L'Essentielle: Citron Praliné

Jogged up to L'Essentielle for the first time.

I passed Porte Bonheur, which was closed again, so I'm doubting the Kasuga/Myougadani branch is ever open these days. Fortunately, L'Essentielle was. I got the Citron Praliné for 500 yen and ate in at the outside table (which was a little windy today). It's a nice little place with several tables inside, as well. There were a couple other people eating in inside, which is not a lot around 1 pm on a Saturday, but is still a good sign. The cakes are properly fancy cake, that is, for adults. This was was lemon cream and praliné. Actually, the praliné was fairly crystalline, so it was like there was an layer of crushed ice, being basically dry rather than a paste or crunchy from lots pieces versus powder, but it did not really affect the over all texture of the cake, since it's not a thick layer. The cake was definitely good, so I wouldn't mind going there again, but not particularly special to make going there a priority.

The run was okay. Last post's suggestion that I needed to move to 11 km/h for my training runs was premature. My overly fast running Thursday night left one knee sore the next day, which came back a little bit at the end of today's run. So I tried to keep it slower, on the high side of 8 km/h going out and the low side of 9 km/h coming back. Total, it was about 10 km. I had planned to go farther tomorrow, but I'll see how my knee is.

I did make carob brownies yesterday, and had another today with lunch. Also definitely good.

Cerulean Tower-Tokyu-Hotel Pastry Shop: Isocele

2 km @ 6'10'' to 7'/km & 7 km @ 7' 8'/km. Okay, but hot and humid. Used up budget (6 km & 21 km, respectively), so no running tomorrow. New budget starts Wednesday: 12 km & 22 km, respectively. Not much for a 3-day weekend, so maybe finally try bike again.

Cake shop was a new visit: Cerulean Tower-Tokyu-Hotel Pastry Shop just past Shibuya Station (congested in every way).

Cake:  Isocele @ 699 yen: no ice in box! Must ask next time. Still, excellent in a candy bar way, but I'm biased toward chocolate (tho not necessarily milk) and lots of hazelnut, and lemon cream harmonized well (at least warm), so should go back next week.

27 km to Un Petit Paquet

It was a good run. I couldn't get started until 11:30, but it was not full summer heat and it was cloudy (looked like it was going to rain toward the end). Most of the Tokyo route I'm familiar with and choose because I like it. The long stretch in the middle is Komazawadouri, which I've been on or across many times but have not really thought about it. It's very good; I should use it more. I made sure that I had a 500 ml bottle of sports drink and a small snack at two points along the way. Also, I started with one bottle of water and refilled once, which seemed to be about right for the current level of heat, although I needed more with the cake.

Kawazaki-shi (Kawazaki CIty), however, was very bleak mostly, along main roadways or not well-populated streets along the train line. Part of that is that I have to pick a main route to start with to get into Kanagawa, so I tend to have to stick with it because I am not close to another route that goes the right direction.

Tried some running gel on the sides around my knees. Didn't get a rash, but then my clothes were not soaked in sweat either, so it's not a good test.

At Un Petit Paquet, I got a bostock, which was cut radially, so it was a long wedge rather than a puck. Tasted like there was alcohol, which I have not noticed elsewhere. Along with all the egg and sugar, it packed quite a punch for 220 yen plus 8% tax. I also got Aria, which is the only one I got a picture of. It was 440 yen plus. It's milk chocolate mousse, praline cream, and lemon cream. It seemed like an interesting combination and I was having a hard time finding something that I thought I might like. They had the right shape of cakes (round or rectangular, not wedge; this is just my experience with cake stores; certainly, the round and rectangular ones have to be individually made, but it might have to do more with whether they are trying to make fancy cakes for your friends or cake for children and strangers). I didn't think much of it. The lemon did not do enough to make the milk chocolate and praline interesting. It had an unusually thick base (as it was soft), which seemed gingery, which is fine.

The last one had no name on the card (or the receipt), but was a large almond macaron with hazelnut cream for 440+ yen. Sliced almonds were set in the cream around the outside and the macron was mounted on a little base of cream to hold it in place as a cake. It was very good, although very sweet, so I felt like I really needed to get the taste out of mouth afterward. I wanted to do some shopping, so I was eating outside again, which is just not great after a long run; I'm just not ready for cake, I think. I need to take it straight home and try it later. 

90 min run to Dalloyau: Terre D'agrumes (more updated)

Today was light rain, so I was a little slow, but it seemed to take the usual time to go to Dalloyau. I'm not sure what the Terre d'Agrumes for 540 yen is other than being mousse and fruity (I'm not sure what agrume is in English, but it includes citrus fruits), but it was great, which is what is important. Still, fairly mild, but the flavors added up to something. I'll have to go back to taking notes by pen and paper, since my attempt at photographing the little card through the glass failed, as is often the case. Maybe it would have worked with a real camera instead of a phone. Why the picture of the actual cake with camera didn't come out is a mystery.
Mystery solved: when I open the directory, it shows the wrong image. As you can see, it slid on the trip.

<2nd update> The cake is a short bread base (basically, a cookie), lemon and yuzu cream, orange flavored cake, and strawberry compote. Google translate says "agrumes" means "citrus".

Saturday (1st shop) 30 km to Patisserie Bigarreaux: Le plaisir, Citron, and Pithivier

Well, since I had put together almost 26 km in two runs last time, I had planned to run 28 km, but I have to add 1 km for not looking at the original map and 1 km because I missed a turn (I updated the map), so I suppose I should plan 32 km for next time and see whether I can stay on course.

I ate in the store, Patisserie Bigarreaux on Sazae-san (longest running television animated series) Street, so given how tired I was, as soon as they put them in front of me I dug in (but in small bites, dissecting). However, since I was still in the store, I could take pictures afterwards.

First is Le plaisir, which, as you can see from the card is 540 yen and has hazelnuts and orange and some caramel-type flavor mousse chocolat. It is just the kind of mousse, cream, and crunchy base that I like. I'll say great cake, knowing that this evaluation might have more to do with the kind of cake I like than whether it was actual well made, but that's just the way it has to be.

The citron (lemon) for 480 yen is a lighter sweeter cake with actual somewhat spongy cake and lemon icing/cream. Again, great cake. 

The Pithivier for 340 yen, which is an almond cream filled mini-pie/tart, did not work following the sweet lemon. It did not taste bad, just a little bitter, so I did not appreciate it. I assume that it's actually fine, normally.