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: Ryoura's Soyeux over Paris S'éveille's Gateau Vanille

In anticipation of being too busy for a cake-off this coming weekend (or maybe a make-up for the previous one---I'll have to check before the next one), I did another cake-off on Sunday. Actually, one cake I got the day before, from Paris S'éveille, Gateau Vanille. Though I had a backup plans, I was successful Sunday of getting Ryoura's Soyeux at Tokyo Midtown via Dean & Deluca. There was 1 minute on 1 minute off running at least that far, but I walked thereafter. Still, I dropped the bag as some point which is why it's a little worse for wear. Fortunately, it's a pretty solid cake. Actually, it's much like pistachio cake I had the day before and declared excellent, but I did like this one better. In fact, in the spirit of comparison, I liked both these cake-off cakes better than the previous day's ones, even though all are 3-wins-1-loss cakes. Also like the day before, though, I couldn't decide until the end and it could have gone either way. As great as the vanilla cake is, and I should really match it up against the other great vanilla cake to see which one is the top, I'm going with thick pistachio paste and some fruit. I should have checked whether Ryoura had a new cake at Dean & Deluca but I'm never that organized. 

Ryoura, Marquise

Saturday, as well as the Mont-Blanc for the cake-off, I bought a second cake at Ryoura for efficiency/social distancing's sake, since I expected getting more cakes from Ryoura, a quite exceptional shop, would be the next thing, since I was about to catch up on exceptional shops. However, the demotion of the Mont-Blanc actually meant that Ryoura was at the bottom of the quite exceptional group and likely to get replaced by one of two up-and-comers, so the 19th new cake is maybe several years ahead of its time, or at least I'll have to consider carefully after the next cake-off win whether the reward has already been given, but that's not likely to be until next year until the caramel salt tart finally returns: I'll have to watch for hints online, since I don't expect to get out that way.

Last time I went with a variation of a cake I've had before, so this time I choose something I definitely not had, Marquise, which is white peach flavored and, I was warned, has alcohol. The flavor was nice, but as the shape suggests, this requires a good amount of gelatin to maintain form and the resulting texture didn't agree with me, though I've had similar cakes that were excellent. In this cake, good as the best I'm willing to say, but I can certainly imagine someone else appreciating this cake more, as it is well made.

Cake-off: Atelier Kohta's Classic Chocolat over Ryoura's Mont-Blanc

Saturday, I ran out to Yoga again for a cake-off, this time for the Mont-Blanc for a third round between two one-and-one cakes. On the way, the stopped at Bigarreaux for a pastry, though they don't have much, instead making breads and meat pies. But they did have a Croissant, so I got that. It's on the bread side rather than pastry, but still well made and it was substantive rather than a soft hotel buffet style morning croissant, as I think of that type, so just good isn't so bad, if you're not looking for something sweet (though I am).

The other cake for this time was Atelier Kohta, which I first got 5 years ago, and it's probably been a couple years since it's cake-off (I have records, but don't bother to look). This is a Classic Chocolat (or at least that's how I recorded it), but if a different kind that my lass one. This is like a classic chocolate layer cake, but small. It was raining, so I walked, but it was enough.

Actually, these are both weak members of the great cakes (I didn't before the comparison, but wasn't surprised) who have one non-great evaluation. The Mont-Blanc is excellent, so I enjoyed having it again, but I still can't detect why I thought it was great. There was a period when I was just starting to get Mont-Blancs and I probably overcompensated then. Certainly, if Ryoura is in your neighborhood, it's a good choice, but I don't need in on my list. The Classic Chocolat makes me think of chocolate layer cake in the American mid-west. I manages to capture and probably improve on the basic taste in a tiny elegant form. I can't say that it is the style of cake I appreciate now, but it still has a place in my heart, so I'm keeping it in the greats list and giving it the win this time. Not sure Atelier Kohta actually has a new cake for me, though I've only had 4 from there: the shop only has about 4 cakes. I might end up giving something a second try.

