Toshi Yoroizuka, Figue Noire

 Another quite exceptional shop visited Sunday for a new cake was Toshi Yoroizuka in Kyoubashi, Chuuou-ku, where I got the Figue Noire, I think (based on the phonetic Japanese). Not sure whether it has cassis (black currant), but it was certainly fruitier than I would expect from just fig, and quite sweet, more than I wanted, really, but I wasn't really feeling in the mood for sweets, which is more timing when I have cake. Nevertheless, it's fair to say it was good.  

Still one more exceptional shop to hit, but I have to wait until next month for Pierre Gagnaire to finish the current line-up. Being in an international hotel, they are hit hard by travel restrictions, so they don't even have all the cakes displayed on their poster. 

Toshi Yoroizuka, Hitachihime

Today I wasn't working so late, so, to get a new Toshi Yoroizuka cake, I ran to the Kyoubashi shop, which is a little farther than the Midtown one, but convenient to Viron as a backup. Not much selection that close to closing (there's a cafe, as well as a salon, so seems like pretty steady business). I went with the shortcake Hitachihime (which is a registered brand of strawberries). I asked for no ice packs , since its cold (though with a strong wind, not as cold as it feels), and I got 8 little ones: I brought a bag with a giant ice pack already in it, but the young person packing the cake put two little ones in the box and then dumped 6 inside, maybe to fill up the space? This made it rather heavy, besides being rather wasteful (as far as I know, no one wants to recycling my ice packs). However, a heavy bag was useful in the strong wind.

Well, the strawberry was definitely good and the cake was fine as standard Japanese strawberry cake, but didn't stand out, so Bien-Étre remains at the top of the quite exceptional group, challenging Pierre Hermé, except the latter as more cakes under it's belt and Bien-Étre already has almost enough even for a superb shop, so I'm not sure what I'll do. I should get another cake from Bien-Étre soon, but it's not a huge priority (and I haven't actually seen new cakes there for a long time). Besides En Vedette, though, I'm not sure I have any place that's a priority that also has new cakes, so maybe next week, as well as finally starting to hit some new shops.

Hidomi, Ilhéur

Yesterday, I took a rest from running, though some of my shopping was running related and it took a lot of walking. Still ate up the same about of time, so I still managed to get practically nothing else done in the evening. Since I was out at Odakyu Halc, I sampled Pompadour as a first post and got a Pain aux Raisins. Not actually very special, but not bad, so I'll say it was good. This counts as being on the neighborhood course since I've allowed Shinjuku Takashimaya (as across the street from a west Shinjuku loop) and they are connected by underground tunnel.

Today, I had the afternoon off, so I ran out to Hidemi (with lots of stretching), as a candidate for promotion from the very good tier of cake shops. I did not write it down, but it was fairly memorable, so I think I have it right as Ilhéur (the "h" is silent). I was attracted to the chocolate, but Hidemi is about fruit, in this case pineapple, lime, and coconut (if that counts). The harmony doesn't quite do it for me though, and I really don't like the texture of shredded coconut meat, certainly not in a smooth cream/gelatin. Still it was definitely interesting and well made, so it was pleasant and I can call it good, but Hidemi is off the radar for promotion and now I'm noticing Noix de Beurre in its place.

Toshi Yoroizuka: Croissant

Did a run (there and back) to check on the shops between Tokyo Station and Ginza. Nothing interesting to report, but it was a good run. There was a threat of heavy rain, but it fell elsewhere. As a snack, I got my second pastry from Toshi Yoroizuka, a Croissant. It was fairly fluffy, but after the recent pain au chocolat I've had, which were more tough than flaky, I'm pretty happy with fluffy. Despite being a cake shop, they are more geared toward bread than pastries so I'm not surprised that their croissant is somewhat on the bread-like side. Good pastry, though.

Cake-off: Éclat des Jours's Rhum Raisin over Hidemi Sugino's Améthyste

Rain front coming through, but it slowed down, so I could get out before it. I'm hoping it will speed up again, so I can go out tomorrow afternoon, though there's the next typhoon coming in behind. Ran 15+ km total at 9+ km/h average, first to Éclat des Jours, which was a little late opening (there were a few people waiting ahead of me, but not more than there were staff inside, so no problem) to get their Rhum Raisin, and then to Hidemi Sugino, where I arrived 15 min before opening and got in a long line. Lots of foreigners, like me, as the place is famous and maybe some of them don't know better (like I should have) than come here on a Saturday morning. It took me 1 hour to get cake, but maybe I could have gotten it faster if I had come earlier (to get at the front of the line) or later (to come after the line had diminished, though it did not seem to have at 11:45). I should have waited and done this when I had a day off, but I was hoping for only a 30 min wait. Well, it will probably be a couple years before I need to go back, and I won't be in such a hurry that I can't wait to do it during a personal holiday.

