Sadaharu Aoki, Chou Truffle Caramel

Saturday afternoon, after going to Ginza to get a Pain au Chocolat from  from Camélia (which was definitely excellent, so they're my top priority on pastries, even if I'm not blogging pasties any more, due to lack of time), I stopped in at the Sadaharu Aoki main Tokyo shop in Marunouchi to see again whether they had a yearly shop exclusive yet for the new fiscal year that started in April. The website is still showing last year's. What they did have, and I don't know whether it is an exclusive, was Chou Truffle Caramel, so I got it. I'm pretty sure this is chocolate truffle, not the mushroom type, but I still haven't found anything online about it. It was good but traditional still seems to be best. It's been a while since I've had a new great cake them, so they they've slipped enough that Dalloyau, significantly behind them in number, deserves a visit for a new cake. I keep finding reasons to start hitting the merely fine shops.
 

Sadaharu Aoki, Flan Nature

Thursday, since they are a priority shop in terms of not having enough new cakes, I get another new cake from Sadaharu Aoki at Marunouchi. This was Flan Nature. I didn't have high expectations, being just custard, but having a wonderful vanilla flavor, it was excellent (and relatively cheap).

Though this is from Friday, I'll also give a mention to Échiré and these Sablé Sandwiches, which were at least good. Can't say I've rated them carefully, but I definitely liked the Pistache the best. These are from (Shinjuku) Isetan. Not really that cheap: about half a cake each, though that's true of most non-cake things.

Sadaharu Aoki, Mille-Feuille Mâtcha

The second stop Sunday morning was Sadaharu Aoki, in Marunouchi. It's taken three and a half months to get this year's exclusive cake, Mille-feuille Matcha, so I was happy to get it. The filling is matcha custard. I could find that it was an improvement, nor was it a huge difference, but it's still an excellent mille-feuille. 

Sadaharu Aoki, Hassaku Passion

Sadaharu Aoki: Hassaku Passion

My running Sunday night was actually to get more cake, which was less ambitious than I originally planned, though I wasn't expecting to be successful, since it was late on a Sunday, when everything is usually sold-out. I went to the south Tokyo Sta. area and naturally went first to the Sadaharu Aoki main shop. I was looking for their yearly exclusive, which I still haven't gotten, even though the year starts in April. I did get something that they just promoted again, but I could have gotten to Isetan, if I were more patient, Hassaku Passion, which is hassaku orange (which is a Japanese variety which is apparently somewhat grapefruit like) and passion fruit on a coconut accented sablé. The description makes clear that it is mild, which it is, so not really my thing, but good.

Viron, Rouge

Last week, wasn't quite so late, so one day, I managed to get to Viron early enough to get cake, though I failed three days with Sadaharu Aoki and F. Cassel. Actually, even that one cake was one cake ahead, but since I expected to busy the next week, and it felt like Tokyo could go back into shutdown, it was justified. Actually, this was the cake I expected to get on Sunday, but I found something else. This time I was getting from the Marunouchi shop, which is more focused on the restaurant side, so maybe they don't have as many take-out cakes. Anyway, it's Rouge, which is obviously a fruity cake, and obviously has some gelatin, from the shape. An unusual point is that this is coconut cream, rather than some other medium. The fruit is specifically raspberry, I think. The reality isn't so exciting or different from other fruit dome cake, but it was good.

Viron: Tarte (Pear) and Tarte Tatin

Sunday, went to Viron (with a reservation) for a nice lunch for two. For dessert, we had Tarte Tatin, which I've had before, but can't find a posting for, so must of been preblog, and the seasonal tart, which was pear. The tatin was great, as before. Apparently, the season would usually be over but is extended this year, so it's still possible to get.

The seasonal pear tart was a pretty standard baked tart, but baking is what Viron is good at, so it was definitely excellent. I need to get over there more often. This is the only place I know with great café desserts (though there are places that sell their take-out cakes for eating in that have some great cakes), despite trying various other places, so I've pretty much given up searching.