Cake-off: Ryoura's Soyeux over Pierre Gagnaire's Mousse au Chocolat et Yuzu

Trying to catch up through May cakes, I did a fourth round with the recent Mousse au Chocolat et Yuzu, which is two for three rounds. Next in line to match it (chronologically by month then year), was Ryoura's Soyeux. I ran for the mousse cake and then walked it carefully back. Since I wasn't sure what the situation would be with Soyeux (so I might have to search for a replacement), I went by bicycle, even though I knew transporting it home safely would be a challenge that way. No problem with Soyeux, except Yoga's shopping street is crowded and customers in the shop weren't into the whole social distancing thing, nor was staff limiting people coming in. After a month of "stay at home", adherence seems to be dropping, as is the usage of masks (though that might be related to the heat). Anyway, I escape as soon as I could and carefully got my cake home.

The mousse was as always, so no complaints there, but I'm more interested in pistachio these days, plus the Soyeux offered more variation in texture, between the pistachio mousse and the crumble and fruit inside, so it's not hard to give the win to Soyeux, even though it isn't the strongest cake (it's only lost once, but to a cake that's only two and two).

Afternoon, I tried to do the Nogizaka--Roppongi Sta. clump, but failed trying to do the new Akasaka west loop counterclockwise where I had to cut through basically the driveway of apartment building, which there is more than one. Hopefully I recognize it next time, maybe tomorrow. Abandoning that project, I spent time in south Roppongi taking photos (or not) to confirm (or not) sites for that future part revised part of the neighborhood course.

Ryoura, Récif

Sunday as a big cake and running day. First, I did the run out to Ryoura. I stopped at Hikarie to check Sadaharu Aoki, but it seems to be one of the shops closed during a 1.5-month renovation. Next, I went to Viron and got their Bostock aux Pistaches, which I decided was excellent, though I'm not convinced that pistachios, much less with cherry, are an improvement.

At Ryoura, I decided that chocolate was a dependable choice (plus, I've had most of their line-up), so I went with the Récif, which I hadn't seen before. This is chocolate and whipped cream, with oat and currant sablé and cacao-scented blancmange, which sounds a little weird perhaps, but the taste was a definitely good chocolate cake, but it didn't really stand out. Maybe the interesting ingredients actually cancelled each other out. I'll included the double picture and split up the post, since I don't have enough space for all the labels.

Ryoura, Fromage Cru

Friday night was a neighborhood run. I only managed the revised Minami-Motomachi--Wakaba--Yotsuya--Sugachou--Shinanomachi loop, which itself is just 4.17 km.

Saturday, I had some time before a 10 am Skype appointment, so I went out before 8 am. At the last minutes, I decided that I'd try the updated Tomigaya--Yoyogi loop, which I hadn't reviewed and failed. Still, I went around to the new sites I had added that prompted the update and confirmed and photographs them (one of which I decided was a mistake to add). Since it nearby, next to route, and famous, I tried looking in on Path Cafe, which was full and had people waiting and eating take-out outside. The freshly made Croissants and Pain au Chocolat were already spoken for, so I would have had to wait 30 minutes. I could buy a Cannele immediately, so I went with that. On one hand, it seem perfect, not like my fake ones (which don't replicate the outside coating). On the other hand, in the end, they were too strong for me, at least without some sort appropriate beverage. Maybe I'll not that into real canelé. If I get by there nearer 8 am (when they open), I'd still like to try their Pain au Chocolat. Coming back, I could do the updated Jinguumae east and Minami-Motomachi--Moto-Akasaka loops clockwise.

The cake run came from after 11 am. I went to Yoga and visited Ryoura for a 16th cake. I've had the least luck with seasonal variations there and recent good look else with Fromage Cru, so I got that from Ryoura and brought it back for eating at home. It's two layers, so I suspect it's actually a rare/baked cheesecake combo, but whatever it was, it was definitely excellent. Not sure what a great one would be like, but I'll have to consider that when I get to a third-round cake-off with my favorite cheesecake.

Ryoura, Baron

Took the afternoon off, but a typhoon was coming, so I limited how much I was out. I had more errands to do at 4 pm, but there was some rain in the air and it has been somewhat windy all day, so decided I didn't want a long ride and gave up on more important matters after returning with cake. If the typhoon doesn't blow through quick, tomorrow's commute is going to be uncomfortable.

