Ease/Repos, Nut, Dried Fruit, and Caramel Tart

Not that I was in a hurry, just I wanted to know how it was before this weekend Repos, so I sent to Isetan a lunch time and got a cake from the new counter, Repos (by P. Ease). It's pretty pricy and away from my usual tastes, so I momentarily gave up but after looking at the visiting counter of the week (a fine shop) and not finding information about when Repos might leave (though they replaced a shop that was there maybe 6 months?), I reconsidered and got the  Nut, Dried Fruit, and Caramel Tart, which was relatively reasonable (nothing exotic or seasonal in it) and looked promising. As the name states, it's a tart, specifically an almond cream tart, on top of which is a crème mousseline of custard, butter cream, and pistachio paste with bittersweet caramel. The topping is nuts (walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and cashews) and dried fruit (raisons and cranberries). Definitely hots of things I like in a substantial tart, so no surprise that I thought it definitely excellent. The name they put on top of the each is Ease. I assume they want to differential the location names because the offerings are different, but they have a pretty big space, offering various bake goods besides the fresh cakes. I should definitely get back there for a second cake earlier rather than latter when it comes time to go in for second cakes from shops that had at least good cakes.

En Vedette, Rocher

Tuesday, under the threat of heavy rain and wind (and during medium rain, but not so cold), I went down to Shibuya Scramble Square (the building) to visit the En Vedette counter, since they are one of three candidates among quite fine shops vying for two possible spots in the exceptional group. I didn't try to any a neighborhood clump because of the rain, and because I wanted to do a weights workout when I got back, which I did. I chose the Rocher, though there were other tempting cakes. On the way home, I noticed that they were taking down the pedestrian bridge over Meiji-dori Ave. that crosses in Jinguumae and gets me to all those big loops to the west. I think I can cross further south (though it will probably become more convenient when the construction north of Shibuya Stn. finishes, since now it takes two bridges), but it's going to shift all those west loops down in priority slightly. I'll need to recalculate. I should also mention, though I had noticed Monday, that Nana Gâteaux is now Amiri, though they're still selling cake during the day, actually from earlier than before, just they're a bar restaurant as well.

I really liked the Rocher. Top and bottom is nut-based "biscuit" sandwiching an equal (combined) width of almond and hazelnut flavored butter cream. This is accented by lemon ganache. It's fairly simple, but the text and balance are just right, so I'm going to call it great, which should guarantee them a spot among the exceptional shops, though I'll wait until I've had at least two more cakes from them. It also means this will be one of the cakes in the next cake-off, unless the PH cake I just saw disappears again (it's been almost three years since I last saw it).

Noliette, Noisettine

Due to a lingering health problem, I decided to get my cake more locally than I would have and a little out of order by going down to Shinjuku Takashimaya and visiting the Noliette counter (versus Patissieria, which also had 3 of their their cakes, but different ones). This brand is big on traditional forms and I chose Noisettine, which is hazelnut biscuit, hazelnut butter cream, and hazelnut praliné. I like nuts and this kind of tradition cake, so its not shock that I thought this was excellent, which keeps them in the quite fine category for now.

Jean-Paul Hévin: Princess Chocolat,

Went to Isetan intending to get something different, but ended noticing something new at Jean-Paul Hévin, Princess Chocolat. It's there through the end of October to celebrate 15 years (at Isetan, maybe; I'm not sure).

For running, I worked on my neighborhood routes, having revamped the one bound by West Gaien Road and Gyoen Park, and the one bounded by JR Chuo Line, Shinjuku Road, and the East and West Gaien Roads, having redrawn the latter part to work my way from southwest to northeast so that I can do the neighborhood including Wakaba next, which has lots of shrines, temples, and churches, as well as parks and one cake location of note, but on a dead-end alley, so I'm not sure how I'm going to handle that. I checked out a few points of interest in the latter area, but mostly went directly to Midtown Tokyo to make sure that the JPH there did not have some different special cake (because I'm not actually sure what it's the 15th anniversary of, but I'll be back at Isetan again tomorrow for what I skipped today, so I'll read more carefully); they did not. The neighborhood part was only about 3.4 km and the total was 10 km. Even with pedestrian stairs (along West Gaien Road) and some congestion around stations and Tokyo Midtown, I was around 10 km/h for every section.

The cake is almost all (besides that chocolate outside and a little butter cream sandwiched in the middle) like the base of their mont-blancs, which is an important part: a light almond meringue. It was excellent, but sort of like eating a big meringue cookie, so the design is somewhat limited as cake.

Dalloyau: Opera

Well, I found that I was really tired, from last night's long run and from having a health check the same day. Not sure how tomorrow's early long run is going to go, but my motivation for a cake-off is still high. Still, I knew I needed to save my energy, so I was running about 8.5 km/h at the beginning but picked up speed enough to be actually around 9 km/h out, but only just above 8.5 km/h back, 11.7 km total. It was longer than I planned, because Sadaharu Aoki did not have what I went there for: I guess I should have sped up my preparations to get theere earlier. My backup shop was Dalloyau, but there they were sold out of my first choice, too, so I was left with my last choice (they only currently have two cakes I haven't had yet), which is the Opera (486 yen). This was last because I hate the taste of coffee, but I did intend to give this one a try. It was definitely good and perhaps could teach me to like coffee, except in the long run, it upset my stomach (I should have eaten dinner sooner after that, though I did have yogurt with it). Anyway, I gave Dalloyau's Opera shot and concluded that though seemed to have a good recipe, I should still stay away from it.

Sunday cycling with a flat

Today I went out to Au Bon Vieux Temps and got a Quartette for 486 yen, I think. I chose this particular great place because they open at 9 am and the extreme heat is continuing, but I left a little late and had navigational problems, so I didn't arrive as early and I could have, but at least before 10 am, I think. I've had this cake before and have been looking to have it again. The three layers of mousse (white, milk, and bitter chocolate) are extremely creamy. Maybe because of the heat, the outer chocolate was too sweet or something for me. Maybe if it had not been chocolate. I may have to alter my selections for the season. Still, great cake otherwise. Again, with this heat, it's a race to eat it, so the picture is messy.

Next, at Sucreries Nerd down the road a few kilometers was the Opera Praline. Usually, a cake called Opera has coffee in it, so I automatically stay away from them, but there was nothing about coffee on the description card so I asked and it was coffee-free. Instead, it is a harmony of ganache and praline buttercream, with milk chocolate icing on top. It was good, but I was distracted by a flat tire; not fun in the heat. Anyway, the cake was good and they had a few interesting things, but no priority to get back there. Glad Ota-ku has something good, though.