Cake-off: Très Calme's Mont-Blanc over Bubó Barcelona's Bubó Xoco Deluxe

This weekend's cake-off was a third-round match between two one-and-one cakes. First, I walked, along with two 4-min intervals of running, to Très Calme and got their signature cake, their Mont-Blanc. This has a cassis center and features coffee meringue on the outside, which balance out. This is the only cake with coffee in the my greats list, I think. I took the train back, since it's 7 or 8 kilometers and I had a second cake to get. The opposite was my favorite cake from Bubó Barcelona, their Bubó Xoco Deluxe. This time I let him give me their bag because it was raining and they have an unusually shaped box and a bag decided to fit it, so it was pretty stable. I ran another 4 min on the round trip, which was also 7 or 8 kilometers total, so it was a test of both my walking capability and renewed running.

I enjoyed both cakes, but the Bubó Xoco Deluxe was unable to stand out against the strong favor of the Mont-Blanc and in fact, though excellent, I've decided that I don't need it in the greats, which include a lot of chocolate cakes. The Mont-Blanc remains distinctive. I have a little trouble with the aftertaste, though that might have also been the leeks in my lunch. So I need to get back to Très Calme, though I have a number of shops in the exceptional cake shop list that I need to catch up on, except the top ones in the quite fine shops list keep poking their heads up asking for more attention. Next, though, I want I work on the quite exceptional shops.

Cake-off: Éclat des Jours' Rhum Raisin over Bubó Barcelona's Bubó Xoco Deluxe

Saturday, I got up at 5:30 so that I could get a long run in before coming back at 9:00 to get ready for a 10:00 appointment, which I did. The actual running started after 6:30, as I don't run without breakfast any more and other preparations also take time. This was sort of a neighborhood run, since it was intended to take photographs while I verified courses. First, I decided that I was going to change my rules and allow subway tunnel corridors and stairs for crossing the road, on the grounds that I don't run up and down stairs any more, as climbing fast is exercise enough and adding to the stress by making it bouncy was probably what caused my most recent long incapacitation. Also, the NHK running program, the top people have recommended (to people not trying to be top, granted) walking up steep slopes, unless you're specifically training for slopes, such as the race up Mt. Fuji. So I'll fill in a hole (and allow some surrounding loops to shrink, now that they can ignore what's across the street) by adding a new Minami-Aoyama loop for sectors 3 and most of 4. First, though I had a couple landmarks to verify.

From there, close to where I was doing new loops (though not that close along the route) and next to Hiroo, I worked on verifying parts in Minami-Azabu, mostly temples, but a few parks. On the way back, I used the pedestrian underpass near Roppongi Hills and confirmed that, with the new Roppongi 7 loops, these areas should actually be next in line, so suddenly I have a map crisis, since I haven't even completed making the course around much of that area, much less verified it. It was early, so only the snacks I brought.

After my 10 o'clock, I decided to try for a cake-off, as I didn't expect either of my sources to sell out. I got the Éclat des Jours' Rhum Raisin by bicycle, which I probably did last time. I shouldn't have gotten Bubó Barcelona's Bubó Xoco Deluxe by bicycle, as a mousse cake just can't stand up to the vibration, as the picture shows. That might have affected it's impact on me, as I wasn't feeling the greatness this time, which can be expected to happen sometime anway. I'll wait and see how it does in its next round before I bump it from the great list. The winner then was the Rhum Raisin. I'm not that confident that it needs to be in the great list either, though it is the only cake of its kind now, and I appreciate it for that, so it's a clean second win. It about time for me to get a new cake from Éclat des Jours, so now there is added urgency. It's a long run, though, so there's not a lot left even if I can make it in time. I should go when I'll willing to skip cake or when I'm not working a full day. 

Cake-off: Bien-être's Framboisier over Jean-Paul Hévin's La Figue

On Monday, a national holiday, I had a first-round cake-off for the seasonal (I assume) La Figue by Jean-Paul Hévin. I pitted it against a standard from Bien-être, their Framboisier. These both held up as great cakes and I really enjoyed them (it's good to live in Tokyo and know where the great cake is). I'm giving this round to Framboisier because there are a lot of chocolate cakes that I like a lot (and even a lot of cakes from JPH similar to La Figue, in different seasons), but it is the only great cake I know that gets by on just raspberry as the main flavor (the closest is Perfum, which is raspberry and rose), though white chocolate is usually a good assist.

