanted to challenge myself [with] what other people are not trying and I wanted to deliver the deliciousness I made to more people,” he says, which led him to start his own brand.
His classic cheesecake is flavoured with vanilla and tonka beans. Because it was difficult to open a physical store during the coronavirus pandemic, he posted its recipe on the Mr Cheesecake website in 2020, unafraid of sharing his secrets.
People started trying out his recipe at home, and posted the results online, causing it to surge in popularity.

After the pandemic, Tamura started opening more physical pop-up stores, and gained more fans who were excited to sample the real deal.
Now he wants to build on the highly positive reception his Hong Kong pop-up store has been receiving. The inspiration for his new milk tea cheesecake stems from a visit last summer, when a friend took him to try the city’s classic milk tea and pineapple bun.
“I was amused by the pineapple bun’s sweetness paired with the refreshing taste of milk tea, and wanted to recreate the flavour with my cheesecakes,” he says. He was also motivated by the number of requests on social media for him to make a milk tea cheesecake.
Milk-tea-flavoured snacks and desserts have been a part of Hong Kong’s food culture for a long time.
He started experimenting with milk tea cheesecakes earlier this year, which took about three weeks from beginning to end. To create the perfect tea flavour, he combined Sri Lankan Uva tea and aromatic Yunnan black tea.

While he originally wanted to use tea leaves from Japan, he realised he could best achieve the “charm of Hong Kong” with tea leaves sourced from at least one region nearer to the city.
After trying four or five different kinds of Yunnan tea leaves, he decided to follow a recommendation from chef Tomoya Kawada, owner of the three-Michelin-star contemporary Chinese restaurant Sazenka in Tokyo.
Tamura is on his fifth visit to the city, and says he has noticed that Cantonese dishes are milder, and the desserts less sweet, than those of other Chinese regional cuisines, making them similar to Japanese cuisine.

Tamura received feedback from his pop-up that his chocolate cheesecake was too sweet for Hong Kong palates. “I heard that Hong Kong people are very conscious about their health, so I adjusted the milk tea flavour to reduce the sweetness and make it more enjoyable for Hongkongers,” he says.
Mr Cheesecake offers three serving recommendations: frozen, semi-thawed and fully thawed. Tamura notes that the cheesecake’s flavour and texture is affected by how it is served, and suggests eating his milk tea cheesecake fully thawed to get the most intense flavour.
He also suggests pairing the milk tea cheesecake with black tea, or a slightly sour and fruity coffee with a strong aroma. Champagne would also do the trick, as its slightly burnt and tart smell complements and enhances the milk tea’s smoky and spicy scent.
He has no plans to launch another exclusive Hong Kong flavour yet, although he recently enjoyed an osmanthus-flavoured sweet soup dessert in the city and hints that the floral ingredient might feature in his next cheesecake.

He is always expanding his culinary knowledge, even in his private time. As well as desserts, he is also working on perfecting savoury dishes such as sushi.
Whether he is baking or cooking, he tries to put himself in his customers’ shoes. “I’m not just thinking if it’s delicious or not, but I’m also paying attention to how people will taste it, the experience of having it, how they put their food in their mouth, how to link the taste and aroma of the food.”
Despite Mr Cheesecake’s signature product being labelled the “best cheesecake” on social media, Tamura says he does not fixate on his food’s rating or ranking, and that his intention is to spread joy.
He points to the brand’s motto: “Not the world’s best, but we make your days the best.”


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Food and Drinks

The story behind Mr Cheesecake’s exclusive milk tea flavour for its Hong Kong pop-up store

A milk tea cheesecake from Mr Cheesecake in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. Dessert chef Koji Tamura reveals how he came up with the new flavour, which is exclusive to Hong Kong. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

In March 2024, Koji Tamura opened a Mr Cheesecake pop-up store in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong, and has recently introduced a special milk tea cheesecake. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Tamura outside his Mr Cheesecake pop-up stores in Tsim Sha Tsui, Hong Kong. Photo: Xiaomei Chen

Tamura’s cheesecakes can be served frozen, semi-thawed or fully thawed. Photo: Instagram 

A matcha cheesecake from Mr Cheesecake. Photo: Instagram

Mr Cheesecake’s Hong Kong selection includes the classic recipe and now a milk tea flavoured one. Photo: Instagram

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Mango Crispy Rice and Mango Passionfruit sorbet from Hello Molly at Central Market. Photo: Hello Molly

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Black sesame soft serve at So Coco. Photo: Bevery Yang

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Matcha gelato is served at different levels of intensity at Ganto Gelato. Photo: Ganto Gelato 

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Denyoun Tsering, 80, one of the last remaining muleteers to have plied the Southern Silk Road, wearing his Tibetan clothes at home in Shangri-La, Yunnan. Photo: Paul Mooney 

Lifestyle

Food & Drink

Chef Koji Tamura has given a nod to Hong Kong’s food culture by adding a milk tea cheesecake to the menu at his Mr Cheesecake pop-up store


Dessert chef Koji Tamura’s cheesecakes have been a sensation since he launched Mr Cheesecake six years ago. A Hong Kong-exclusive milk tea version just launched at its pop-up store in the city.


Hong Kong