With all the new hotspots in Budapest offering soup or pasta, we don't really get excited when another one opens, but we haven’t heard about any places specializing in cheesecake. However, this is now no longer the case: a pioneer of cheesecake layered in a jar – Say Cheese! – started operating here a few weeks ago. The shop on Pest’s Grand Boulevard offers seats, but the jars also make these cakes great street-food options, or even little gifts. We went to taste these delightful delicacies.
It all started in Egypt, as the first Say Cheese! location opened in Cairo in 2015. Soon it became extremely successful, so a member of the founding family who lives in Budapest teamed up with a friend, and they decided that the Hungarian capital deserves a cheesecake shop as well. Thanks to this thought, now anyone can walk through the doors of the tiny place on Grand Boulevard, and get to know a new genre of cheesecake, layered in a 250ml jar, which makes it a great street food (or even a gift).
It’s not hard to spot the shop: telltale signs include a sizable placard hung halfway between Dohány Street and Wesselényi Street, and the people flowing out with small jars in their hands. The place itself is not a grand café with pallet furniture and pastel colors, but it’s filled with the scent of cookies, and there are four tables for those who want to devour their cheesecakes on the spot. A tattoo artist drew the playfully elegant patterns on the wall, but the thing that really catches the eye is at the far end of the shop: the desserts with various flavor combinations are all there, lined up in the glass counter.
Here comes the hardest part! While contemplating the selection, we have to face the following choices: some of the desserts have a brownie or Oreo foundation, while others have shortbread or oatmeal-cookie bases. The layer of cheese cream sits atop these – fortunately, it’s not too sugary, giving the topping a chance to deliver the main flavor of the dessert. These toppings can be fruit from local markets, caramel, or even Nutella. They offer ten flavors at a time, but they have about 40 variations up their sleeves, thus they have something new every week – but don’t worry: the favorites are permanent.
We tried one with a brownie base and cherry topping, one with a shortbread base and raspberry-almond topping, and one with an oatmeal-cookie base with caramel-banana topping. We had three conclusions: the brownie base compliments the cheesecake nicely, smelling the raspberry sauce is addictive, and it’s probably pretty hard to get bored with testing these desserts. The good news is that even those who have food allergies can experience these delights, as there are lactose- and sugar-free versions, and soon they’ll also serve a gluten-free version of this filling dessert. The price of these jarred sweets is between 790 and 1,090 forints, while the ones for special diets are a bit pricier.
Snickers is their latest flavor, and they’re planning to turn other similar snacks (like Mars and Túró Rudi) more cheesecake-compatible as well, so we are excited to see what’s next. It’s good to know that you can order whole cakes from the boys, and home delivery will be available soon. They even told us that opening a larger place is among their plans for the future.
Say Cheese! Budapest
Address: Budapest 1073 , Erzsébet körút 18
Opening hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday: 10am - 9pm; Wednesday, Sunday: 3pm - 9pm
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