I went to Ryoura between lunches to finally catch up on visiting shops with cake-off wins. I spent a long time choosing, making sure to get something new. I got the Baron, which I must have considered before and regretted passing up, but there are definitely no tags for it, so it must be new. This is dried fruit in meringue, so the former made me think of Christmas fruitcake, but I prefer meringue to most demi-sec cake. Definitely good.

Speaking of cake-offs,  Bigarreaux is back to not making Le Plaisir, so it looks like I'll be back to L'Abricotier this weekend for Cicilien Figue as the competitor in the third-round losers bracket.

Cake-off: Ryoura's Soyeux over Il Pleut sur la Seine's Le Saint Marc

As a third-round cake-off between two one-and-one cakes, I went by bicycle to Ryoura first to get their Soyeux, though I stopped a few places along the way to add pictures for sites on current or planned neighborhood running course. The Soyeux didn't care for the vibration I found later, though mainly some of the base crumbled off. As the second cake, I choose Le Saint Marc from the just returned Il Pleut sur la Seine, though I'll note that they've only returned in a small way. They are down to 4.5 hours a day, 3 days a week, and I think they had all of 4 types of fresh cake, including roll cake.

I went out again after lunch and did the Daikanyama-chou--Ebisunishi--Hachiyama-chou--Nanpeidai-chou--Sakuragaoka-chou--Sarugaku-chou--Shibuya--Uguisudani-chou loop sufficiently well counterclockwise by bicycle, so I have a basic grasp of the new course and its sites. I still have three other dead-end connecting loops in that clump of routes to do, though I might visit Akasaka first, and I also need to do the revised Shibuya east loop, which are both small. I might try out my feet walking to one, either before or after going for cake by bicycle.

Returning again, exhausted, I finally did the cake-off. Unfortunately, I wasn't feeling the greatness of Le Saint Marc today, though it passed through the first two rounds fine and I can't say that there was anything wrong with how it was made this time, just the chocolate and whipped cream wasn't impressing me and I definitely liked the Soyeux better.

Cake-off: L'Abricotier's Sicile over Ryoura's Mont-blanc

Saturday, did a run out to Jiyuugaoka, since my first choice as a pairing in a cake-off was a Paris S. cake, but I was not willing to wait around for two hours. Didn't see this the next time I went either, so it might be out of the line-up. On the way, I stopped at Sunandwitch and got Choco Rusk (might not be the correct name), which was actually labeled as from Bread Espresso &, part of the same group, so I didn't really need the second sample. Still, the rusk was good and useful as a snack to carry on from Jiyuugaoka (though I had rations)

Also on the way, I checked out a café, which was closed, so not the useful, a non-existing shrine, and an unexpected church (forcing me to adjust a neighborhood running course loop). So not the most direct run to Jiyuugaoka to begin with. I continued on to Ryoura and got their Mon-blanc.

After taking my Ryoura cake home, I ran out to L'Abricotier and got the second-to-last Sicile. There seems to be a pretty narrow window of availability during the day for the cake, or they just don't like to make many. It's featured on their website, so it might just be really popular.

L'Abricotier's Sicile was as I remembered it. The Mont-blanc from Ryoura was also excellent, but I wasn't feeling the greatness this time, so I'm putting it on notice and giving the win to Sicile. L'Abricotier needs the help anyway, since they are slipping in ranking. Of course, the additional new cake could just confirm that while they are excellent, they aren't really at the quite excellent level. Report on that soon, I expect.

Ryoura: Mille-feuille

Sunday, I got up early and did a long run out toward Ryoura. On the way, I finished checking and photographing landmarks along my largest potential loop, about 35 km in total if I run it all at once. I was out about 3 hours, most of that running. I decided to finally try their Mille-feuille, since it's a standard and they usually have a variation as well, which one of once (not they're onto a different variation). It was excellent mille-feuille, no complaints, but of course it's just flaky pastry, custard, and a little sugar, so it's hard to get too excited about it. I was better about stretching as I went, which made a difference for my feet, so I might actually be able to run long enough to do the new loop I finished charting Sunday. In the evening, I tried to make chocolate cakes again, following the recipe better than last time to hopefully get better results but had the opposite. My chocolate ganache cores are too big and I didn't push them down enough into the cake batter. Also, too much total batter, so they swelled and cracked.