I ran for the cakes (one at a time and one-way, taking the train back from Bien-être, though that requires at least one train change and either a few extra stations or extra fee to change lines) and afterward went for a long ride checking shops for great cakes that have yet to have a first round (the only missing ones for second-round are ones I visit regularly anyway and Cuba from Les Cacao). First though, I revisited Bien-être to correct a mis-order (I'm resorting to reserving cake, so I hope it doesn't rain hard again Wednesday) and get my loyalty card stamped. Next I hit Bubó Barcelona to try their Croissant, which was definitely good as a fluffy buttery pastry, though you can always add butter to hot bread and get similar results, perhaps, so I'm not as interested in it as their more decadent creations. Could check two shops (the third was closed, as it always is on Monday) for great cakes without finding them, but had a few-hour ride around the city.

Paris S'éveille: Arbion

Did another cycling day, about 3 hours, this time out to Paris S'éveille. It was a little soon to go back there, but it seemed like a good choice for a weekend and I wanted to check the Dalloyau line-up at their main store (their two mont-blanc are in, but none of the cakes I'm looking for). On the way, I took a few photos in the area around Meguro Station, but even before that, I stopped at Café Le Cordon Bleu for my first pastry from them, which I think was called Croissant au Chocolat (or at least should have been), and ate in. This was super fresh, complete with the fresh bread smell, whereas I'm used to buying pastries late in the day on weekdays. I think that they brushed it with egg white, because the outside is well sealed. Definitely seemed very "by the book", so no complaints and I can say that it was excellent.

At Paris S'éveille, they no longer have signs on their tables saying "no photographs", so I ate in. I choose the "chef-recommend" Arbion, which is new and features Japanese apricot mousse, almond milk mousse, and lavender flavored milk foam surrounded by white chocolate. The taste balance was fine for me, as a light fruity concoction, but not really my thing; still, definitely good. Maybe fall and winter will bring some new heavier cakes. Completely forgot to confirm up-coming cake-off cakes, but I wouldn't get to them this month anyway, so I guess it's okay.

On the way back, I confirmed that Les Cacao still doesn't have Cuba, the only great cake that I've had from there, swung by Toshi Yoroizuka to confirm recently spotted great cakes remain, though no new old favorites. Lastly, I stopped by Bubó Barcelona and got their Croissant au Chocolat (I think), which I ate at home. Wait, I also confirmed La Vie Douce still doesn't have a yuzu chiboust, or any kind of chiboust or yuzu cake right now. The second croissant had a balance of buttery flake, fluffy interior, and chocolate that makes we want to say that it is great.

Ryoura: Fondant Chocolat

Finally got back to Ryoura again, on the grounds that I promoted it to quite excellent, so it needs to have 10 cakes sampled (for one reason, to see whether it stands up to further scrutiny to deserve that designation, which basically means in bottom half of the top 15 Tokyo cake shops).

They don't open until 11 a.m., I didn't get up that late, and I'm not that patient, so I went out around 9:30 a.m. to fill in some holes in the neighborhood course running map, even though health issues and the current heat has limited my ability to make use of the map, but I'm starting to get back to it.


I had missed a shrine, a café with sufficient cake cred to deserve inclusion, and a Lindt (which maybe doesn't, but that ship has sailed).









I hit a churches that got left off on the other side of Shibuya Station, so I need to revisit my running course over there too, but I'll just post the pictures here from the shrine.

Fondant Chocolat, after several seconds of heat

I got to Ryoura soon after they opened. There were other customers, but no line. I came by bicycle, so I didn't want to try to take the cake all the way home that way, especially in the extreme heat. However, because of the heat, I had to be careful what I choose at least somewhat, though I'm not sure that that effected my choice. I went with the Fondant Chocolat, which seemed safe in various ways. Notice that they used real chocolate, so in the extreme heat, it wilted in seconds. Fortunately, the base is robust, almost fudge-like, so no further melting. This was excellent. Though standard in some ways, I don't really get this type of cake often and my favorite fondant (from Paris S'éveille) is of a different type, at least after you microwave it as recommended, which this type isn't set up for.

