Ryoura, Mille-Feuille Mistral

Finally got back Ryoura a while back for a new cake. I can get their one (available) remaining great cake at Tokyo Midtown, but the selection there is fairly limited so I did a bicycle ride. I wasn't quite as crazy there as last time. They have actually been limiting the number of people inside, but probably I can't remember well. Anyway, even at the main shop, I've pretty much had all their standards already, so it's touch choice. On the grounds that Mille-feuille are a fairly safe choice and I have had one excellent one from there (and one just good), I tried the Mille-feuille Mistral, which is F.Cassel like in having a gelatin layer for the flavor, which honestly I'm not that convince is a good ideal but is a reasonable simple variation. A Japanese source reminds me (not that I probably read in this detail at the time) that its passion fruit and mango mousseline and the gelatin is rhubarb and strawberry, which sounds about right. It was good, but I'm more convinced that gelatin in my mille-feuille is not optimal, but not the worst, as I've found out.

Cake-off: Frédéric Cassel's Fraisier over Pierre Gagnaire's Mousse au Chocolat et Yuzu

Having starting working through the two-and-two cake-off great cakes for fifth-round cake-offs and noticing the appearance of Frédéric Cassel's Fraisier, I worked it in. Also back, was Mousse au Chocolat et Yuzu by Pierre Gagnaire. The latter is a unique taste, but that wasn't enough to overcome my love of pistachio, at least when presented well, so the win went to Fraisier.
 

Bien-être, Chiboust au Pistache Framboise

Back in April (not sure whether I'll ever get caught up with no running to speak of to write about), I got a cake-off reward from Bien-être, Chiboust au Pistache Framboise. I had seen this when I was last there. Two other chiboust au pistache cakes are among my favorites, but they already changed the base recipe in a way that I like less, so I wasn't raising my hopes up too high. It was good, but I was correct that I'm not that into this new version, also the ones I liked most went with sourer fruits.

A. Lecomte, Gateau au Muguet

Since I was nearby and shop hours were about to be shortened (but not closed, unlike the first emergency restriction period), I stopped at Shibuya Scramble to get a second cake from on of the (possible) fine shops. Not that this is really on the second, since the main shop is near an highly frequented area before I starting blogging. This is pretty standard cake from them and attractive to me, so it's probably not my first time I've had it, though it would have been several years ago at least since the previous time.

The name is Gateau au Muguet, from the A. Lecomte counter at Shibuya Scramble Square, and the inside is just pralin cream, which was good, but not so exciting. This cake won't overshadow your tea but it's not interesting enough to keep this shop in the fine category. At least it's good enough to keep from wanting a pause in visiting such shops.

Cake-off: Bien-être's Mont-Blanc over Viron's Gateau Chocolat

This is about two weeks behind, as worsening conditions naturally drain my enthusiasm, but still these were great cakes I had in a cake-off. These were the the last (until enough new great cakes advance) of the 5th round cake-offs for cakes with 3 wins to one loss. Getting the cake was pretty easy. Viron in Shibuya opens at 10:00 and always has their Gateau Chocolat. Matching against this was the best cake of Viron's biggest rival in terms of my own ranking, Bien-être's Mont-Blanc, which was among the few types of cakes for sale from 11:00. 

Today, maybe I wanted something softer with more texture variation, even though I love chocolate, so the underdog shop won with the Mont-Blanc. While there, I noticed a new cake I wanted, which hopefully didn't influence me.

Actually, I lied. I remember now that I was running late and went to B-E first and then to Viron. Viron open's earlier, but B-E is more likely to sell out and there was less certainty that they would have what I wanted. In pursuit efficiency, I also stopped at Scramble Square building to get a cake from a counter, which is how I suddenly remembered the order. More about that in the next post. 

 

Dalloyau, Chou Cubique Fraise

Continue on about last Saturday, after Midtown, the next cake stop was Ginza Mitsukoshi, where I wanted to get a cake from Dalloyau. Actually, the cake I wanted was not there, but the overall goal was just to get a new cake, so got their Chou Cubique Fraise, if I've got that right. I worried more about the pastry versus a normal cream puff, but it was fine. Too much fruit in the custard for my tastes, though, even if it was good fruit, making a good cake. 

A la Bonne Heure, Strawberry Shortcake

Maybe due to little running, I haven't been as motivated to keep up, but I'll do one now. On Saturday, after a wasted morning, I went to Midtown to see what they might have for me. Still the same couple cakes from Ryoura, no surprise, but I'm now ready to work through the huge list of fine shops needing a second cake and it's convenient to get an A la Bonne Heure from there, even if the selection was only from two. I went with the Strawberry Shortcake, which I'm appreciating more these days. As it happens, I appreciated this one too: cream, strawberries, and some sponge to balance it and make it cake. Sometimes simple is best, and this seemed excellent, so I guess this shop will make the cut, which is only going to leave a minority but is going to take a long time to get around to.