Monday, I took a rest from buying cake and did a review run of the first three loops, worried that I'm not actually as familiar with what I've already added to the course, so I shouldn't be in a hurry to add more loops. As a remedy, I'm planning to redo all until I can do them both directions without reviewing them beforehand. I could do the first two short ones clockwise, but the third one I haven't done clockwise much and I failed near the end, so I'll try doing the whole loop again (if I failed at the end, I might have just gotten lucky elsewhere). The fondant came out better, though the ganache is still too big and even making 5 instead of 4, they were a little big (though the biggest was due to an air bubble at the top. Still, good enough to photograph.

Ryoura, Clair

Croissant from Shibuichi Bakery

Sunday, I decide to change my plan to get my next JPH cake (I'll go tomorrow), and instead ran out to Ryoura (since I can't go on a workday). It was a shorter run, but I didn't go direct. I went first to the north end of Meiji Shrine grounds and walked to the shrine and out to the south end (it's posted "no jogging", and there are guard to enforce it, plus thousands of people, though the path is wide). From there I went down to Shibuichi Bakery again, now that it was open, and got a Croissant which was excellent I guess. Certainly it was sufficiently flaky and light enough in the middle for me, though the excellence might owe more to the fact that I'm not able to get to them early in the day very often. Blogger apparently doesn't want to rotate this picture, so you get the sideways version.

Hikawa-dai Children's Playground

From there, it's mostly west to Ryoura, more west than the roads run, so there were some turns. I stopped at a couple landmarks for future neighborhood courses (if I get the current one's mastered so I can expand again), just to chip away at them. At Ryoura, I made a mistake and ordered Clair, which has chestnut mousse, orange-flavored almond caramel (not sure what that means, but it sounds good), but, and I missed this until I had already ordered, confirmed, and payed, coffee crème brûlée. I considered pleading for an exchange but decided to take responsibility.

Clair from Ryoura

Though at first a little disappointed, I came to look forward to the challenge, as it's inconvenient to have to avoid coffee. As it happens, it was good and it didn't leave a sickening aftertaste, which marks a huge improvement over most experiences, so I'm going to call it excellent, because I would at least get it again for someone else, even if I'm okay with no coffee-flavored cakes for another year. However, I've seen JPH's Christmas line-up, and I may end of another cake with coffee this year (plus, JPH's other coffee flavored cake, while not my favorite, was still pretty good as well).

Cake-off: Ryoura's Mont-Blanc over Toshi Yoroizuka's Antique

Friday was a no-cake day, but I went running to try to do the Kita-Aoyama--Jinguumae--Shibuya Loop. I tried looking in at the new Number Sugar in Sendagaya and found them open, with a line. I went in and bought two salt-flavored caramels. As a gift for being one of the first customers, I got a gift bag with another salt- and one ginger-flavored caramel. They all seemed good, and I ate them greedily later, but it's not looking like caramels are going to be a new passion of mine, even though they are enough of a step in the right direction from hard candy that I'll keep them on the neighborhood course map as landmarks. I failed to do the loop without needing to backtrack and consult my map. I hadn't remembered the new part by ShIbuichi Bakery well yet, thought that's partially because I don't remember the old part that it deviates from well. I'll try again Monday, maybe.

Saturday, I did a long run out first to P. Yu Sasage to verify that they still didn't have two great cakes there (they post to Facebook pretty often about their line-up changes, so I probably don't really need to check in person). On the way, I checked recent and upcoming neighborhood course to verify that a couple landmarks don't exist (the temple moved and the church wasn't listed on the outside of the building where they ware supposed to meet, so no landmark) and that some did, so I took several pictures and have added them to the map.

