The cake I chose was Fondant Chocolat aux Framboise, for 460 yen, which was great. This is a chocolate cake that I can get behind. Inside is all chocolate mousse-like filling (at least after sitting in the refrigerator with an ice pack next to it for a couple hours) rather than the more liquid kind of fondant. The raspberry is just what you see on top with the raspberry cream, which is the right amount for me: still raspberry flavor, but it doesn't take over. Now I have to call them "worthy", so I have to go back tomorrow and try again to get something their last day (I wasn't that lake, but the selection was small, and last week when I tried, they were completely sold out of fresh cakes).Subscribe To
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Monday, February 29, 2016
Patisserie Yu Sasage and Inner Moat
Got cake at Isetan from the visiting shop, Patisserie Yu Sasage. For running, I followed Shinjuku Street to the Inner Moat and did one 4.99 km loop. I didn't research what points are at what distances, so I just tried to keep my pace the best I could, but I definitely was slowing down, so I should for next time. Interesting note is that if you stay on the street (rather than going through the gate around the southeast corner, then it is 5.01 km. Also, if you do go through the gate, you need to run parallel to the edge rather than cut across or it's probably going to shave some distance off. Anyway, going and coming back got me 2.7 km each of fast and moderate running, respectively, and the actual course took 28'39''60, which is also fast. So I start the week with 7.7 km fast and 2.7 km moderate.
The cake I chose was Fondant Chocolat aux Framboise, for 460 yen, which was great. This is a chocolate cake that I can get behind. Inside is all chocolate mousse-like filling (at least after sitting in the refrigerator with an ice pack next to it for a couple hours) rather than the more liquid kind of fondant. The raspberry is just what you see on top with the raspberry cream, which is the right amount for me: still raspberry flavor, but it doesn't take over. Now I have to call them "worthy", so I have to go back tomorrow and try again to get something their last day (I wasn't that lake, but the selection was small, and last week when I tried, they were completely sold out of fresh cakes).
The cake I chose was Fondant Chocolat aux Framboise, for 460 yen, which was great. This is a chocolate cake that I can get behind. Inside is all chocolate mousse-like filling (at least after sitting in the refrigerator with an ice pack next to it for a couple hours) rather than the more liquid kind of fondant. The raspberry is just what you see on top with the raspberry cream, which is the right amount for me: still raspberry flavor, but it doesn't take over. Now I have to call them "worthy", so I have to go back tomorrow and try again to get something their last day (I wasn't that lake, but the selection was small, and last week when I tried, they were completely sold out of fresh cakes).
Sunday, February 28, 2016
Sunday: Morning run to Gaien
First thing in the morning (for me, that is; actually, fairly late), after a brownie (did not want to come out of the forms: should have floured, as well as greased them, and made fudge rather than cake brownies; also, more chocolate), ran down to Gaien: 1.5 km fast to the startpoint, a 6'16''00 lap, which is 4.73 min/km, which is one level faster than "very fast". Rather than calling it "very very fast", I'll call it "racing speed". On a good day, I might be able to get one level faster (under 4.6 min/km). To the Lawson 100 by way of the Gaien Walk, I managed a moderate speed (despite the hills and stairs) over 2.4 km.
So my weekly numbers (rounding) are very slow, 36 km; slow, 20 km; moderate, 6 km; fast, 9 km; very fast, 3 km; and racing, 1 km. Comparing to last week, in total, 75 km, which is +9 km, first recording of "racing" speed, of +1 km, but very fast+ is -2 km, although fast+ is the same as last week. However, moderate (and so moderate+) is -9 km, so a big drop in faster running. Slow is +1 km, so most of my gain is in very slow: +18 km. My priority for next week is then to get in more faster running during weekdays (I avoided that this week because of the increase in distance). If I manage to get in another H&C run next weekend, I'll probably stretch it to 40 km, although the next one, the Suminami course, is not that long or far away (whereas the Fuchukokubunji one, which I just finished plotting, is both long, forked, and far away, so it would probably require around 100 km, and so may turn out not to be feasible; the last is also now done, Takao-Hachio, which is about 50 km to the startpoint and heads back, so it's about the same as Fuchukokubunji).
The cake today was from Ruysdael, at Shinjuku Station Keio. This was based on Sweet Sonobe (although not necessarily Keio Department store), but I should have followed my own Shinjuku Station rule, which is to only trust Isetan (though Takashimaya has some good cakes mixed in). This was Gateau Chocolat, for 518 yen, and was layers of chocolate mousse/cream and chocolate cake. I could tell from the beginning that there was something I did not like about it. It was not watery, but it was not rich. Perhaps it's a milk chocolate flavor. The result was sort of a American traditional chocolate cake taste, although that might just mean that it is high in sugar. It was not bad or poor in quality, and I can't say I disliked eating it, so I guess I'll say it was good and count this place as "good" enough to try again eventually, maybe, but they only had four cakes (the other there were strawberry of the shortcake family, a Mont Blanc, and a standard-looking raspberry mousse) and the end result was wanting to have great cake.
