Plain cheesecake is the only good cheesecake

ITT: people who haven't had good cheesecake

I lived in NYC for a few years and tried a wide range of cheesecakes both in restaurants and homemade by talented bakers. Good or bad what they all had in common was that plain was best, and flavored were always disappointing and unenjoyable.
- You're always disappointing and unenjoyable!
  Sorry. Don't know what came over me. Maybe it was thinking about how good key lime cheesecake is.
- What sort of flavors are we talking? What was it about them that you didn't enjoy?
  All of the cheesecakes I make are "flavored" in some way, but I go out of my way to use real ingredients, not just "X flavoring."
- Disappointing and unenjoyable? Man that can't possibly be. Nothing like a good chocolate rum cheesecake or something.
  Plain old cheesecake is the best, though. Can't argue there.
- Flavored is bad, but toppings can be good. Adulterating the actual body of the cheesecake is wrong. I do like some goopy cherries on top though, the tartness offsets the sweet, creaminess of the cheesecake.
- I mean I feel a similar way about pizza - you need just a plain slice with no toppings to truly judge its merit.
It's possible to have had good plain cheesecake and still like other flavors.
- I never claimed it wasn't.

I hate this opinion but you put it in the right community so I will upvote it like a decent human.

And I shall upvote you for being a good human being

Counter-argument: Cherry topping.

Also: What kind of "plain" cheesecake? Cuz there's still variety even there. I would assume New York because it's the most common (in the US anyway).

Tart cherry pie filling on top of a new york cheesecake is unbelievable
- I read this as "taint cherry pie," and I hate to admit I was intrigued and kind of excited to read someone's justification for such a controversial opinion

I can go further with my unpopular opinion on cheesecake. There is no good cheesecake.

I know this is unpopular opinions, but I think that's a step too far.
- I also like to live... dangerously.
I enthusiastically disagree. Well done
I don’t live in fancy New York or Anaheim, so all cheesecake I’ve had tastes like way too much Philadelphia or Freezer Burn
- that's a frickin crime and i demand justice for you

Counterpoint: hint of lemon

I accept citrus if it's in the ingredients but in a small enough amount that it just enhances the cheesecake flavor and doesn't impart a noticeable citrus taste
- This is the way

While I agree it is the best cheesecake I can't agree it's the only good one. lol

I feel the same way about a good donut. Also bacon is best as just bacon and never improved by wrapping it around things and under or over cooking it. And the perfect cookie is a simple, perfectly baked, chocolate chip cookie. With so many foods, simple and perfectly prepared will always beat overly complex.

Chocolate chip is a garbage-tier cookie. I get supremely disappointed when what I thought was a delicious oatmeal raisin cookie turns out to be a lame chocolate chip. Won't eat them.
- Now that is definitely an unpopular opinion.
- One the one hand I agree that oatmeal raisin cookies are great, but you're just wrong about chocolate chip. Sometimes my grandma would "adulterate" oatmeal raisin cookies by adding M&M's.
I feel you on donuts since my favorite donut is a plain fastnacht
I used to like bacon but then my tastebuds decided to rewire in my early 20s and now it's too salty :[
Ooh, here's another horrible opinion from me. The best chocolate chip cookie has no chips. Just give me that delicious baking soda taste yessss.
If anyone knows what planet I'm from please lmk.
- I respect your opinion, but you're missing out on so much good delicious hot crispy sizzling bacon. Just by unsalted next time lol
- I mean plain sugar cookies are pretty good too. But I need the chocolate.
- That might be one to mention to your doctor actually. It shouldn’t be anything too concerning but it may be indicative of a deficiency in some nutrients or mineral.
  My doctors got very concerned when I mentioned that I disliked the taste of salt. Not just salty foods or bacon but just the weird mineral and acrid taste of salt. Better now but still not a fan.
  That your body does want a different sodium pairing is interesting.
  Do you drink a lot of electrolyte drinks like Gatorade?
- I almost added chocolate and coffee, but there is just so much variety in both and I love them all. Besides, chocolate+peanut butter+pretzels is kind of my exception to the less is more argument.

That is the dilemma:

Why would you flavor cheesecake with something that doesn’t taste as good as cheesecake?

Hm I would argue that caramel and coffee for example are flavors that are better than cheesecake. But flavoring cheesecake with them makes the result much worse than the sum of its flavor parts.
I think vice versa too. I would not enjoy cheesecake flavored caramel nor cheesecake flavored coffee

I can't agree with it being the only good one but it's definitely my preferred way.

