Out & About #278 | Uncle Tetsu (Main St. Unionville) + Touhenboku Cafe

I'm so glad my family is fond of cheesecake - Japanese cheesecake to be exact. Since its launch in Toronto last spring, I've probably brought home the flimsy (but adorable) red and white box at least ten times. And having stood in line for any period of time from two minutes to an hour and forty minutes, I can wholeheartedly declare that I've experienced Uncle Tetsu's to the fullest.

My friends have poked fun at me - "I swear you live at Uncle Tetsu's!" - but I suppose I can't exactly blame them since I do admit to having a tendency to drop by one of their many (1, 2, 3) shops when roaming the core with company that's less familiar with the area.

​Their newest ventures include a stall at Union Station (though I've yet to witness their operations firsthand) and extending into the predominantly Chinese-speaking market in Markham.

I found myself in the area, as I generally do on some Saturday mornings, and was prompted to check out their Main Street Unionville outpost on Grand Opening Day. Despite having delayed my appearance (ribbon-cutting and opening speeches are best swapped for additional snooze time), the queue remained rather frightful-looking.
The hype was real.  It was as if Markham hadn't ever been exposed to Uncle Tetsu before.

The twice-curved lineup was a prime example of disorganization as its finest: there wasn't a sign nor a single staff member in sight to guide customers who had just arrived, nor clearly marked spots indicating the start/end of the lineup. What appeared to be an information desk was, in fact, not; a completely irrelevant pink table offering nail varnishing services was set up in the middle of this chaos.

A nearby sign promoted the addition of ice cream to the menu. It also noted that there were "NO LINEUPS for Ice Cream and Madeleines", which immediately became a claim of interest to me, for I cared not about cheesecake that I've already had numerous tastings of. The mission was to obtain the bakery's Black Sesame, Blueberry, and Chocolate Madeleines - all of which were exclusive to the Main Street location.

​Supposedly, there were two designated lanes: one for cheesecake and another for non-cheesecake items. Seeing that the barrier for the latter lane had been shifted into the boulevard area, I inquired for more information from one of the ladies in line.

"Do you know if there are there two different lines?" I pointed to the sign.
"I'm not sure." the sunglasses-donning figure replied with a prominent accent, "All I know is that there's cheesecake."
"Ah, I see." I blankly replied, making a desperate attempt to hide my response towards her ignorance.
"But I think you have to lineup for ice cream." she added with a slight twinge of indignation.
Well, I'm not joining your lineup, that's for sure.

​Inching towards the interior of the shop, I noticed that the tiny interior was equally busy, if not even more so, than the environment outside.
A young man around my height stood near the doorway, away from the lineup and peering into the kitchen.

"Excuse me." My sudden intrusion on his personal space caused his head to turn in my direction. "Do you work here?"

As it turned out, he did, and was personally assisting customers in filling their non-cheesecake orders by running to and from the kitchen/cashier area. He further clarified that there were indeed separate lineups for ice cream and madeleines, though the shop had reached threshold capacity and had no other option than to relocate the barrier to accomodate the current volume of traffic.
His facial expression was both collected and hurried, and made great haste in delivering the previous customer's order before turning to me, who was, thankfully, the next in "line".

​Madelienes are retailed individually or in a box of four, so I opted for a quad of Black Sesame, two Blueberry, and two Chocolate. The fragrance being emitted almost prompted us to take a bite of sesame sponginess on the spot, though we ultimately decided on savouring the treats later, like civilized human beings

The introduction of Uncle Tetsu on Main Street definitely made for a memorable visit. The boulevard and store exterior were unmistakably elegant and fitting of the Main Street theme, though the confusion created by hoards of cheesecake enthusiasts could have easily been controlled with a properly executed plan.

​Having acquired the desired items, we made our departure and continued to stroll along a more peaceful section of Main Street, stopping only after reaching Touhenboku Cafe.

View the full album HERE !

​Touhenboku has long earned its ramen house title from its Queen St. W location downtown, but a cafe is relatively new territory. Curiosity overruled the pending necessity of lunch, propelling us to step onto their string light-decked patio area and into the quiet, cozy interior.

​The cafe was narrow and really quite small. A marble-top bar area along the wall could likely seat seven, while the more spacious lounge chairs could accommodate parties of two and four.

​We were greeted warmly by one of the girls behind the cashier. Behind her was a chalkboard menu; in the refrigerated display case was a rotating selection of cakes that had been made in-house.
Their drink offerings differed slightly from the standard selection in that soy, almond, coconut, and lactose-free milk substitutions were readily available for most lattes. Economically speaking, they were fair considering the atmosphere and location.

Matcha Latte and Cappuccino orders were placed to go. They arrived shortly, at which point several photos of the sinking surface of the cappuccino were captured. As we gradually made ourselves more comfortable and began taking short sips of the steamy beverages, the girl from the cashier appeared with a slice of Pumpkin Cheesecake.