For the future, not sure whether I'll save that for later, since I still have 4 "worthy".shops I want one more cake from at Isetan, plus their visiting patisserie, but S'éveille, Pierre Hermé, and Toshi Yoroizuka are the priorities among the great shops. If I get off work exactly on time this week some day, I might try to run fast enough to make it to S'éveille, although that's a longer round trip than I've done on a weekday, so this might not be the best week for it.
So my weekly numbers (rounding) are very slow, 36 km; slow, 20 km; moderate, 6 km; fast, 9 km; very fast, 3 km; and racing, 1 km. Comparing to last week, in total, 75 km, which is +9 km, first recording of "racing" speed, of +1 km, but very fast+ is -2 km, although fast+ is the same as last week. However, moderate (and so moderate+) is -9 km, so a big drop in faster running. Slow is +1 km, so most of my gain is in very slow: +18 km. My priority for next week is then to get in more faster running during weekdays (I avoided that this week because of the increase in distance). If I manage to get in another H&C run next weekend, I'll probably stretch it to 40 km, although the next one, the Suminami course, is not that long or far away (whereas the Fuchukokubunji one, which I just finished plotting, is both long, forked, and far away, so it would probably require around 100 km, and so may turn out not to be feasible; the last is also now done, Takao-Hachio, which is about 50 km to the startpoint and heads back, so it's about the same as Fuchukokubunji).
The cake today was from Ruysdael, at Shinjuku Station Keio. This was based on Sweet Sonobe (although not necessarily Keio Department store), but I should have followed my own Shinjuku Station rule, which is to only trust Isetan (though Takashimaya has some good cakes mixed in). This was Gateau Chocolat, for 518 yen, and was layers of chocolate mousse/cream and chocolate cake. I could tell from the beginning that there was something I did not like about it. It was not watery, but it was not rich. Perhaps it's a milk chocolate flavor. The result was sort of a American traditional chocolate cake taste, although that might just mean that it is high in sugar. It was not bad or poor in quality, and I can't say I disliked eating it, so I guess I'll say it was good and count this place as "good" enough to try again eventually, maybe, but they only had four cakes (the other there were strawberry of the shortcake family, a Mont Blanc, and a standard-looking raspberry mousse) and the end result was wanting to have great cake.
For the future, not sure whether I'll save that for later, since I still have 4 "worthy".shops I want one more cake from at Isetan, plus their visiting patisserie, but S'éveille, Pierre Hermé, and Toshi Yoroizuka are the priorities among the great shops. If I get off work exactly on time this week some day, I might try to run fast enough to make it to S'éveille, although that's a longer round trip than I've done on a weekday, so this might not be the best week for it.
Saturday, February 27, 2016
Friday: D'une Rareté, Cube-C
Just as a public service, I'll say that D'une Rareté's Cube-C is only what it looks like, a tiny cube of chocolate bread, and is 207 yen. I can't see that it offers much to justify itself, but as bread, it's fine, if expensive for the size (maybe 5 cm across?).
Kototoi History and Culture course, Toshi Yoroizuka
Got up about 6:45, but had some things to do, so I didn't get out until 8:00. That turned out to be a little late for getting back by 13:00, but was was home for the gas check, so no problem.
Today's course was the Kototoi H&C course, although I also confirmed a correction to the Senju course. There were some corrections to the Kototoi course, too, although mostly in terms of which side of the street to be on. I ended doubling back a couple times, including the doubling back, just because part 2 meets part 3 partway in, so if you want to do both in full in one direction, you have to double back.
The first part is is named the Shitaya 'Related Day' Walk, where a related day is a special day for that particular shrine. This was fine and fairly short, 1.89 km on my map. The second part is the Sanja Festival/Bokutei Walk, which has a few problems. First, it's definitely a walk, not a run, and it goes into Sensou Temple up the main street, Nakamise Street, which is lined with venders and only for walking. In front of the temple, you turn right and head for Sumida River and go through a park there. However, the area where the path goes through is under construction. It looks like they'll be making a nice new path, but now you have take a detour, and I went a few hundred meters beyond the turn looking for a way through before deciding to go back instead, being able to see through gaps that Sakura (Cherry Tree) Bridge, an X-shaped pedestrian bridge, was open and that people were getting to it from the south along the levee. Even doubling back, I didn't really do the whole part at that time (I picked up the last bit on the main return) because I didn't continue beyond the levee on the east side, whereas the actual end was on the far side of the road running next to the levee. For part 3, which is the Sumida River-Seven Lucky Gods Walk, I had to first double back over Sakura Bridge and down to a different regular bridge, or rather, beyond that where there is a marker telling you where to split from part 2. After crossing the regular bridge, I had to go further than I expected, and found that I was on the wrong side (though not a big problem under the bridge), but then proceeded up the road next to the levee on the wrong side before spotting a marker on the other side and doubling back 2 or 3 hundred meters. There's a small side trip past shrines and parks, mostly this walk goes up the main road, although it's not bad as main roads go: I didn't mind using it coming back, although I used a parallel neighborhood road for about a fourth of that stretch.
