Ryoura, Éclair Jardinage

Tuesday, I ran out to Youga again, this time for new cake. Even more crowded than before, with children literally stepping on me in a line that was not following social distancing, but how much can I complain about whole families crowding into a small shop (which at least was making people line up outside, but only to the point that people inside could have avoided physically touching each other, except for the little kids dashing around) when I didn't urgently need cake from there, just it was on my list and open. (If Sadaharu Aoki had been open, I would have gone there, though eventually I would have visited Ryoura again).

Backing up, I stopped for a pastry at Bigarreaux. I wanted their almond croissant, but they didn't have that. Instead, I got their Kouign Amann, which was different. It was a loosely packed, so to speak, as they go, and inside there was actual melted butter, in liquid form, which I've never had in one of these butter cakes. I'm going to have to say it was great just because I've never had another like it and it was worth having again and comparing to other types.

Back to Ryoura, I survived with no problems so far and got as my new cake one of their Éclair Jardinage, one of two types of eclair currently running, eclair being one of their regular things, and I've had an excellent one before. The major ingredients of this one, besides the pastry, are pistachio and tayberry, though there is some strawberry. Unfortunately, I couldn't get too excited by this. Maybe tayberry is too subtle for me. Still, it was good, so I'm sticking with Ryoura as a quite exceptional shop.

One note is I walked home, which was a mistake, though one I mad the day before. That time it was after quite a long run. This time, just a fairly straight run to Ryoura, but walking uses different movements and is hard on my hip and feet. The next day I jogged both ways (though to a nearer shop), which turned out much better, and I could even still run in the evening (though thunder sent me hope early).

Paris S'éveille, Tarte Printanière

Got an early start, about 8 am, with the intention to try the Daikanyama-chou--Ebisu-Nishi--Hachiyama-chou--Nanpeidai-chou--Sakuragaoka-chou--Sarugaku-chou--Shibuya--Uguisudani-chou loop. I'm not too surprised that I failed, though large parts of it are unchanged. It's up to 13 km now and I did most of it before I saw that I had skipped a cafe in a religious bookstore; it was on the map, but I needed to make a little loop around it at around halfway. Otherwise, I made some on-the-fly changes, which would have be fine (I knew the official route, but could see how it needed to be fixed). Will try again tomorrow if I wake up early, which I tend to do. On the way, and only 30 minutes out (which wasn't that early with my breakfast before 6 am), I tried a Croissant d'Almonde (not sure if that was the name they used), from the Crossroad Bakery over in Ebisu-Nishi. They require a drink to eat in, so I got takeout and ducked into a garage next door to get out of the rain and maintain social distancing from anyone using the sidewalk, though the streets were pretty empty everywhere I went, except maybe near the supermarket coming back. The Croissant was the kind I liked: baked through, not wet. Definitely good, but didn't seem like the best I've had, or I'm just not into this particular pastry now. I didn't bother to get a picture.

After finding where I went wrong, at around 10:20, I had an hour plus walk (I had had enough running) to Jiyuugaoka, where I got a new cake from Paris S'éveille: Tarte Printanière (Spring Tart). This is a cherry compote tart (with a lot of cherry) as a base and I think almond and pistachio paste/top. I'm not that into cherry, but I'm trying to have an open mind. Certainly, appreciate the nuts and it's a quality tart, so I have to say it's excellent. I'll look forward to the next tart, if that's what comes next, but I'm up to day now, so probably I won't have anything to get from this this month unless it's for a cake-off, but next one with them probably won't be until August.

I also got a Croissant from them (which I ate immediately coming home, whereas the cake was after the first half of lunch), which I've give them the benefit of the doubt and say was excellent. Unless I want to include their brioche, I might be up to date surveying their pastries, though there are probably some pastry-like baked goods that I could retry, but don't necessarily need to be fresh, which is my excuse for revisiting shops for pastries.

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.

