Cycle Sunday May 31

Today, I decided to go to Ryoco, which is in Shirokanedai, in Minato Ward (港区). I got the below fig tart (イチジクのタルト) for 640 yen because I think that I haven't had it before. Of course, it was very good. Ryoco is the best place I know in that area (the south of inside the Yamanote loop), although there a branches of good places near Ebisu and Meguro stations. The tart has an about-1-cm-thick solid but not hard tart base. I'm guessing that there is some egg in there, to get that texture, but I don't have enough cooking experience to know. That's something I need to work on, but I'm busy running and such. Then creamy custard on top and finally the fruit.

Outside the Yamanote loop on the east side, the canals are not so clean. I decided to try going south first and then cutting over west, but got lost a lot and it's not that great as far as scenery, so I don't think I'll change my standard route to Meguro.

Of course, the goal in going west was to got back to Jiyuugaoka. This time I visited Origines Cacao, another great shop. Below, is what I ordered: the Martinique (マルティニック) for 484 yen. As the raisins on top give away, this is for adults. The bottom is a thin tart shell with rum raisin vanilla cream. On top is a chocolate Chiboust (チョコレートのシブースト), which means I don't no what, since Chiboust is just the name of a famous French chef. Anyway, it is very soft but had a slight granularity to it: the moistness is clustered in grains, not surrounding bubbles, like a mousse, or simply creamy. I was not surprised that it was great.

Lastly, the sad little heart below, who rode in my basket home. It's name is Puchi coeur ("little heart", プチクール) from Avançons next to Takadanobaba Station (高田馬場駅) for I don't know how much (the receipt has gone missing), but not so much: maybe 440 yen. As I should have guessed, it is mainly chocolate mousse (they told me vanilla, but that's just about 10% in the middle). Chocolate mousse and I are still not getting along, but at least I confirmed that they do have a decent selection of cakes if you go earlier. Since it was recommended to me personally, I'll try again. Fourth time's the charm?

20 km run to m.koide, Marjelaine and Noisettine, and La Vie Douce, La Vie Bacchus

Had a successful 20 km run (knees seem to be okay, and my foot is about the same). I ran by the once-and-future site of the National Olympic Stadium, so I took a not very informative picture. They've prettied it up and reopened the sidewalk and street here, which is much more convenient.From there, I tried going further south of Aoyama Road (青山通り) to avoid Omotesando (表参道), but even though it was a smaller road, there was still traffic and a lot of people walking, so it was not really an improvement, especially because I got a late start and it was around noon. Went down to Meguro River (目黒川) near Nakameguro Station again and followed the river and then the Meguro River Green Way (no river, just park path). I took the left/south branch at the fork, which is Toriyama River Green Way （鳥山川縁道）. Google Maps did not want me to take it beyond a certain point, but when I saw that I could continue (some was very obviously brand new, but then the next part needed restoring), I went off course and stayed on the path to "Stone Buddha" Park （石仏公園) just beyond Odakyu Odawara Line (小田急小田原線). I might have gone the last 500 m if I had known that was the official end (my map showed the winding green line continuing farther, but it was always ambiguous whether there was a path on it).

Took Yoganakamachi Rood (sign below) back to Jiyuugaoka （自由が丘）, which was okay. Just a couple-lane main outskirts road with a good sidewalk. At the Tama River Police Station (玉川警察署) intersection, the named road turns right (the road doesn't bend right, just you have to take a right turn, from the north, at the light to stay on it; this is an example of why navigating by road names in Japan, or at least Tokyo, is hard). Anyway, I did not turn, as planned, which was also complicated, because the road sorted of ended a main road and then you had to shift left a bit to continue and the sidewalk disappeared and more walkers and bicycles appears, along with cars, as I approached Jiyuugaoka Station, so overall it was not a path that I want to use again, at least the whole length I used.

With the run finished, I went to "patisserie m.koide", which was open this time, unlike Sunday (staff shortages are everywhere). This is shown below, in the center. Notice that it's hard to notice and recognize as a shop.

They sold me these beauties, which are Marjelaine (マルジョレーヌ) and Noisettine (ノワセッティーヌ) for 590 and 600 yen, respectively. These are hazelnut and almond cream. I was advised to cool them down when I got home before eating, and I told her that they weren't going to make it the far, so she gave me a spoon (usually I'm prepared, but I left in a hurry). She was nice and they were very good, high class, but she was right about cooling them down being a good idea. Next time I'll take them home first. I may have a fourth great cake shop in the Jiyuugaoka area, and I've still got two promising (and several not so promising ones) to go.