Lenôtre, Espirit Tartelette Fraise Chocolat & Viron, Charme

Was busy in the afternoon, but squeezed in a run and bought cake for later. I tried a neighborhood run through the just-revised Akasaka-Azabudai-Roppongi loop. Even though I wasn't up on the progress in Azabudai, I'm pretty familiar with most of this loop, so I could finish it clockwise this time, and also do the full Roppongi Itchoume Stn. clump (there isn't much to the extra link and loop), so I'm ahead on that. Tomorrow I'll probably work on clumps closer to the base, as I'm off and there's a shop that's only open during normal work hours that I want to visit over in Sendagaya. Along the way, I got a Croissant from Pierre Gagnaire, since Libertable doesn't seem to have pastries any more, or at least now (I was over that way because I first did the just revised little Yotsuya north loop clockwise). The croissant was more of a hotel breakfast croissant than a good patisserie croissant, so it gets just an "ok".

I was getting cake for two, so I got two cakes: first, Espirit Tartelette Fraise Chocolat from Lenôtre, which I had been trying to get since last Wednesday (though they have one more new item I haven't had, a strawberry verrine). The other was the new cake I spotted at Viron yesterday, Charme, which is a chocolate dome cake, but with a hard shell. I had to save them, though, so for my lunch dessert, I also got the Almondine, which is an almond petit four, I would say. It was good, but this kind of dessert isn't going to become a focus of mine, I think.

I liked the cake in the evening better, though I did add tea, which was lacking with the Almondine. The Espirit Tartelette Fraise Chocolat was good, but not so exciting and I'd rather have less fruit and more other parts. The Charme did a better job of meeting my chocolate cravings, and I can say that it was excellent.

I expect I'll have to wait another month before I can get another new cake from Viron.

Viron: Choux Rétrodor

Last Monday, ran to Viron in Marunouchi and got their Choux Rétrodor, which is a cream puff using their Rétrodor brand of flour, in both the choux pastry and in the custard. Note sure that it made a difference, but I've learned to appreciate the simplicity of this dessert. Excellent. I took the long way, looking in on Ginza Mitsukoshi on my way back.

Viron: Tropézienne

Still trying to catch up. I went out Thursday for cake, running and it ended up being a long run. I was trying to get a new cake from F. Cassel in Mitsukoshi Ginza, but no cake. JPH had a little, but nothing new. Lenôtre  had just Concerto (lots of them). There was one counter there I would have taken a new cake from, but also no cake there. I forgot about Ladurée, on the 2nd floor, but checked out Ginza 6 and came up with nothing from two shops (though no surprise for the soon closing Origines Cacao). Anyway, Viron is a top priority and hasn't rotated new cakes in so quickly, so even though I had just bought two days before, I went back (though in Marunouchi) and got one of the two I had seen before the brief Christmas cake takeover: Tropézienne. This is a brioche-based cake (easy for them, since they're a bakery) with custard cream using Échiré butter, fresh orange, and some sort of liquor (I would guess orange). Definitely not my usual thing, and not what I as expecting (since I wasn't paying close attention), but it worked for me and was excellent.

Friday, I did not get cake, but worked on neighborhood course loops and completed another one.

Saturday, I tried my biggest loop counterclockwise for the seventh time and got much farther, about 3/4 before I got to a point where I didn't remember what to do and made the wrong turn (there are two similar sharp corners and on the first one I should have gone straight after the sharp turn, but thought I needed to turn off). It was okay though and I'm willing to leave it at that for now. It was a 3.5 h run with relatively few stops. I added three sites afterward and revised the map slightly in ways that will hopefully be easy to remember on the next run: just slight detours. On the way I tried two pastries and had better luck than the previous week. First, Path Cafe was not mobbed at 09:00 on the Saturday before New Years and I could get a (the one) Pain au Chocolat. This fresh-baked pastry was actually very soft inside, which usually I would not respect, but fresh, it was melt in my mouth delicious, which I definitely respect. I suppose it was great, but really this is my first experience this is fresh a pain au chocolat. Maybe next year, I'll bet able to get a fresh Croissant without a 30-minute wait.

The other stop was after failure, I stopped at Levain and got their Butter Croissant. This seems to be a multigrain pastry (I didn't read beyond the name), in keeping with their theme. Actually, for including "butter" in the name, less buttery than average, but what great layering throughout. It's more of a super dinner role than a pastry, but its definitely something special, so I have to rate it at least excellent. I look forward to getting something else from them as well.

