As the name suggests, Cheesecake House is geared towards the kind of comfort food your mom would make—if she were a really good cook. The homey theme continues with the lived-in atmosphere of this old house on a side soi between Thonglor and Ekamai. On arrival, most regulars head straight for the bakery counter with its wide array of puffs, pies, bread and cookies before finding a table. Another attention-grabber is the display case of decadent cakes that will make you drool, such as tangy lemon lime and melt-in-the-mouth crepe cake served with strawberry sauce. Predictably, the namesake dessert is the star at Cheesecake House with over 10 varieties including tiramisu, strawberry, and crowd-pleaser New York cheesecake. You’d expect the savories to play second fiddle here, and you are half right. A lot less exciting than the dessert selection, the sit-down menu is mostly everyday rice and noodle dishes ideal for a quick lunch like raad naa and pad kaprao. Fortunately, these ordinary dishes continue the impression of good old-fashioned home-cooking. The tuna Nicoise salad is average and a tad too tangy for our liking, so opt for the kanom pak gard instead—pleasantly oily and well seasoned stir-fried steamed turnip cakes with egg, bean sprouts, chives and plump shrimps. The kuay tiew pad khai prik pao talay (stir-fried noodles with egg, seafood and chili paste) is good with slightly charred noodles topped with spicy-sweet chili paste. Other simple-yet-yummy dishes are the pad mee sua (stir-fried egg noodles with chicken and shrimps) and the al dente squid ink spaghetti with tender slices of beef, chili and basil leaves. Service is a bit sluggish during peak hours, but the servers are usually friendly and efficient. Nothing about Cheesecake House is of high concept or ground-breaking—it has been in business for decades—but if you are in the mood for simple cooking and yummy baked goodies, this is a dependable choice. The best time to drop by is from 6-9:30pm when it’s buy 2-get-1 free on bakery selections.