One of these promising places is Souvenir,

which had all these young women lined up. This shop is next to the park where I ate my cake (maybe never again, as the mosquitoes have arrived and find me delicious, even with bug spray). Looking online now, they seem to do "Viking" (buffet), so maybe not so promising. And they have roll cake, which is not usually a good sign (although common). Okay, there's still Patisserie R to visit, as well as four other excellent shops where I haven't tried everything yet (or at least haven't chronicled them here). 

Having had very good cake, I restrained myself and saved other places for another day. However, that did not last once I was in Shinjuku, where I went to La Vie Douce (ラ・ヴィ・ドゥース). 

Their best stuff are these kind of cakes (not a very good picture), which is a little tart on the bottom and a soft cake about the same thickness on top. This is the La Vie Bacchus (ラ・ヴィ・バッカス), for 475 yen, which is chocolate and orange, this branch shop's specialty. It was good, but maybe I've gotten tired of it or maybe I really do need to stop at two cake at day, although I ate a regular meal first before having more cake).

No running, no cake

My goal is to run 20 km tomorrow, so I wasn't planning to run tonight, but I would have had a short run (<5 km) if it had not been raining hard. I'm in kind of a rut, going back to Jiyuugaoka, but I plan to visit Patisserie R and/or m.koide, and maybe Au Bon Vieux Temps, since they had the best cake last Sunday.

It's harder plotting my course now that I have a distance target and I caught up on the Web cake blog that I was following (helped by the fact that the veered off into regular restaurants and donut shops): http://joshiplus.jp/gourmet/sweets/

13 km run again to Maxim's de Paris: Tours a la fraise

The run was okay. It was more or less the same route as before but I tried to trim some boring parts (no hills) so that I could go farther but ran into the demonstration shown below across from the Diet Building. I think I'll starting coming up further north, which is an even steeper ascent but a little shorter. Also, I need to run on the inside of the moat around the imperial grounds, because for the other side, the road around there is too wide and fast and drivers don't want to slow down for pedestrians when using the turn lane.

The cake was Tours a la Fraise from Maxim's de Paris [Closed shop], which was okay. Under the topping are three layers: strawberry mouse, sponge cake, and chocolate crunch, for 540 yen. It was the closest that I could get to their signature mille-feuille, which even the "mini" version is 1800 yen. If I got a group of people together who want to try it, I would buy it, but otherwise I need to spend my cake money more frugally. Maybe you can get a one-person slice if you go inside the restaurant. 

Anyway, it was good but not more than that. It is still a convenient place that is open late, but there are several other choices that I like better, so it's not a priority to get back there.

Rest day, with cake from Jean-Paul Hévin: Salome

It's Wednesday, so I went to Isetan (and no running). This week's patisserie is Cacahouete, which is a good to very good shop near the Meguro River northwest of Nakameguro Station: which is a very good area for cake. It also has Patisserie 1904 and an Aux Bacchanales. The Tokyo Castella Factory and Il Pleut sur Seine are notable, and Picassol is popular (although not so much a cake shop and I've never bought there). The cheese cake at Johann is interesting (4 types), but I'm not that into Ecole Criollo, I have to admit. Also, I've had one of the apple pies from Matsunosuke (松之助), which was okay, but not their NY cheese cake, which is their specialty (I really prefer baked, but I'd like to give theirs a try some day).

Anyway, I've visited Cacahouete several times, so I didn't need to take advantage of their visit today. Instead I went to my #1 shop, Jean-Paul Hévin (also found in Ginza, Tokyo Midtown, and Omotesando). I got a cake that is new this year (and not sold in their European stores), so this is only my second time having it. It's the Salome (サロメ). As you can see, there is a top chocolate layer (with some decorations: one sign of class is that the square/diamond sticking up that has their name on it is chocolate, not plastic). Below that is very light (and so wobbly, so watch out), soft vanilla mousse. There is a couple-millimeter connecting layer below it with larger air bubbles which makes it look more breadlike or cakelike, but you have to look closely. Below that is a firm (or the cake would collapse) dark chocolate layer on top of a thin chocolate biscuit. Great cake, at 674 yen.

German culture lets me down: no cake

In the German cultural center in Akasaka is Neues. I planned to have my second cake from there, but they were closed due to preparing for some event. Thus I was forced to turn to the Swiss, as you see. That's the little one, by the way. Of course, I could have continued south and swung through Tokyo Midtown, where one of the great shops would probably still have something, but I'm stubborn, or at least I'm inflexible.

The run was much like the previous time, except Neues is more out of the way. 13+ km run with a lot of slopes and stairs (sorry the pictures didn't turn out well: iPod is not well equipped for the dark).