 

Viron: Caramel Chocolat au Lait

Ran to Viron Monday night. I didn't really run so fast, I thought, but the time passed fast. Even coming back with the rain getting heavy, it did not seem like a long run, though it's longer than a Ginza run and there was only a tiny bit of walking underground. I delayed posting because I'm really not sure what's in this Caramel Chocolat au Lait. The chocolate is in the base of the tart shell, so it's not visible. This is maybe slightly more caramel above that, that is also not visible, but seemed rather red, so I wonder if there is something more than caramel. I'll have to ask next time I go by. It was definitely good and appropriate for some place that is more of bakery than a cake shop, but not super exciting. I'm not sure that they had another cake (though this could qualify as a pastry tart). Fortunately, it will take Origines Cacao time to finish its run to displace something in the superb group before I need to give Viron it's chance.

Cake-off: Jean-Paul Hévin's Saint Honoré over Sadaharu Aoki's Éclair Caramel Salé

Got an early start (from having slept most of Sunday) on the Monday holiday, leaving at about 6 in the morning to try loops in the Azabu area. I was successful in 3 out of 4 cases, leaving a split: I did the very recently revised Nishi-Azabu--Minami-Azabu loop clockwise, and then finished off the Minami-Azabu west loop. Of course, the Azabu-Juuban loops was trivial to complete, the the tricky Moto-Azabu--Azabu-Juuban loop defeated me two places, both which I can put down to fatigue, since it was in execution rather than knowledge that I failed, though the latter was not perfect overall either, just it was not necessarily what tripped me up.

I had time before shops opened, so I went back over to the big loop circling Shimo-Kitazawa that I haven't updated the name for. I spent not much more than an hour, so I only traced about half what I did last time with only slightly better knowledge. I did find one place where a seemingly unneeded detour could be removed. I feel that I've forgotten another place that needs correctly, but perhaps I was just thinking of a Starbucks that I need to add (I should also find out of the next nearest one closed) on a loop I passed coming back.

For cake, I was not planning to do a cake-off, but just get two cakes from top shops that will only be round for a couple weeks. First I went to Hikarie close to opening time and got the Éclair Caramel Salé. For the second, I went to the Jean-Paul Hévin Marunouchi shop, since they open later than Isetan, so I figured I would have a better chance of getting the new cake starting today, and I was right. The danger there was the small supply, but rain probably was keeping people away and I had Ginza Mitsukoshi as a back-up, which also probably has a smaller demand than Isetan.

I ate Sadaharu Aoki's Éclair Caramel Salé first and decided it was great, both in terms of the caramel filling and the pastry. Of course, Jean-Paul Hévin's Saint Honoré is very similar in both, but I decide that it had more complexity, which was working for it, so I selected it as the winner, since they both seemed to be great. These two are probably going to dominate cake-offs for a while, which I may have to do extra ones for. I'm consider my cake budget for this month.

Tante Marie, Lu'bre

Still working my way through getting third cakes from all the shops on the quite fine list. Tante Marie, a newly added shop, was a priority because I rated the first two cakes as both excellent, so it had a chance to take over the top spot in the group to challenge the exceptional group. I went for the Oazo shop, next to Tokyo Station, since it's open until 8 pm. I did a loop around the imperial palace ground, clockwise, to be able to use the running course (you can't go against the pack on the north part, though with ran today, there wasn't much of a pack).

The running was 4-min running (first minute slow, last minute fast) intervals separated by at least 2 min (usually exactly 2 min of walking, but there are traffic lights and one stop to purchase cake). Was just in the 48th minute of running when I ran out of course. Next step is 3:7 ratio of walking and running, but not tomorrow, I think.

The cake I choose was Lu'bre, if I remember the name correctly (and I had doubts) which Google Translate tells me is Corsican for "the sun". It's chocolate mousse and vanilla cream. I caught a glimpse of "raspberry", so maybe there was a little in the chocolate to give it fruity flavor, but not enough to be easily identifiable. It was definitely good, as these chocolate and vanilla mousse cakes go, but I still can't see the point of these cakes other than as a safe choice. I should have gone for the Gorgonzola cheesecake, since cheesecake is their specialty. Well, I'll get back for a 4th cake eventually, though it may take a couple years. Hopefully they'll last. Look at where to go next, I see that Shirokanedo is gone, not just from Isetan but from the neighborhood of the same name. I guess Sourire is next among ones to visit on holidays. 

Tante Maria, Camembert Cheese Cake & Tarte Pistache

Was busy Saturday and not fit to run, but I'm feeling less hopeless about my feet, which tells you about how my week was going. Anyway, cake for two, with drinks (required) in the max 3-group, 8-person eat-in area of Tante Maria in the Marunouchi Oazo building. I've passed by the regular home shop, though I've never stopped. Since it's their main thing, I choose the Camembert Cheese Cake and the other chosen cake was the Tarte Pistache. Based on half of each, and allowing some leniency in a first visit, these were both excellent.