As you might guess from the above, Rhum Raisin won the cake-off. Améthyste was not bad but I wasn't feeling the greatness (maybe it was too cold) and the Rhum Raisin still was a nice flavor with a creaminess that I'm not sure I've had elsewhere. Haven't decided yet when I'll try to go for the follow-up cake. I had about run through the whole line-up of cakes available at the end of the day when I stopped making them a weekly thing, but I can get something other than fresh cake as follow-up for a cake-off if I don't find anything new when I go.

(Mon) Toshi Yoroizuka: Choux à la Crème and Saint Honoré Caramel

Went to the Tokyo Toshi Yoroizuka on Monday afternoon after a failed trip to Jean-Paul Hévin (the typhoon blocked the shipment of special pastry, so I reserved one for the special delivery on Wednesday) and shared three cakes: Baba, Choux à la Crème, and Saint Honore Caramel. The Baba is a repeat but worth mentioning, as I dismissed the whole cake type previously as uninteresting but am now willing to appreciate it and say that, even among baba, this one was excellent. The unusually feature (besides the strong warning about the amount of alcohol) was the fig. Another type of cake (?) that I've disparaged is Choux à la Crème, and in fact I got a really fancy one from Toshi Yorizuka just last week and was not impressed at all. This, however, was excellent. In fact, it's just what I said custard needed, something to contrast with it. I was thinking of a custard tart with a dense shell, but this cream puff was fairly thick, though not sense but rather had some air in it but it was baked enough to caramelize it much more than an one I've had before, and it really worked to make contrasting tastes that went together. (It's like, they are professionals, or something.)

The third cake was my choice and was a Saint Honoré Caramel and was definitely excellent. Not sure what else I can say about it. Also choux and cream/custard, but with a strong caramel taste that I liked (even though I'm not always a fan of a stronger, smokey caramel taste). 

The running was another failed attempt to run just my neighborhood course, which I can't stop fiddling with (which is what I do instead of playing computer games, which I also rarely finish). I confirmed some new parts but then got lost and found a couple things I didn't like so I've revamped it completely again (though the sights are the same, so the paths are not so different). My plan for Thursday is to make the next attempt of the approximately 20 km for the Yotsuya 3 chome SE & SW and surrounding Shinjuku Gyoen west, south, and east. In the unlikely event that I complete it without finding any parts that need to be further fixed, I've already confirmed that I can expand southwest without working out the details. The map thus far is here. 

Toshi Yoroizuka Tokyo: Caramel Flambé

No running Saturday and café dessert rather than the usual fresh cake, but still worth mentioning, since this is a cake brand whose shops I've visited frequently and think are excellent. Their Tokyo Midtown shop is nearest, but this one is also convenient to many things and quite spacious. We each got the Grand Menu, which at 3000 yen was surprisingly cheap for this level of service, food, and atmosphere, although they were not so busy (the whole Kyobashi Station area was not that busy, though there were still plenty of people around, just not so many compared to nearby Tokyo Station or Ginza, I assume). The Grand Menu comprises three courses: the "side dish", which is chocolates, sauce, and fruit, a plate of strawberry risotto (not shown), and a main desert. I choose the Caramel Flambé. The other is gorgonzola and pistachio, I think, but I don't remember the name.

The chocolate plate was excellent. The sauces are raspberry and some citrus, that I did not catch the name, though they might not have been any more specific that that.

I didn't take a picture of the strawberry risotto, since it's pretty far from what I usually blog about and I don't photograph everything I eat, but I probably should have in this case, since it was also quite excellent, very creamy, and a unique experience that I recommend. On what to me is a trivial note but does relate to the quality through the direct attention of the proprietor,  apparently the one preparing the strawberry risotto in front of us (it's set up as a bar) was the Grand Patissier himself, Toshi Yoroizuka, who has celebrity status outside the culinary field from being a widower of an actress.

The Caramel Flambé was great, as well as being highly in keeping with my bias, which is why I choose it. The tart was pretty unstable once I cut into it, so I finished off the ice cream relatively early. Otherwise, it was a nice combination or caramel flavors, as well as being photogenic (this gets featured on advertisements), though the overlap between my tea cup and whatever those sheets sticking up out of the ice cream are has spoiled that part.

I won't try to judge the other dish, since I didn't have that much of it and it is mostly ice cream, which doesn't interest me much, but yet another example of the fine plates.