Running without cake

So running, but no cake (need to save some money for running gear and a good bike), although I picked up bread (6 cereal; two slices missing from that half loaf) at Paul, which is one of my favorite bakeries (and their tarts and such are okay, but not among the greats), in this case from the one at Yotsuya Station. I followed parts of the History and Culture Walking Course (文化とレ技師の散歩道). The Shinjuku one through Yotsuya, the Shibuya one east where it meets the Shinjuku one at Akasaka (both of which have some slopes, and the latter one is partially dark but a good neighborhood: lots of cops guarding the Diet Building), and then a bit of the (imperial) moat course. I'd guess that it was in the 12 to 14 km range, but I'm too lazy to measure it with Google Map (which is limited). Next time maybe I'll try to take it farther (or skip some of the beginning).

Cycling from Au Bon Vieux Temp (Tentation Chocolat) to Faraoula (Angers st Laud)

To rest my feet, I went out with my granny bike to what I think of as the Jiyugaoka (自由が丘) area, which includes within a couple stations. As usual, having okay cake yesterday made me crave really good cake, so I went where I knew I could find some.

I started with my far point, which was Au Bon Vieux Temps (オー ボン ヴュー タン), which recently moved around the block to the wide street from the narrow shopping street that runs to the station (Oyamadai Station; 尾山台駅), though it's actually on the Todoroki side, not Oyamadai. No picture because I demonstrated to myself again that you can't carry cake on a bicycle (but I can run several kilometers carrying it), at least not operating it (the bicycle) in a legal manner. My cake was decapitated, but still quite edible, so no problem. The cake was a Tentation Chocolat ("chocolate temptation"; タンタシオンショコラ) for 650 yen. It had a not quite solid block dense chocolate tart-like base of about 1 cm (3 to 4 cm diameter), a middle slightly thicker layer of still fairly dense chocolate mousse, and was topped by chocolate whipped cream. Great cake (which is why I go to this shop). I need to go to the cafe/restaurant and have one of their frozen desserts, which are slightly more expensive.

Next, I searched for one new place among the many cake places listed on the local area website but that I had never heard anything particular about. m.koide, who I've seen open and with customers, was unexpectedly closed with a "help wanted" sign on the door. I had already gone past where Patisserie R Okasawa used to be and seen that it had moved, but since I knew that I also had also passed the new shop somewhere though was not sure where, I figured that it was better to look online later (which I've done) rather than go back and search. Patisserie Rikyuu (where I might have gotten cheesecake as maybe the only thing of much interest listed on the menu out front) had a tiny note on the door saying "back at 1:40". Merger-sasa (?) was no where to be found, although I did find an empty storefront with an awning at about the right place that would fit for a patisserie. So I ended up visiting Patisserie de la Loire, which is a tiny Mom (and I think I heard Pop in the back) place that admitted that they didn't have any specialty, which pretty much sums them up. They looked completely basic, but a little sachertorte for 300 yen tasted about like what one would expect, in a good enough way. If you need to buy a bunch of little cakes for students/children/underlings, they have a few basic varieties, and the lady was very nice. No reason for me to go back again.

Okay, back to the greats that bring me to Jiyugaoka: Tarte Tentation (タルト タンタシオン) at Patisserie Paris S'éveille (パティスリー・パリセヴェイユ). This was also chocolate, but a little wider and only about 5 mm thick of chocolate flavored with citrus (with a few orange pieces on top). It was high quality, but the orange (or whatever specifically it was) overpowered the chocolate, so it did not work for me, although not bad tasting. Still, I'll be back until I've sampled everything and then go through the one's I think that I like again (the main purpose of this blog is as a record, since I can't remember all these cakes and shops in detail).

Finally, a shop that just recently moved and came to my attention, Fraoula, hidden between stations at the southwest corner of Yoyogi Park, sold me one of the below (518 yen): Angers st Laud (アンジェ サン ロー)、which is pistachio flavored with vanilla Bavarois (Bavarian cream), but notice that there are little biscuits (English spelling is such a pain, I write as I try to figure out French from phonetic Japanese every day for this blog, although in this case, I didn't need to) in there, as well as almonds: great cake (or whatever you want to call it). Not disappointed with this place yet, so I expect more last stops there (if I can get there by when they close, 5 pm!).

18 km to Naoki

Today was 18 km, which I cleared, and then I walked back, so I needed a nap eventually. The route went first to Meguro River at Nakameguro Station. I followed Jakuzure River Green Way (蛇崩川緑道) to Highway 3 along Tamagawa Road, then down to connect to the Nomigawa Persimmon Tree Slope Tributary Border Road (呑川柿の木坂支流縁道) around to Sakurashinmachi (桜新町) Station, and then doubling back to get to Patisserie Naoki Laboratoire, which is on the northeast edge of the Jiyugaoka (自由が丘) cluster of cake shops, across from a Takagi, which I like very much.