En Vedette, Macaron Printemps

Only yesterday, when I was busy in the morning, I did a run out to Miyoshi (where the parks have lots of people, unlike more local parks, which have been taped off) to get a new cake from En Vedette. This time I went for a cake that was actually marked as new, Macaron Printemps, and took the last one on display. We're in the final month of strawberry season, apparently, and strawberries are the most popular fruit (apparently there are more Japanese varieties than any other country's, though China has the biggest production), so no surprise that this is full of strawberries.

Starting with the positive, I walked the cake all the way back, but first had a Pain au Chocolat, also from En Vedette. My breakfast was long before I set out, so I was pretty hungry, which might be why I found this pastry relatively light (so easy to eat), but I believe it was excellent.

Actually, I'm not so hot on this cake. I don't like my macarons too soft, even though that's a deliberate goal for some macaron desserts. The strawberries were fine (I have no idea what variety) and it's reasonable to call it good, but I would steer clear of similar cakes, given a choice. Still, they call all please me and this shop is still in line to be promoted. I'll probably get there back for a new cake.

The running was in the evening, where I finished off confirming my revisions to three of the loops at the corner of Omote-Sandou.

Pierre Gagnaire, Crème de Fraises et Citron

The midweek cake for the midweek holiday was Crème de Fraises et Citron from Pierre Gagnaire, where everything was 20% off. Hope they're still in business for my next cake-off. As the name implies, this is basically just cream flavored with lemon and strawberry, with a thin sablé cookie underneath and some sheet chocolate to fence it in. But again, its a collection of good stuff that works together, so I'm happy to call it an excellent cake.

I ran in the afternoon on neighborhood courses around Omote-Sandou, where I've had to revise the loops to the north, east, and south loops due to finding additional sites. I decided to dump a park site that's attached to a public housing area that's now fenced off, probably about to be torn down, now that they're done with the south half, in order to simply the north loop somewhat. Looking ahead, the next Saturday, I finally got them all sorted out and confirmed clockwise and counterclockwise, so I can move on to other things. I'm mention, that I decided I shouldn't discriminate against the fast food places if they have takeout desserts, so I added McDonald's (okay syrupy apple pie), Freshness Burger (okay poundcake), and Mos Burger (frozen mini cheesecakes). I'm adding a couple cafes as well, if I can ever catch them open (if they are open during the state of emergency).

L'Abricotier, Fraisier

Sunday, my goal was just one cake, since I knew I'd have the coming Wednesday off, so I could get one cake during the week. As a challenger for promotion to superb, I got a 24th new cake from L'Abricotier; learning somewhat from the day before, I ran there and mostly walked it back, so it was mostly in good shape. Really, I need to walk my cakes back or use the trains (which are pretty empty these days, so they feel pretty safe, but I should still walk if I can) to maintain photo quality. This was another one of those I-can't-believe-I-haven't-had-this-yet cakes. It's a standard cake various places. On one hand, it's just a way to eat custard and strawberries in cake form, but on the other hand, there isn't anything wrong with that in principle, and I had to admit at the end that it was excellent. Still not the first thing I would go for elsewhere, but I respect it as a reliable standard.

The afternoon was me exploring/practicing the revised neighborhood course around Daikanyama, where there were way too many people out on the north side for a state of emergency, including a pack of about 7 elementary school kids, a procession of three foreign teens girls on bikes without masks, and a lot of people at the restaurants by the main area video/bookstore. I think I'll choose a different time of day than lunch time next time I run through there.

En Vedette, Fromage Blanche

Saturday's other cake (cutting down on trips) was Fromage Blanche (I know, but that's the logical interpretation of the phonetic Japanese; if only there was some Chou pastry, it could be Fromage Blanc Chou). White cheese is pretty tasteless, so I wasn't sure what to expect, but the raspberry was just the right amount, and cheese mousse has a great texture, so I'm much more confident calling this excellent than the previous cheese cake I reported. Also, it didn't suffer from the travel by bicycle as much as other cakes last Saturday.