Duo Cafe - New York, NY

Any good dinner can end with a spot of tea, and Duo Cafe is just the place to have it. 

Every table gets a basket to sniff and select, and all these bolder blacks, aromatic herbals, and everything in between are best when shared with friends. 

Tea and sweets go together like...Caramelized Sweet Potato and ice cream. Cut in half and bruleed with a cracking layer of crunch to cultivate the underlying notes of caramel, these warm, bright-orange beauties conspire with the cold cream to make for sweet bites that collude and collide. 

I believe this was the Hochija Cheesecake, a dense and silky slice with aromatic bitters at the end of every bite. 

The Salted Egg Yolk Basque Cheesecake seems almost experimental and leaves my mouth confused. The seaweed flakes and pork floss are not the kind of salty that necessarily pairs with the sugar and only sort of works when small amounts are paired with bigger bites. 

Still, I am so in love with this sweet little shop, and I love that I can come here almost any time of day. Like all places in NYC it's open until a time I would be in bed, but I'd duck in time for a calming cup of tea. 

Harriet's Cheesecakes Unlimited - Inglewood

For the South Bay's best cheesecake, ring this bell. 

The loveliest lady will step out shortly and take your order. One board list the available whole cheesecakes, and the other has quite the selection of slices. 

Each cheesecake is creamy but also light with a beautiful balance between sugar and subtle cheese. The cheese is very present lest you forget what you're eating but is restrained so every bite is pleasant.  

Banana Pudding tastes like the real thing, the ooey-gooey pudding and wafers come in layers, contrasted by coin-sized banana slices, fresh and firm. 

Their signature Sweet Potato is a southern dream, a fluffy core of the sweet and nutty starch. 

Apple N Spice is perhaps the most unique, viscous apples like a pie, spiced like a Christmas cider.

I would have eaten more cheesecake if I knew cheesecake could be this good. Harriet's makes an exceptional slice, simultaneously subtle and spectacular. 

Uncle Tetsu UPDATE - Torrance

A small price increase from $10 to $12, for a cheesecake worth every cent. 

I forget how much I love them when I don't remind myself, but I could almost eat one in a single sitting. The Original cheesecake is so airy and light, you barely notice how quickly you're shoveling it down, this mildly cheesy, just-sweet-enough circle of fluff that melts in your mouth.

Matcha is my least favorite, mostly because it's bitter. Still like it, but prefer all the others.  

Ube tastes like the original, tbh, but it's dyed a gorgeous purple. 

I love Japanese cheesecake - it's like cheesecake lite but better than the original. And I love Uncle Tetsu because they make it way too easy to get a good, reasonably-priced cheesecake.