Raika: Mille-Feuille

Was in the Shinjuku Station area and needed a rest, so went to Raika, which Sweet Sonobe's recent post (and now there's been another) pointed out I'd been overlooking. We got their two mille-feuille, one strawberry and one general fruits. They were both definitely good, but the more traditional strawberry was excellent.

Saturday, we were off around Shinbashi Station and needed a cold drink, so I ended up with Starbucks New York Cheesecake which was good but immediately forgettable beyond not being bad.

Starbucks: NY Cheesecake

Didn't plan to get cake, but still had some points left and had a request for a break. The cheesecake is decent (420 yen + 8%), again, especially compared to other major chains, although I can't remember that well the last time I tried to eat other such shops' cakes, so that's just a general impression.

For running, I just tried out a new fanny pack (I think) for running by going down to Meiji Gingu Gainen and doing one around the track. There where two 300 m intervals at 13 km/h and 225 m at 9 km in between, but there rest of the about 3 km run was at 10 km/h.

Jean-Paul Hévin: Safi

Safi, Chocolat Chaud Maron, and Gallette de Rois "Star" (?)

No running on Friday, but I missed cake some running days, so no guilt. Wen the the chocolate bar at Isetan and got a couple drinks and a couple cakes. The new cake (to blog about) was the Safi (サフィ; 618 yen +8%), which is a rich chocolate biscuit with layers of chocolate mousse flavored with orange, from Jean-Paul Hévin. Not sure what variety of orange it is, but not sweet, or at least that is the effect, which is not a complaint.  Also not complaining about the cocoa powder on top, but that stuff makes me cough I'm not careful, so I'm giving a warning here. That might be the only reason I'm not rating it great, but I am still looking forward to having again. In the meantime, there are special only-the-first-two weekends-of the-new-year cakes that I have to decide whether to try to get. 

I had a good part of the Galette de Rois "Star" (ガレット デ ロワ スター) and was not really feeling the greatness this time. It was still good. It came as part of a set with Chocolat Chaud Parisien for 1300 yen + 8%, which is less than the hot chocolate by itself. 

I got the Chocolat Chaud Maron, which has a definitely distinct taste (apparently chestnut) compared to the other types and was actually the cheapest, at 1080 yen total.

Today, I went out again, but just to Starbucks, where I got a Sachertorte, which is decent, which is better than another thing I've gotten at any of the other main chain cafés. Of course, I added whipped cream. This was the Starbucks near Omotesando (because Pierre Herme, which did not post it's end-of-year store hours, even on their door, was closed).

Today also had running, which as just 6 laps around Meiji Gingu Gaien, with the intention of keeping it above 11 km/h, although I caught myself slow half way through the 5th lap, so I sled up and ended up closer to 12 km/h for the last lap. Then I took a pretty hill-intensive route (even compared to Asasaka Palace course) following the Gaien Walk and managed to keep it well above 11.0 km/h for 2.4 km on the way for shopping. So running was about 1 km at 9 km/h, 9 km at 11 km/h and one lap (1.325 km) at 12 km/h. Tomorrow I may rest, but Jean-Paul Hévin has a special New Year's cake I want to get and one shop is open, so I may need to jog there if I don't get a walking partner to there.