So does that include toppings? I can understand cheesecake with strawberries in it not being your thing, but does that include plain cheesecake with a strawberry glaze on top? Does any sort of fruit, powdered sugar/cinnamon, or cookie ruin it?

I'm from The South so my favorite cheesecake was one that had a key lime pie on top of it, does that count?

Yeah, to me that all counts as not plain

Very light raspberry drizzle does elevate a good cheesecake. I want just the slightest sweet/tart garnish. Maybe just a whisper of a spearmint chiffonade, but that's almost decadent. Plain cheesecake is great alone though.

that turtle cheesecake i had a few days ago was smackin tho

That's cool, more fruit cheesecake for me.

all yours

I don't know man I make a damn good triple chocolate cheesecake, peanut butter cheesecake, and apple pie cheesecake.

I agree with you.

I had had all kinds of cheesecake for a long time in my life, all kinds of different flavors.

Then at one point I had /good/ cheesecake.

And immediately realized everything up to that point was garbage. Did some research and the old stuff I had had before was not even really cheesecake, basically just a fast food level cheesecake analog.

Real cheesecake is quite good.

I'll die on this hill with you.

Baked cheesecake is worse than cold-set cheesecake made by my mum

Maybe. But raspberry cheesecake ice cream is top tier.

Get a plain cheesecake and drench that shit in delicious berries and cream! Whats the problem?

If you drench plain cheesecake in anything, it's not a problem for me, because it's now literally anyone else's problem I ain't touchin it lol

I disagree, but what this community is about. I got to admit, making a good fruit cheesecake is more difficult than making a good plain cheesecake, so I agree that often the plain one is better than the fruity one. Not always.

Is this only a cheesecake thing or do you also dislike all cheese+fruit combinations? Have you tried Mascarpone gelato?

I like cream cheese and jam on toast, I suppose, but not enough that I ever remember it's a valid combo and make it.
I have not tried mascarpone gelato but would try it. I'll keep an eye out for it

I’m with you. Keep the strawberries and syrup away from my precious.

Question, do you think strawberries are good on cheap cheesecake? Or does any topping make it worse?

Because some cheesecake is so good that distracting from the flavor at all is a sin. But other cheesecake is fine to have the flavor covered by yummy fruit.

But since you don't like honey your tounge probably works different than mine.

If you’re not too set in your ways, try it with some honey. Real honey, not honey flavored syrup.

Congrats you've unlocked a bonus unpopular opinion of mine: honey is too gross to be enjoyable. It's bee vomit 😭
And yet I enjoy other gross things like fermented milk, grasshopper tacos, and roasted crickets. My brain's weird.
- honey is too gross to be enjoyable. It's bee vomit 😭
  But it's what ursine mammalians crave!
- Lol. I’ll trade you my grasshopper tacos for your cheesecake anytime. Cheers!
- Damn I was on your side too
- How bout using Maple syrup? Is tree blood up to your taste?

I agree with you because I get overwhelmed at too many options and extravagant opulence. I'm sure all kinds of extravagant cheesecake varieties are exciting but it's overwhelming to me And I'm fine with the plain kind, actually I don't want it at all because if you want to be skinny one day and fat the next day, cheesecake is a great way to achieve that. But I don't want to achieve that.

As long as the cheese is roquefort...

I'll address your opinion once you define your terms. Specifically:

define "good"

good cheesecake is cheesecake I like, in this context.
so the only way to tell if it's good is to bring me some. :]
- OK, so as I suspected, your "unpopular opinion" is, when all the blather is stripped away, "I don't like anything but plain cheesecake".
  Not so impressive when worded that way, is it?

I would agree with you, but I had bananas foster cheesecake, and that was amazing.

But besides that, yes, plain cheesecake all the way. Preferably creole style.

The rest are pure evil

It's because they always put some berry sauce over it like everyone likes that stuff. I don't. So I also prefer plain cheesecake.

Mu uncle makes a raspberry drizzle that takes plain cheesecake to the next level.

Being vegan sucks right now.

Cheesecake is so good.

There is vegan cheesecake, it isn't even super hard to make at home with a began cream cheese.
- How do you rate it?

I’ll go you one better. There is no such thing as good cheesecake. It all sucks.

You obviously never tried red velvet cheese cake.
- Red velvet cake is the worst cake, so red velvet cheesecake must be the worst cheesecake.
This is "unpopular opinion" not "wrong"