Jun Honma: Waguri Mont-Blanc

Still trying to sort out the quite fine shops versus the exceptional shops, I ran to Jun Honma again. I didn't get turned around 180 degrees again, but I also didn't pick my route that well, so it took about the same time. Actually, coming back with cake took the same time, and I walked under Shinjuku as far as Isetan. Takes a couple hours total.

I went with the Waguri Mont-Blanc this time, very traditional. And it was very traditional tasting, so good but nothing special, so Jun Honma slips behind, giving a different shop a chance for the next day. I'll say that this had a sort of almond tart base, since besides using Japanese Chestnuts, the base classifies it within the Mont-Blanc family.

Jun Honma; Edo Matchi

Did a run out to Kouenji to visit the Jun Honma branch there, since it's closest. It was a longer run than necessary because I got turned around past Shinjuku Station and ended up heading back south and losing all my northern progress, though that was probably just a few minutes of running. Coming back, I didn't have trouble and actually walked from the west Shinjuku subway entrance to pass under the station, and then had shopping in Shinjuku (though that was it's own kind of exercise).

At Jun Honma, I got Edo Matchi, which is a traditional heavy (think, central/eastern Europe) layer cake with matcha, matcha ganache, chocolate, and some mandarin in there (I assume the sort of gelatin looking layers is matcha and fruit gelatin). I chose it thinking that chocolate and matcha is a good combination, but I didn't really have high expectations that it would be very exciting, based on the type and the previous two cakes from there. Certainly, it is not something that blows you away from the first bite, but it impresses over the full eating, so I can easily say that is excellent. It surprised me, though I expect most chefs to the bigger places to be able to make excellent cakes, just what I think is excellent is not necessary what sells well for them. Because of one early great cake that I've never seen again, they score high enough to challenge the bottom of the exceptional group, but now it's looking more like they have an actual chance of moving up. Of course, a different shop is at the top of the quite fine shops, but they are closed Tuesdays and there is room for two to be promoted, so Jun Honma got their chance, and did well. One nice thing about them is that they are open until 21:00, so even if they are little far and getting past Shinjuku Station takes time, there was a pretty good selection.

Jun Honma: Bois de la Cambre/Cambre no Mori

Hitting a maybe quite good shop that's come back into consideration now that I'm penalizing shops less for less than excellent cakes (this is the third and the second was just ok), focusing on the potential for great cakes (which the first one seemed at the time, but I've never seen it since). I went for Cambre no Mori (or Bois de la Cambre, depending on how much of the Japanese you want to translate into French), name for the Belgian park. My reasoning was that the cake that I liked from them had orange and this looked solid enough to travel well by bicycle, which it certainly was. It's a chocolate on top of an orange tart. Actually, it's pretty much chocolate fudge to the point of the chocolate being slightly grainy, presumably from sugar crystals, which is a new experience for me in Japan. This seems like it wouldn't be out of place in a family restaurant or dinner, and it would be a pretty good choice, because it's good at what it does, but it's amazingly crude in aims for a patisserie cake, so I sort of just have to shake my head at it and laugh. It seems very mom and pop's style, but actually this is a branch shop of a shop further along the same train line, and they also have a workshop a little south, so it's all by design. As I said, it was good, and I can laugh at it, so I'm not disappointed really. It's fun to have something from a different kind of shop, but definitely not the kind of shop I'm usually look for, since I'd like something more sophisticated (especially at regular patisserie prices).