As you can see, it all looked good, so I got four. Left to right, these are Chocolat Florence (ショコラ・フィレンツェ) for 464 yen, Tarte Noix (タルト・ノア), a walnut tart, for 389 yen, Framboise le Gel (?) for 454 yen, and Chocolat Noir (ショコラ・ノアール) for 464 yen. The first is pistachio mousse and chocolate mousse, a favorite combination of mine, which was good. The raspberry was good too, but a little strange: there was a kind of irregularly shaped nut cluster in the middle, which I was not expecting, but which worked as an anchor to let the cake hold its outer symmetrical shape, which is okay, I suppose, but it was hard not to think that it was a mistake. The "dark" chocolate was actually three layers of mouse under the glaze, maybe chocolate, white chocolate, and milk chocolate. This last was very good or at least very much my kind of thing, although not my favorite even of the type. The nut tart was also good. Overall, a good shop that I would visit again if it were convenient, but I don't need to. I didn't have any kind of recommendation, just I noticed it there from going to Takagi, so they may have some specialty that I don't know about.

Coming back, I wanted to try an Indian grocery (really just one little room) and didn't resisted checking out & Market. I had the best gateaux chocolat when they were at Isetan, but it is not something that they usually make. The carrot cake lost some frosting to the box (which I recovered) on the way, but was fine.

Bigarreaux: 2nd cake, Bergamote Fraise

No running (I have to restrain myself for tomorrow morning) but cake from Isetan. I went for the visiting patisserie again, since the maskotte on Wednesday was very good. This time was Bergamote Fraise  (ベルグモットフレーズ), meaning Bergamot orange and strawberry for 520 yen. It was good, with a good balance between the cake layers and mousse/cream layers (1:3), which makes it soft, which is why the strawberry on top got pushed off center, and you can see that I lost some strawberry sauce to the box. I'd visit again (actually, I reviewed tomorrows route map, and I'll go within a couple blocks of there, coincidentally, and my endpoint is not too far away, so I could take the station in that direction back).

12+ km run and Avançons 2nd visit: Gateaux Chocolat

Today was supposed to be a 12 km run, but I got a little lost at the end, so add a little. The best part was along Kanda River (神田川) toward Takadababa (高田馬場 ) station, but only the last couple kilometers。

Cake was from Avançons (アヴァンソン) by the station, but the selection was slim again (second visit), and I ended up with just Gateaux Chocolat (ガトーショコラ) for 400 yen. It was good and I like that kind of cake, but it's not the best I've had, I think. They are supposed to have a lot of other things that I'm more interested in and it was recommended by someone who likes the same main shops. I guess I'm going to have to go there some other time besides after work.

No running but Patisserie Bigarreaux (at Isetan): Maskotte

No running today (running takes time and I've got other things to do, like prepare curry and try to make paneer for the first time).

Cake was from Patisserie Bigarreaux (パティスリービガロー), in Setagaya (世田谷), who are featured at Shinjuku Isetan (伊勢丹), of course (it's Wednesday, new featured patisserie at Ma Patisserie (マ・パティスリー) day), which does not seem to have a home page, which I was counting on for getting the name of the cake. Anyway, I've been back and it was Maskotte (マスコット）; it's three layers of sponge with thin layers of cream on top of each and nuts. I've read the other layers have hazelnuts with cream, but the top layer is definitely almonds and the fruit flavor is orange, which I (sometimes) like in cake. It was 500 yen. Very good. Definitely worth further investigation.

No pictures yet, but I'm still in test mode on this blog. 

13 km run to Maxim's de Paris: Cinq Chocolat

[Update] This shop seems to have closed.

Today, I jogged 13 km. The route featured Meijijinguugaien （明治神宮外苑), which is used as a jogging loop by many people and went by the the National Stadium, until recently (Tokyo 2020 preparations), Akasakagoyouchi (赤坂御用地), up Niisaka (?) 新坂, just for fun, around the Diet Building (国会議事堂), across from the route around the Imperial Palace (皇居), and around the outside of Hibiya Park (日比谷公園). So lots of green, some slopes, and lots of cops.


The cake stop was Maxim's de Paris (マキシム・ド・パリ) Ginza shop (it's a restaurant, but there is a cake counter out front of B2 of the Sony building inside the underground passage tunnel) for 648 yen, the Cinq Chocolat ("five chocolate") cake (サンク・ショコラ ): chocolate mousse ( ショコラムース), chocolate sponge (ショコラスポンジ), chocolate crunch (ショコラクランチ), milk chocolate cream (ミルクショコラクリーム, and chocolate glazing (グラサージュショコラ）, shown here. It was well made, but about half would have been enough for me, which is often the case. I guess I'm getting tired of chocolate mousse, which dominated. I definitely want to go back for something else, especially since this was not their specialty, which is the mille-feuille (ミルフィーユ).