From there, I went down to Ryoura, my target for their (Western chestnut) Mont-Blanc. My feet were getting pretty sore, but I'm running a lot, I guess recently. Besides other problems, my right foot tends to swell, so I should have loosened my shoe earlier. I could see bright red lines the next day. I too the try back to Tokyo Midtown to get Antique from Toshi Yoroizuka (and look around again, though nothing new). With two cake and a sore foot, I took the train home, though that was still a lot of walking to keep within one train system. It had been three years since I had Antique, so I wasn't surprised to find that I wasn't feeling the greatness any more. It was the unusual combination, from the chocolate tart crust on the bottom to the fig on the top, that struck me as interesting before, no doubt, but that was not repeatable. The Mont-Blanc was still great. I think what makes it difficult is the vanilla flavor in the whipped cream, which maybe I'm more interested in than chestnut paste, so I'm probably not the best person to recommend cakes to someone who's favorite is mont-blancs. No picture, but for the 3rd year anniversary, they gave out canvas bags the right size for a least single-cake boxes, so I hope to use that. It's a little small, but it's more secure than plastic bags, which I get too many of (but tend to use for raw vegetables in the refrigerator and raw garbage).

Cake-off: Ryoura's Soyeux over Jean-Paul Hévin's Macaron Chocolat a l'Ancienne

Friday, I did a run down to Bread, Espresso & and got a sweet bread/tradition cake, a Chocolat et Marron Kouglof. It was good as sweet breads go, though I would have been happen with a more tradition bread. Why is there also a chocolate chunk and pecan cookie in the photo? It was also someone's last day at work, and departing treats have been the custom the last several years, though not when I started. The cookie was definitely better than the cake, but then it came from shop that's apparently at Isetan, Flavor. I should look for them, since they have at least cheesecake online, which could count as fresh cake.

Saturday: Been having trouble with being behind on Jean-Paul Hévin so that one cake even slipped completely between my fingers (an Isetan exclusive that I saw for the first time this week and apparently ended Wednesday) and another I only managed to get in a first-round cake-off (the chocolate mille-feuille from the extra cake-off), though I would have wanted a second, so (misrepresenting cause and effect) I was determined to find something to match Jean-Paul Hévin's Macaron Chocolat a l'Ancienne. However, I was busy most of the morning and late afternoon and evening, so I had to be in a hurry (as much as I can running these days). Still, I made time for taking some photos of some new places and even discovered a whole new class of landmarks, the "churches" of Tenrikyou, a Japanese new religion. I'm suspicious when Wikipedia says there are 1.75 million followers, since that's 1% of the population, which makes it sound like a pretty made up number. Anyway, there is an old church/temple in the Aoyama/Jinguumae area and I've found several others in other neighborhoods covered by my neighbor course.

For cake, first I tried Paris S'éveille, where I was not completely shocked to find that the season for Un Dimanche a Paris had ended. Next I went to Ryoura (another 25 minutes of running, perhaps) and was successful at finding Soyeux.

I like the idea of Macaron Chocolat a l'Ancienne, but I'm still having trouble finding the greatness, so I'm putting in probation. I definitely like pistachio and fruit in a mousse cake better, so Soyeux gets its first win, in the the second round of cake-offs.

Ryoura: Waguri Mont-Blanc

Monday (a substitute holiday for the September equinox), I tried running to a local cake place in Daikanyama area, but they took a holiday as well, though in theory they are open Mondays. It was not a very direct run there, as I wanted to get a new picture for Shibuya 4-choume Town Park (which Google maps kept substituting a different picture of mine for, even if I deleted it, so there is some corruption in my Google map) as well as a couple places around Shibuya Bridge and Ebisu Station. Since I was running, I had decided on Ryoura as a backup, which is several kilometers away, and then back by train. First, though, I stopped at Café Le Cordon Bleu for a second pastry. This time, they had a big selection, so it sells out fairly early. Back-translating the shown English name and receipt name (not the same) to the Japanese and then back to French, it was Torsadé Pistache (pistachio twist, which I should know). This also has some chocolate twisted inside, as well as pistachio, and the outside nuts and chocolate are held well by a hardened syrup coating, which made this chewy over the flakiness of the pastry. Definitely excellent, so I would like to get back there again.