On the way back, I also stopped a couple places to confirm the availability of great cakes for near-future cake-offs. First I stopped at Il Pleut sur la Seine, where they did have their saint-marc, and got a Pain au Chocolat, which was excellent, I think; certainly I have no complaint about it. At Bubó Barcelona, I confirmed the Bubó Xoco Deluxe, though that's now I recorded it previously; I need to confirm and update. I also confirmed that they have pastries on the weekend that they don't have during the week, so I got a Croissant Marsipan, which was excellent, but a lot more Danish like than I expected (very fluffy with a sugar coating; not so much marzipan inside, but maybe the correct amount). I know I was greedy today, but I missed a week of cake and pastry from being sick. Also, this extreme heat is more physically draining than expected. I thought I would have put on weight from lack of exercise for a week (of course, no cake, but a lot more cheap discount grocery chocolate) and then limited exercise the following week, but the opposite was true.

The Ritz-Carlton Café and Deli: Earl Grey Bergamot

Sunday, without running, I went to the The Ritz-Carlton Café and Deli and, after some wait (because we didn't want to eat outside), I got the cake set with the Earl Grey Bergamot (this was the English name on the card, but the Japanese name was completely different). Anyway, it is a chocolate mousse ovoid disk flavored orange (I'm assuming the tea as well). The base was chocolate and crunchy, which helped it. It was at least definitely good and I've giving it the first cake benefit of the doubt and calling it excellent, so I'll be back there before too long. They also have a selection of pastries. The other available cake with the cake set was the strawberry short cake, which I only had one bite of. It seemed good, but I'd like to have more to form a full opinion.

Monday, much of Tokyo closed down due to a few inches of snow. It was still reasonably nice for a run, so I went to Bubó Barcelona and got Gianduja Raviolo, which is a croissant-type pastry encasing some, but not a lot of gianduja (hazelnut and chocolate). It was a nice change of pastry from must a simple croissant, so I can call it excellent. They did not actually have anything else, so I'm not sure what's going on with their pastry selection. Even if I don't get a pastry, I'm going to have to stop in their next time I go by. However, the nearby pedestrian bridge was taped off, which means that right now that neighborhood, which I haven't quite got memorized, but close, is cut off, so I don't have 60 km of continuous neighborhood course prepared any more. I thought it might have just been for the weather, but later pedestrian bridges on other paths were not closed.

Bubó Barcelona: Montblanc

Did a relatively short run, about 50 minutes, and ran into a good crowd on Omotesandou Douri (I hadn't thought about people coming to see the holiday lights). On the way, I swung through the part of Sendagaya that had been closed yesterday to practice running that part of the course in reverse. Mostly I was okay, but one road is more like a driveway and I didn't remember that there would be a slight curb to it and no street marks indicating a road (the road/drive goes to a temple, and then I use their stairs to go down to the main street, which triggers a couple automatic lights going past but the path is open even when the gate to the temple is okay, so I assume it's okay to use until I hear otherwise).

Even on Christmas, Bubó Barcelona was not sold-out yet, though they were getting close. They had several Xabina and a couple Montblanc (their spelling). I've had the Xabina, so I got their Montblanc and took it home by the usual route. It was basic, being chestnut paste around whipped cream on a cookie/pie base. Decorations were white chocolate and, on top, baked meringue, which were what probably tipped this over into Excellent territory, or I just was feeling the Christmas spirit.

I'm busy toward the end of the week, but I'll try hitting Isetan Tuesday and Wednesday, which is not faster, but avoids having to do research to see who's open and selling individuals.