On the way back, I first went to Mitsukoshi, which I saw they had actual canelé forms: 1500 yen for stainless steel and 3000 yen for copper. Didn't buy one. The brioche forms they had were 8 cm, whereas I was thinking that mine were 7.5 cm, so I decided not to buy any additional ones
Next, I stopped a Matsuya to remind myself what cake shops they had.
In Ginza, I stopped at Le Chocolat de H and they seemed to have only the café eat-in chocolate tart, not take-out cake. So I tried.
Next, by a not very well-chosen route, I got to Tokyo Midtown (east), and went ti Toshi Yoroizuka and got their "Most popular", which is usually not a good sign. It's not necessarily a bad sign, just I'm only interested in what is most popular among people who come in and buy one piece of cake (which is presumably for themselves). It is the John Pierre (sp?) for 580 yen.
I checked Henri le Roux, and so that their third (besides chocolate and salt caramel) kouign-amann flavor was green tea, whereas I was hoping for lemon. Wasn't mentally prepared for green tea cake, so I decided to give it a pass today. I'm willing to try it another time.
My estimate on my running was 9.8 km of slow and 25 km of very slow. I'll have to review whether I should do any running tomorrow. I've already got a least a little more than last week, so I could rest Sunday and start the next week of running on Monday. Of course, I could still do that if I only run a little on Sunday (and get cake at Isetan, for example).
The John Pierre got a little banged up from running (it's light and I was tired, so I didn't do a good job of keeping it steady), but I was able to reassemble it. It's chocolate mousse with pistachio. The mousse is pretty light and the cake was definitely good, but not exciting or special.
Still, I'm reasonably satisfied. Still, it motivates me to do some baking. I'm interested in bostock (but still haven't looked up a recipe to see whether I am interested enough to try to make it) and financier (ditto), but think I'd like to just back brownies next, although more of my flattish canelé would be nice, too (although a different kind of trouble). I have a lot of eggs, so should/want to make something.
Today's course was the Kototoi H&C course, although I also confirmed a correction to the Senju course. There were some corrections to the Kototoi course, too, although mostly in terms of which side of the street to be on. I ended doubling back a couple times, including the doubling back, just because part 2 meets part 3 partway in, so if you want to do both in full in one direction, you have to double back.
The first part is is named the Shitaya 'Related Day' Walk, where a related day is a special day for that particular shrine. This was fine and fairly short, 1.89 km on my map. The second part is the Sanja Festival/Bokutei Walk, which has a few problems. First, it's definitely a walk, not a run, and it goes into Sensou Temple up the main street, Nakamise Street, which is lined with venders and only for walking. In front of the temple, you turn right and head for Sumida River and go through a park there. However, the area where the path goes through is under construction. It looks like they'll be making a nice new path, but now you have take a detour, and I went a few hundred meters beyond the turn looking for a way through before deciding to go back instead, being able to see through gaps that Sakura (Cherry Tree) Bridge, an X-shaped pedestrian bridge, was open and that people were getting to it from the south along the levee. Even doubling back, I didn't really do the whole part at that time (I picked up the last bit on the main return) because I didn't continue beyond the levee on the east side, whereas the actual end was on the far side of the road running next to the levee. For part 3, which is the Sumida River-Seven Lucky Gods Walk, I had to first double back over Sakura Bridge and down to a different regular bridge, or rather, beyond that where there is a marker telling you where to split from part 2. After crossing the regular bridge, I had to go further than I expected, and found that I was on the wrong side (though not a big problem under the bridge), but then proceeded up the road next to the levee on the wrong side before spotting a marker on the other side and doubling back 2 or 3 hundred meters. There's a small side trip past shrines and parks, mostly this walk goes up the main road, although it's not bad as main roads go: I didn't mind using it coming back, although I used a parallel neighborhood road for about a fourth of that stretch.
On the way back, I first went to Mitsukoshi, which I saw they had actual canelé forms: 1500 yen for stainless steel and 3000 yen for copper. Didn't buy one. The brioche forms they had were 8 cm, whereas I was thinking that mine were 7.5 cm, so I decided not to buy any additional ones
Next, I stopped a Matsuya to remind myself what cake shops they had.
In Ginza, I stopped at Le Chocolat de H and they seemed to have only the café eat-in chocolate tart, not take-out cake. So I tried.