They just started the Waguri Mont-Blanc at Ryoura (and I had seen the photo on Facebook), and last time's Mont-Blanc had been great I thought, so I got that. It was good, so I enjoyed it, but it did not standard out as a mont-blanc. The simplicity of just a simple meringue base, whipped cream, and chestnut paste means that it pretty much depends on how the chestnut hits me, and it was fine but not my favorite for cake, apparently.

I'll mention that it was more weekend running than other weeks, but I'm doing stretches for my foot pain twice a day now, and it seems to be improving nicely, so not too bad this morning. Tonight, I did some local shopping running around places looking at drinking vinegar. I've gotten some recently, and it has more honey in it than expected, so it's not very low calorie. I ended up getting some black vinegar today that has about half the calories, though it still says add honey to taste, so I'm not sure how it's going to work out for drinking. I can still use it for other things.

Before finding that, I've added several alternative dessert locations in the Omotesandou/Harujuku neighborhood area to my neighborhood running course, and tentatively changed it for future runs. Still on the old course is the Aoyama-douri Pudding Shop, so I bought a little baked non-fresh (packaged, actually) cake there today, called Chocolat Aoyama Sanpo (stroll/walk). It would be pretty messing to try to eat it walking, so I'm glad I didn't try. This was much better than I expected, so I might even try their other "white" version of this. It certainly qualifies as definitely good.

Ryoura: Mont-Blanc

After some other afternoon business, I rode out to Ryoura. It was about 4 p.m., but the main road running along/under the highway wasn't that bad for bicycling. Ryoura is closed for a couple days next (fairly standard schedule for them), but there was still a good selection when I arrived today. This is my 11th cake from Ryoura, which catches them up to other quite excellent shops, and I decided to finally try their Mont-Blanc. It seems much flatter at home than originally, but that's what a bicycle will do; I assume that the taste is the same. This is a very basic/standard mont-blanc, with a meringue base, whipped cream, and chestnut cream (no fruit and not even chestnut pieces inside). Everything was well balanced, I enjoyed it, and I don't have any suggestions for improvements. I could make an argument for a good rating, since it's not clear that it stands out from other mont-blanc, but I'd like to make that comparison more directly, since this seems great.

I had time to run afterward, so I considered in on the way bicycling back with the cake, but I worried about making myself sick from overdoing it, spoiling future runs, so I didn't. Of course, what I should have been thinking was that there was a lightning storm threatening (according to the most recent news I had bothered to check), and some rain drops on the way back, so I shouldn't be outside. It did get pretty noisy outside around 7:50 pm, though I wouldn't have been out there by then even if I had run, but I shouldn't cut it so close just to check off a couple more neighborhood course loops. Maybe next Sunday again.

Paris S'éveille, Tarte Mange Caramel and Ryoura, Éclair Pêche

After some morning business, I set off for Ryoura by way of some sights I wanted to photo and Paris S'éveille. First, I got new photos for an Aoyama neighbhorhood park because I thought Google Maps had lost them when my map crashed, though it turns out not. Then I went looking for a shrine that Google Maps showed on my Aoyama route, but that seems to have an echo of the one 1 block away, which I already have, because I couldn't find another one. From there, I was more productive (in a sense) and got pictures for the Shibuya--Minami-Aoyama Loop, which I've yet to do as a one-way neighborhood run but expect to soon. I added Clinton Street Baking and expanded the loop, since they have "baking" in the title and seem to have cake, if not the kind I'm looking for (these were sort of American dinner-type cakes, perhaps, though I only saw one type walking by, not the several on the website).

At Paris S'éveille, I had a few choices for a new cake, so I went with the "recommended" one again. It was called Tarte Mange Caramel, which I assume was supposed to say Mangue (mango), except I didn't recognize what they were talking about in the description that included the corresponding word; thought it was something about tea. I ended up eating this nearby rather than carrying it. It's, I think, an orange baked tart with a top that definitely has mango chucks, maybe has caramel (not sure how the caramel works in, since the mango is raw), and is gelatinous but in a disgusting sticky way. Not sure whether the decoration is coconut, which it looks like. Fruit is not much my thing, but this had a nice balance of textures and the fruit seemed well served by the cake rather than better on its own. I can say that it was excellent.