Cake-off: Bubó Barcelona's Choco Deluxe over Paris S'éveille's Chocolat Fondant

Not too much to say about today's cakes. Cycled down to Paris S'éveille to get their Chocolat Fondant, which for purposes of this blog I am treating as fresh cake (versus gateau de voyage, like a weekend or pound cake, which are not my focus), though it does not require refrigeration and actually they recommend microwaving it for 20 s (my microwave is large, so I should probably have done longer), and then swung back to Bubó Barcelona to get their Choco Deluxe, a battle of the last two pure chocolate cakes in this round/year's cake-offs.

Neither cake stood out, but both were worthy chocolate cakes, which I enjoyed revisiting, the main purpose of cake-offs. I decided ultimately to give the contest to the underdog, Bubó Barcelona. I'd like to compare theirs to something more similar to it, but the main similar thing to the Fondant is not available (due to Ryoco being too busy to bother with the little stuff, apparently).

Bubó Barcelona: Sacher Raspberry

Short run today, which is appropriate between yesterday's long Sunday run and tomorrows fairly long planned run. I know I already said that Bubó Barcelona wasn't look like it was going to get above the Excellent level, but they were still top of that group in some ways and the other most likely choice is closed Mondays. The run was fine, all on the high side of 9 km/h, but only a little over 6 km total (it would have been less, but I got a little creative on the way back).

The cake, Sacher Raspberry was definitely good. However, making a sacher raspberry sort of takes away it's one interesting point, and I've had a lot of chocolate raspberry cakes, including from the best, and this one doesn't really stand out. Still an Excellent shop, but I should probably search through the other Excellent to find one to promote, which is the plan for both Wednesday and Thursday.

(Sat.) Bubó Barcelona café: Pear Caramel and Xabina

Was busy an also generally very hot for running (sunny with a high of 35 degC), especially with cake, [for this entire three-day weekend]. Fortunately, it's not too far from Omotesando Station to Bubó Barcelona, especially if you stop at Crayonhouse for a vegetable-intensive (I skipped the chicken) organic buffet. Bubó Barcelona is very modern, though the second-floor space leaves the ceiling and walls bare rather than covering the pipes and things. We went fairly early, I suppose, between noon and 1 pm, and were the only customers when we arrived (in the café/salon; a guy was taking phone photos of the cakes on the first floor). Only a few people came in upstairs while we were there, so I'm a little worried about their longevity. The bakery café nearby was packed on both floors, with people waiting. There were a lot of foreigners specifically coming there (it's a back street with not a lot of things, so most people we saw were going there, but someone got the $200 haircut next door).  They must have a good promotion scheme going on somewhere.

Though at the café, the cake comes with extra bits, as shown (and cost 200 yen extra), but it's still the same as the take-out cake, so it's reasonable to dual list this as cake and café. I only had about half of each, but the Xabina was about the same as before. I was less excited about the Xabina the second time and the chocolate seemed a little watery to me initially, but I got past that and will stick to my original excellent rating. The Pear Caramel was also excellent. Actually, walnuts are more very prominent in this and it's not actually very caramel flavored, but rather more syrupy, which probably depends on how long/hot you coot the sugar for the caramel.

Bubó Barcelona: Bubó Malfi

Bubó Barcelona: Bubó Malfi

Sore again today, and maybe tired, so only managed 8 km/h for a round trip of 5.8 km. Guess I should rest tomorrow, since I won't have a lot of time Saturday and will need to run faster. Went back to Bubó Barcelona in Jingumae and got the Bubó Malfi (692 yen), which is white chocolate with a lemon center. It was definitely good, but not exciting, so it seems to be an excellent shop, but not among the top 15. I wouldn't need to go back soon, except I'd like to try their café.

Bubó Barcelona

Bubó Barcelona: Xabina

After a brisk walk to Isetan to find that they did not have the cake I needed for my next cake-off, I headed home and then set off for Bubó Barcelona. This time, I did not get lost and it did take only half the time. Total, it was just under 6 km, done at 9 km/h.

The shop and street were empty of customers when I went, though someone came in after me. They had 10 types of cakes, so I won't run out of things there soon. I got the Xabina, which is basically a familiar type: mousse chocolate cake with a little Bavarian cream inside (not sure why). In this case, though, there are spices and olive oil involved, and you can definitely taste that there is something different going one. These types of cakes pretty much depend on the quality of the chocolate and this was definitely not bad, and interesting, so I'll say it's excellent and move this shop up to the Quite Excellent category, which means I'll have to make frequent visits there, at least until they disappoint me.