The cheesecake has a distinctively strong cheese taste, though it still managed to be cake (it looks like it has a mold rind on top, but it's actually powered sugar). For its attention to cheesiness, I can say that it is excellent. They have two other cheesecakes, though the brie seems to be whole cake takeoff only, though it is smaller than the other whole cakes.

The Pistachio tart was mostly as expected, though it was softer than others I've had recently, which doesn't generally appeal to me, but it came without a sacrifice in flavor, and in fact it was more flavorful than some recent good pistachio tarts, so it also gets an excellent.

Jean-Paul Hévin: Gaufrette Chocolat

Saturday, my morning opened up somewhat and I could have done a cake-off but decided to stick to a long run instead. First, I went to try to practice the Hatagaya--Honmachi--Nishi-Shinjuku loop of my neighborhood course map. Actually I initially ignored the Nishi-Shinjuku part, since it's super simple. The rest of it is a big rectangle with six deviations, three on the north and three on the south. I managed to get the first two (counterclockwise) of each and overran the other two turns (realizing before reaching where to rejoin the path along the main road), so I still need to keep practicing to consider this part of my neighborhood.

Along the south leg, I got something from B. Rue de Berri for the first time, a Pain au Chocolat. They seemed nice enough as a small shop but unfortunately I don't have much nice to say about this pastry. It's sort of a blob, so they aren't much interested in artistry; I'm sympathetic to avoiding unnecessary decoration, although it does affect the texture. For me, it was under-baked, which means thick layers that haven't been made into leaves. Also, the chocolate left an unpleasant aftertaste, although that's a more common problem with pain au chocolat. I'll say it was ok and probably avoid them for pastries, unless its a donut.

Since it was on the way to my next loop to practice, I stopped at Le Pain Quotidien for a first pastry. They had much fancier/heavier things, but I had just had a pastry (though a small one), so I just got a Croissant. It was good, no complaints. And it was effective at canceling the test of the previous Pain au Chocolat.

Next, I practiced the west part of the Hatsudai--Tomigaya--Yoyogi loop, this time successfully. After, I cut back to the as-yet untried Hatagaya-Motoyoyogichou-Nishihara-Tomigaya-Uehara loop. Mostly, I was just making a third attempt to take pictures of Unshouji, but the gate was still shut and, looking in, there did not seem to be any other interesting buildings, so I'm finalizing that landmark on the map. On on that loop, which I modified slightly where it confused me, I stopped for a first and (unintentionally) final pastry, another Croissant, from Boulangerie et Cafe Main Mano there near Yoyogi-Uehara Stn. It was good, better even than Le Pain Quotidien's, having slightly more of the flaky layer. I noticed that this too had an inner layer that wasn't as baked as I would like, but at least that was within a thick enough pastry that it didn't bother me. I attempted again to visit Masuda Seipan for a baked good, and even though it was within the newly posted 11-17 hours, they were again closed, so it's mystery when they're open. I can't remember whether I've tried during a weekday.

In the afternoon, I went out to the Jean-Paul Hévin Chocolate Bar in Marunouchi for a Gaufrette Chocolat, a chocolate waffle which I shared along with JPH's Mont-Blanc. It was definitely good. It was sort of like eating a large soft chocolate chip cookie. As a drink, I had Chocolat Chaud au Rhum for the first time and it was excellent.

Sadaharu Aoki: Savarin

Savarin (Sadaharu Aoki)

Tuesday, did a run out to Marunouchi to get cake from Sadaharu Aoki, the Savarin, which is there through November. I also visited the two Jean-Paul Hévins around there to see what was up. Next month will be waffles with chocolate at the Chocolate Bar.

It's hard for me to judge Savarin, because it's a little different from my usual thing, but it seemed excellent (and I did enjoy it). Certainly I would like to make it (given the time and knowledge), which is my definition of excellent.