I continued running to Ryoura, which I got cake to take home this time. This was cake number 10. I'm trying to get this shop up to 11 cakes, as a new quite excellent shop, though it's near the top of that group, so it's theoretically in the best position to make the jump to the next level, but there's a pretty big gap. Next weekend I'm busy, so maybe I'll go next the following Monday, when I'm off early for other business. This time, I decided that I would give one of their two éclairs a chance, the Éclair Pêche. Similar to the other cake, while not my usual thing, I would say that this was excellent. The crispness of the pastry went well with the softness of the fruit and its flavor, so I'm really believing that fruit is better for éclairs than chocolate, on average.

Au Bon Vieux Temps, Nonetto and Ryoura, Passionemon

Had a long run out to, first, Au Bon Vieux Temps. Thinking that I had lost an umbrella (since found) I stopped by the doughnut shop and swung through Kita-aoyama and found that Q-Pot Café had moved northeast (I had seen the new shop, but wasn't sure whether it was a branch or also whether it included the café), so I can take the kink out of that neighborhood running course loop (the new shop is already on the adjacent northeast loop).

It took the usual 100 minutes to get to Au Bon Vieux Temps (since I always seem to take a detour), where I went with the Nonetto, which is chocolate, passion fruit, and hazelnuts. This was in reward for winning a cake-off, since otherwise I've already over-sampled this shop, which is quite excellent.

Since I wanted to go back by train, and it takes two lines, and also my priority is more to get two weekend cakes and run without cake another day during the week, I ran to Ryoura, which only too about another 20 minutes.

Google said I could get a bus and arrive in the same time, but waiting for a bus on Sunday wasn't attractive, even if the Nonetto got a little skewed. At Ryoura, which I've undersampled, I went with the first cake in the line-up that I hadn't had before, which was the Passionemon (Or I suppose Passion Lemon if you don't pronounce the L, but "lemon" is no French for lemon, so forget that), which is, of course, passion fruit and lemon, with whipped cream and I think light meringue on top.

The results are perhaps predictable. The Nonetto is lots of things that I like and Au Bon Vieux Temps doesn't lack skill, so it was excellent. The Pssionemon is fruit and more fruit with nothing substantial to cut it (I had tea, but not that much), so as much as a tried, though it was good and I enjoyed it, it wasn't special to me. Au Bon View Temps remains near the bottom and Ryoura remains near the top (and I've had about double the cakes from the former), so not much changed, just these are likely to stay settled as quite excellent shops, though my priority is still to get too more cakes from Ryoura, and that's even before I get them into another cake-off (they currently have one great cake available, but I've already done the first round).

Ryoura, Reverie

Got out by bicycle between the morning and afternoon rains kicked up by the freak (for its west movement across Japan) typhoon and went to Ryoura, which is my number two priority right now, after Bien-être, which I just visited and is accessible on weekdays (though I might have to go a weekend, as getting to the new cakes at the end of a workday is becoming more difficult).

Went with the Reverie this time, which I've had my eye on. Obviously, this is a delicate type, but the outer shell held up well from the road vibration, even if the whipped cream on top suffered a little bit. This is rose-flavored red fruit cake, very light and creamy inside as well. This is much lighter than the types of cakes I prefer, so my initial thought was that although this was definitely good, it doesn't rate higher. But I don't need heavy cakes every time, or strong flavors in my light cakes every time, so I decided that it was fair to call this excellent, but certainly I would recommend it more to someone who likes light cakes (like the ubiquitous shortcakes).

So Ryoura remains at the top of the quite excellent shops, partially by virtue of my not having sampled as many of their cakes yet, and there is a strong sampling bias. For the same reason, Ryoco is in some sense also at the top of this list (I have two metrics that put different weights on different cake ratings), with only 7 cakes, but since Ryoco almost never have anything available, and even then I think you have to go online and order at exactly the right time, they're a just a remnant that I keep until Ryoco actually closes their shop completely.

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.