Worth mentioning, before I ate my cake, I had to go out for regular groceries, and I noticed an animal running along the fence between housing units. It was cat-sized, but something wasn't quite right. It came back and couple times, popping and running along the top of the fence (the wire fence: there isn't flat top), and I saw it had a triangular face. Apparently, we have civets (https://japantoday.com/category/features/kuchikomi/whats-that-smell-could-a-civet-be-nearby). I was told Tokyo has feral "Tree civets", or maybe it was "Forest civets", but I'm not sure that's a real thing and the Japan Today article was less certain about whether they are invasive.

Sunday/Monday: Bubó Barcelona: Choco Deluxe

Had a long bicycle ride to visit some outlying shops to see what was available for upcoming cake-offs (for example, I would have had one Tuesday, but the necessary shops are closed, so I'll give it a try Saturday, though I may run into other trouble, as being sold-out is also a problem, and that's a bigger danger on the weekend). It was a relaxing ride, at least until I got to Ring Road 8, which I forgot how inconvenient/dangerous it is for pedestrians and bicyclists, so I should look for a different route when I perhaps do the same thing next month. No cake, also in preparation for the next cake-off, but at Paris S'éveille, I got a Croissant Orange (or something closely named), which was excellent. It's a fairly how croissant, and very crispy, with some orange paste inside. Not sure what they cut the orange with besides sugar, but almond paste seems like a good choice.

Monday, I got a second cake from Bubó Barcelona at Isetan, since their time there was almost up. It is Choco Deluxe, which is an all chocolate mousse cake. The center seems to be a little chocolate cream, surrounded by a lighter mousse, with a chocolate coating, of course, along with the outside decorations. There is a crunchy bottom and some more chocolate biscuit inside. Being strictly chocolate is limiting, but it is excellent chocolate, so I would like to compare this to other top chocolate, which is to say that I think it is great. Guess I'll be visited the Omotesando shop sooner rather than later, though it's going to have to get in line at least behind Éclat des Jours, which I hope to get to Thursday, and Il Pleut sur la Seine, which will have to wait for next week, as I owe Sadaharu Aoki a cake and want to do a couple cake-offs this week-end, to catch up a little.

There was also a little running. I did about 10 min running hard up and down a moderate nearly slope and then went to the Gaien course and practiced 500 m at a time 8, 8, 10, and 11 km/h speeds using a stop watch, before heading back. It was my first time for this kind of training and I expected hard running the next day, so I didn't work that long. Also, I had a late start.

Bubó Barcelona: Nameraka

I planned to do a cake-off, but talking myself into waiting, as there are other things I want to get to during the week, so I want to keep to my Saturday plan. Instead, I went to Isetan to take advantage of the visit of Bubó Barcelona (not that Omotesando is so far, but Isetan is cheaper and easier) and got Nameraka (799 yen), which is Japanese for smooth, though it was written in katakana, like a foreign word. This Isetan version has extra chocolate on the sides, if I'm to believe Bubó Barcelona's Facebook picture, but otherwise is supposedly chocolate cream (must be really thick cream) and vanilla cream with dried raspberries on a very nutty base, I assume hazelnut. Also some mint there too, or some green thing at least a little minty, but overall the cream and nuttiness, without actually nuts, dominated. It was excellent. I'm not sure that it was more than the sum of its parts, but the parts were excellent.

For running, I went down to Midtown again and confirmed that Sadaharu Aoki there does not have the next new cake I should get (need to get to Marunouchi), or at least one that I've put off until now, since its green tea and Japanese sweet beans. However, I didn't research ahead of time, and Toshi Yoroizuka was closed except for the bar. I guess I might be back there again Friday night. Another place also has a cheesecake that I should eventually get around to. I was pretty sore after yesterday this morning, though no so much by the time it was evening, but I only did 7 km on the low side of 9 km/h.