Cake Envy: a Cheesecake Cafe Opens Downtown

January 23, 2014

Martha Cheng,

Cheesecakes: Maple bacon, black forest, green tea and double chocolate with Jack Daniels

There's a new cheesecake shop in town, to fill the Otto Cake-shaped hole in our stomachs. Cake Envy just opened its first brick-and-mortar location near Hawaii Theatre, though it's been making cheesecakes in Honolulu for years, for catering events and restaurants such as Chuck's Cellar. The cheesecakes look hefty—they stand almost two inches tall—but the consistency is light and fluffy. The best part: they actually taste like the flavor advertised. The green tea cheesecake has specks of tea leaves and carries green tea's distinctive grassy flavor; maple bacon starts with the sweet taste of maple and finishes with a lush smokiness from bits of bacon in the batter. The chocolate varieties are a little denser, and the Jack Daniel's one definitely packs a whiskey punch.

Cake Envy makes over 50 flavors of cheesecake, available for preorder; usually nine or so are available by the slice each day. Go early if you want to try the popular creme brulee, cheesecake with a caramelized sugar top.