Almond and Anzu Tart (Atelier de Mar)

Wednesday, I went out to practice the Hatagaya--Honmachi--Nishi-Shinjuku loop. You'll notice that Nishi-Shinjuku has been added back into the name, as I discovered that there was no reason for that to be in a separate loop. Unfortunately, my sense of the other parts of the course remain incomplete, so I'm going to have to practice more. On the plus side, I was surprised to notice that there is an Atelier de Mar on the north end of the Hatagaya shopping street, so I bought an Almond and Anzu Tart (anzu is the standard plum variety in Japan). It was a nice little pastry-type tart, which I will give the benefit of the doubt and call excellent, as a first pastry. I didn't see such tarts at the Hatsudai branch. There is also apparently a shop in Sasazuka, but I'm going to want to verify that on the ground before I adjust the running course around there. On their Twitter feed, they show lots of tarts, but I'm not sure which branch that is.

Sadaharu Aoki, Saint-marc Praliné

Jogged to Sadaharu Aoki in Marunouchi for a new cake. Unfortunately, too late for the Baba (I hope I understood right, that they weren't just sold out, it had ended its run). Guess I was too slow. The next new thing is a variety pack of little pieces of other cakes, which doesn't interest me, unless someone visits and I want to give them a sample. However, the main shop in Marunouchi also has Saint-marc Praliné, which I had only had a little of before, not enough to give a fair evaluation.

I also went to Ginza Mitsukoshi to make sure JPH hadn't stuck something into their line-up (since I don't have another good source for information), which they hann't but I got the little Boulette au Marron from Dalloyau again because I thought I didn't give it a fair evaluation before. The problem before was that I put it on top of my cake box for the trip back. I didn't keep it there, but pastries need to be warm and I didn't do anything to heat it back up. I tried it again, eating it as I crossed back west underground to Hibiya Park (I continued walking the entire way home, as Sadaharu Aoki boxes are too unstable to run with, being basically just big enough and in the same shape as their cakes), and I'm willing to change the rating of it to excellent.

The Saint-marc Praliné is subtle, which saint-mark usually are, but they could have gone heavy with the praliné, but didn't. It pretty much took until the last bite to decide that was great (i.e., I definitely want to have it again). I wonder, though, whether there was maple in the top caramel layer or that was harmonization. In any case, happy to find another great cake, even if it's not one that I'll see much after it's gone (I'm not sure whether it will continue through December or March, but I think it started this year as the exclusive Marunouchi cake and will have a one-year run). I don't feel in a huge hurry to do a cake-off with it, so I'll stick with the Mont-Blanc from Ryoura for the next one, but I should get to it next month, if I can find another great cake to pair it against.

Jean-Paul Hévin: Chocolat Framboise (2018)

Sunday, there was cycling in the morning to try to review landmarks on the Hatagaya--Honmachi--Minami-Dai--Nishi-Shinjuku loop, which I thought was going to be a 13th-level loop until the connecting 12th-level loop got merged with its source as the Hatagaya--Hatsudai--Honmachi--Tomigaya--Yoyogi loop, now my longest at 11.7 km. I axed one park that was just a small paved area with one corner as a bicycle-sharing station and missed a couple landmarks on the other side the road to the north, where I don't have any immediate exits (my entrance link is from the south and there is a pedestrian bridge crossing out to the west). So I think I'm now ready to try this as a one-way neighborhood course run, which is good, because it's second on the list of level 12 loops and I plan to do the first one Tuesday.

In the afternoon I went to the Jean-Paul Hévin in Marunouchi, mostly for variations on things I've had before, shared between two. The limited item was the Coussin d'Amour Orange, which I had forgotten that I had before, since previously it was on a plate with a little chocolate sauce on top. It's a chocolate crepe with I'm not sure what kind of filling and orange sauce and this time it came in a paper sleeve for eating by hand and without any chocolate decoration. I think this presentation helped me appreciate it as excellent, though that's based mainly on the orange sauce. The chocolate crepe doesn't really add anything for me.

The other main selection was the Chocolat Framboise, which the receipt adds an "N" too, probably for new, since this is a change version as of this month. The top now doesn't have fresh raspberry and the now is now thinner and more gelatinous, which isn't any better an idea than it sounds. Not sure what they are thinking. It's still good, still relative dry and now there's a new gelatinous texture that doesn't help.

The best thing about the Marunouchi shop (besides being an an addition place that might have something different), is the hot chocolate, since it's less than halve the price of what's at Isetan and the selection is not bad. It's worth putting up with a paper cup instead of a tea cup. I had a new flavor for me, Chocolat Chaud Brésil, which was excellent.