She expressed that Pumpkin Cheesecake was a new item on their menu, and that they were collecting customer opinions to better improve their products. With the drop of an eyelash, I accepted being a taste tester, immediately digging into the mustard-hued slice with anticipation.
​The cake proved to be creamy yet firm; it was evident that the consistency had been achieved as a result of a high gelatin content as opposed to traditional amounts of heavy cream. Pumpkin flavour was found to be a tad lacking, though the yuzu sauce lining the plate emerged as a more refreshing complement than the maple- or cinnamon-infused flavours normally associated with autumn. Additionally, the crust was worthy of notice: in place of a pressed layer of graham cracker crumbs was moist, syrup-soaked puff pastry. The flaky properties paired surprisingly well with smooth cheesecake formula above.

While bringing over the cake, the girl had also offered to remake the Cappuccino. Having observed its current state, we glady accepted. Materializing from the kitchen several minutes later was a silky smooth product with a beautifully executed microfoam heart. The Matcha Latte also succeeded in winning my heart - the fact that they used unsweetened green tea powder was a bonus.

Consuming proper lunch food wasn't a priority for me (it never is, really), so I suggested trying Matcha Cheesecake before resuming our activities of the day.
The thick and impeccably cheesy slice was delivered shortly, topped with a dollop of cream and garnished with a sprig of fresh mint. It was beyond me how Touhenboku had managed to incorporate both the bitter grassiness of matcha and velvety consistency of cream cheese into one solid slice while Uncle Tetsu'srendition had been met with disaster and disappointment. The same puff pastry crust had been utilized, much to my sheer enjoyment.

​Overall, I don't think I could have possibly asked for anything more appropriate for a mid-morning break. A serene atmosphere paired with exceptional service and a cozy environment already fulfills the basic requirements for a pleasurable experience. Secure, password-secured Wi-Fi, nearby outlets, and an unthinkably pristine bathroom only contributed to heightening the visit to a greater degree of satisfaction.

​Parting with such an establishment was sorrowful, but one can only hope that the next visit will display equivalence in excellence.

As we couldn't make our return without ingesting something reminscent of a lunch, I suggested trying out Raku, a self-proclaimed ramen and izakaya located in the New Kennedy Plaza.
Menus were handed to us immediately after being seated. Oddly enough, garden salads were also shoved in our direction before we had even taken a peak at laminated pages.

While most customers had resided with ramen bowls, the izakaya items seemed more fitting of our dietary requirements. The man who had taken our orders was impossibly friendly for a restaurant operated by Chinese management, which consequently led us to believe that our decisions weren't as dire as we would later realize.

< Pictured above and below: Zucchini, Beef, and Pork skewers >

Our items were tiny. The skewers themselves were tiny. And let's not omit the fact that each piece retained all the grease and charring but not even the slightest bit of flavour at all. Simply put, it was digusting - disturbing even.

Though the most abhorrent of them all coincidentally ended up being the pricies dish on our bill: Grilled Gindara. "Seven spice" was a description we had succeeded in completely overlooking. The result were two meager skewers of an unseasoned, overcooked substance wrapped around rock-solid green onions and dusted in tongue-numbing spices.
There was no accompanying sauce, but rather a drizzle of the burnt liquid produced from excessive, cancerous charring.
And did I mention that the serving plate was plastic instead of stone? The serving utensils and plating compositions were a total mess, much like their grime-covered bathroom.

​The single redeeming factor was the promptness of service, and perhaps their participation in the Vicinity program. With the quality and value of the dishes I attempted to ingest, however, it's pretty much a given that I shall never return to accumulate enough points for redeeming anything.

To refrain from concluding this tale on a bitter note (quite literally), I'd like to revisit Uncle Tetsu's three new Madeline flavours.

Chocolate was topped with golden raisins, presumably for added sweetness. The surface itself had already been coated with a thin layer of chocolate syrup, though majority had streamed off the spongy cake and into the crevices of the box by the time we had reached home. Nonetheless, I still found it to be tasty and worthy of the trip.

Blueberry was essentially the original Madeleine formula but with the addition of blueberry jam. The aftertaste is more buttery than the former, and approximately just as moist as the original version.

Black Sesame was, hands down, my most preferred flavour of the trio. Although the surface appeared stale to the naked eye, the reality was quite the opposite. Each madeleine boasted an evenly, though not visibly, browned exterior, allowing the surface to crisp up without becoming dry. The internal components were not only soft and fluffy, but explosively strong in terms of fragrance. Harnessing the essence of black sesame in baked goods is extraordinarily challenging, and thus I munched on with great admiration.

Give Uncle Tetsu Main Street a try next time! Hopefully, they'll have sorted our their queue partitions by then.

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