I tried a cheesecake designed just like the Swiss cheese you see in classic cartoons, sold by “mindeulle,” a shop specializing in Korean sweets and freshly baked pretzels located about a 5-minute walk from Asagaya Station in Suginami Ward, Tokyo.
About mindeulle
mindeulle is a bakery and dessert shop operated by Bondor Co., Ltd., a company that also runs the “Bondor” bakery and pastry chain in Saitama Prefecture. The Asagaya location I visited opened on May 22, 2026. While it is currently their only permanent boutique (they previously operated two or three locations), they also frequently open pop-up stores in commercial shopping centers.
The Asagaya boutique is located roughly a 5-minute walk from the station. While it is a compact takeout-only shop, the interior is packed with rows of enticing breads and pastries.
Their product lineup consists of chilled sweets and baked goods. Built around a Korean cafe concept, the shop features charmingly aesthetic desserts such as “fat macarons” (ttungcaron) and cartoon-style cheesecakes, alongside classic non-Korean items like canelés, donuts, and pretzels. For breads, beyond sweet pastries, they also offer select savory options such as a croissant sandwich filled with Spam and scrambled eggs.
It feels neither like a traditional French patisserie/boulangerie nor like an old-fashioned Japanese neighborhood bakery-pastry shop, but rather a distinct “third category” sweet shop celebrating modern Korean-style treats and bread.
Chocolate-Coated and Shaped Like Cartoon Cheese
For this visit, I purchased the “Jerry Cheese”—a playful cheesecake modeled after the holey cheese found in classic cartoons.
It comes in two sizes, and I opted for the smaller “S” size, priced at 486 yen (tax included).
Cheesecakes featuring this cartoon aesthetic are sold at a handful of shops in Japan, some of which I have reviewed on this blog before. It is not exclusively a Korean innovation, but rather a widely popular modern dessert trend.
The exterior is coated in a crisp shell of chocolate, while the inside is soft cheesecake. While the shop does not specify whether it is baked or rare (unbaked), tasting it revealed the rich eggy depth characteristic of a baked cheesecake, suggesting the filling has been baked. In terms of construction, it appears they bake the inner cheesecake first, coat it in a chocolate-based glaze, and chill it to set. As for the iconic cartoon cheese appearance, specialized silicone molds are readily available, which they undoubtedly use (baking videos for this exact design from other shops can even be found on YouTube).
Tasting Impressions
Taking a bite, the outer chocolate coating snaps crisply, giving way to an interior that is dense, velvety, and incredibly smooth. It offers an engaging textural contrast between the snappy shell and luscious core.
Flavor-wise, the creamy richness of heavy cream and cream cheese is layered seamlessly with the mellow sweetness of the chocolate coating. While very easy to eat, the interplay of dairy richness and the buttery cocoa butter of the white chocolate creates a satisfying depth with a lingering, pleasant finish.
Novelty cakes that prioritize visuals often end up being mediocre in taste, so I honestly didn’t have high expectations. However, this treat clearly showcases genuine dedication to flavor as well as design. Its operating company, Bondor Co., Ltd., is an established bakery founded in 1960. Sustaining a food business for decades is no small feat—it requires proven technique and uncompromising standards. Backed by that artisanal pedigree, mindeulle’s pastries and breads are built on solid quality. I look forward to trying their other baked goods when I visit next.
Shop Details & Information
- Shop: mindeulle
- Address: 3-chome, Asagayaminami, Suginami-ku, Tokyo
- Access: Approx. 5-min walk from Asagaya Station
- Featured Item: Jerry Cheese (486 yen)
- Notes: Pop-up store locations and schedules are regularly announced on Instagram
- Reference Links: Official Instagram | Google Maps
■ This article is a translation of a post originally written in Japanese (Original Article).