Sadaharu Aoki: Noisettine Chocolat

As planned, I went to the Marunouchi main tokyo shop for P. Sadaharu Aoki Paris and got cake and tea for two. My tea was Ceylon Citronelle, which I thought was excellent this time. Due to greed, I chose the Noisettine Chocolat, even though I can get that at Isetan, whereas the Marunouchi shop has an exclusive cake that I haven't done yet, because I wasn't sure that I would want another cake from them in time to have both before the first went out of season, which isn't looking true now, but that could change with the next new cake.

As the name indicates, the Noisettine is caramelized hazelnuts and chocolate. This is very different from gianduja, which is about 7:3 chocolate:hazelnut, so a hazelnut-flavored chocolate. In this case, chocolate is the accent, and the hazelnut is able to shine. There is a lot of (caramelized?) hazelnut cream, which is at least excellent by itself, but inside are some small pieces of whole caramelized hazelnuts, so if you chew carefully to crush those up, they release a more intense flavor than I remember in other cakes. Add in the chocolate, and greatness easily follows. This is around through November and I'd like to get it through two rounds of cake-offs, since I haven't seen this before, so I don't know how many years I'll have to wait for it to appear again. Sadaharu Aoki has just moved to the top of my priority list of places to get more new cakes from (though I'm still limiting myself to one a week), as it has pulled away from the competition to clearly take at least third places and is tied for second.

I should mention that I also received half of the Maron Fruits Rouges (not the half with the whole chestnut, obviously), from which I've decided that it's better to eat this cake while it's still well chilled so the whipped cream is sufficiently firm. This might be true of mont-blanc (which this basically is, of the typical upside-down type, with the "snow" under the "mountain") in general. It's just just structural: this cake works better for me with firmer whipped cream. The ideal time I've heard for whipped cream is 10 minutes from the refrigerator, but I wouldn't wait that long when it's supportive rather than on top.

In other cake news, Jean-Paul Hévin's Tarte au Chocolate is only around for this month, so I think I'll move its second-round cake-off to next weekend. That's the only announced retirement from the line-up so far, with no word yet on what will be new in October (but at least one of their mont-blanc varieties is expected, hopefully Mont-Fuji from 2015, though I'm waiting to do second-round cake-offs with Mont-Poire Yuzu and Mont-Pomme Caramel). In related news (namely, great cakes), 14 Julliet Tokyo has stopped selling petits gateaux, so Au Lait Noix is unavailable. I'll check them again next month, as the young person out front, who likely is a part-timer, couldn't say have long this situation might last.

In the evening, I ran another one-way neighborhood course run to loop 11 out: the Minami-Aoyama east loop. I was surprised to find myself just a little lightheaded after only 30 minutes (just reaching the preceding loop), since I had a big lunch and cake earlier, but then I remembered that I hadn't had breakfast (though I got up late). I kept running and didn't have any problems. No surprises on the Minami-Aoyama east loop, though I did decide to add the Viking Bakery F to the map, since it's conceivable I would want a snack from there some day, though they don't have any pastries. Total run was a bout 65 minutes. I had initially planned to continue on to the next loop but decided maybe even before I started running to save that, since it would add another hour (it's a 10+ km loop; has two dead-end loops, at least one of which I would be obligated to include, so I don't have to make a special trip another time; and would leave me farther from home).

Caffarel: Gianduia

Had reason to be inside JR Station, so I finally got a cake from Caffarel to blog on, their signature Gianduia, which is gianduia brulée cream on top of chocolate cream with a some raspberry filling. It was definitely good, but not especially compelling among the crowded field of chocolate cakes. Strictly speaking, this was not my first cake from them, or even maybe even my first cake from them since starting to blog (and probably not my first time to even have this particular cake), but my other encounters were in Kobe.

For running, I finally got back to my neighborhood course and finished doing a one-way neighborhood run completing the Jinguumae east loop, Kita-Aoyama central loop, Minami-Aoyama north loop, and newly added Kasumigaokamachi--Kita-Aoyama loop.

Sadaharu Aoki: Citron Praliné

Went to the main Sadaharu Aoki, in Marunounich for two and ate in. They had a couple cakes that I wanted, though only one was out when I entered, so I chose that one as an individual, Citron Praliné.

We also had the Dégustation Royal, which included a couple bites (that I had one of) of the other cake that I was instrested in, the Saint-Marc Praliné. The Citron Praliné was of their usual standard, excellent. The Saint-Marc Praliné was good enough that I still want to have a full piece to rate it, but am not in a hurry.

The drinks were also good, of course, Ceylon Citronelle and Special Aoki Pomme Caramel, I think.




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