Next, by a not very well-chosen route, I got to Tokyo Midtown (east), and went ti Toshi Yoroizuka and got their "Most popular", which is usually not a good sign. It's not necessarily a bad sign, just I'm only interested in what is most popular among people who come in and buy one piece of cake (which is presumably for themselves). It is the John Pierre (sp?) for 580 yen.
I checked Henri le Roux, and so that their third (besides chocolate and salt caramel) kouign-amann flavor was green tea, whereas I was hoping for lemon. Wasn't mentally prepared for green tea cake, so I decided to give it a pass today. I'm willing to try it another time.
My estimate on my running was 9.8 km of slow and 25 km of very slow. I'll have to review whether I should do any running tomorrow. I've already got a least a little more than last week, so I could rest Sunday and start the next week of running on Monday. Of course, I could still do that if I only run a little on Sunday (and get cake at Isetan, for example).
The John Pierre got a little banged up from running (it's light and I was tired, so I didn't do a good job of keeping it steady), but I was able to reassemble it. It's chocolate mousse with pistachio. The mousse is pretty light and the cake was definitely good, but not exciting or special.
Still, I'm reasonably satisfied. Still, it motivates me to do some baking. I'm interested in bostock (but still haven't looked up a recipe to see whether I am interested enough to try to make it) and financier (ditto), but think I'd like to just back brownies next, although more of my flattish canelé would be nice, too (although a different kind of trouble). I have a lot of eggs, so should/want to make something.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
P. la Glycine: Concert (2nd cake)
Somehow managed to get away in time to do a run to P. la Glycine. Since I've been running somewhat hard for a couple days and I only need a few kilometers to match last week, I deliberately tried to go slow, although not to the point of timing myself (although I did check at 1.5 km, which came in over 9'30'', which seemed about right. Total, my path down to Aoyama, Avenue, through Omotesando to Aoyama Gakuen University, down to Meguro River, and following it to the shop, took 41'35''09, covering 6.49 km, which is exactly my slow pace.
Coming back, I took 46'00''04 to cover 6.79 (including a pedestrian overpass), which is very slow.
The cake was Concert (or maybe Kontsert: it was only written in katakana) for 570 yen. This is "new" and chocolate. Similar to yesterday's, the top was mousse and the bottom was not, but this time the bottom was a dry/crunchy but somewhat loose biscuit with almond pieces in it rather than being poundcake-like. They boast using 80% cacao chocolate, so it's dark. It was very good and I appreciate the effort to make a different kind of chocolate cake than I've had before, so I'm keeping this shop as worthy (versus just good).
I think that leaves six worthy places with fewer than 2 cakes posted on, four at Isetan (although one is just a bakery, which I'll probably visit tomorrow), and two are distant, so I probably won't be getting to either soon, although maybe the closer one next weekend.
Coming back, I took 46'00''04 to cover 6.79 (including a pedestrian overpass), which is very slow.
The cake was Concert (or maybe Kontsert: it was only written in katakana) for 570 yen. This is "new" and chocolate. Similar to yesterday's, the top was mousse and the bottom was not, but this time the bottom was a dry/crunchy but somewhat loose biscuit with almond pieces in it rather than being poundcake-like. They boast using 80% cacao chocolate, so it's dark. It was very good and I appreciate the effort to make a different kind of chocolate cake than I've had before, so I'm keeping this shop as worthy (versus just good).
I think that leaves six worthy places with fewer than 2 cakes posted on, four at Isetan (although one is just a bakery, which I'll probably visit tomorrow), and two are distant, so I probably won't be getting to either soon, although maybe the closer one next weekend.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Bel Amer (Isetan): White Chocolate Short
Today, since I ran Akasaka Palace fast yesterday, I thought I should do a longer distance on the flatter Gaien course, which was pretty crowded today, no doubt as people train for Sunday's Tokyo Marathon, in the cold rain.
First, a moderate 1.5 km to the start and then 4 laps (1325 m each) for 7'06''07, 7'19''46, 7'17''55, and 7'25''38. Actually, the first lap turned out very fast, with the other three laps fast. I took the long way back, following the east part of the Gaien Walk, which ends just past Yotsuya Station. There was a chronometer mishap and I only managed to time the last bit, so I'm extrapolating that the last 4.4 km was very slow.
So 4.4 km very slow, 1.5 km moderate, 4.0 km fast, and 1.3 km very fast. Slightly less total distance for two runs than last week, but a lot more fast running. I want to try to go farther tomorrow, so i'll plan on not trying to go too fast, although it may be hard to get out of work in time to get to Glycine before they close.
Had gotten the White Chocolate Short from Bel Amer (Isetan) for 540, after finding the visiting shop without any fresh cake and Demel never seems to have anything but their Sachertorte, recently. Other choices at Bel Amer were an unusual looking mont blanc (which I remain curious about) and a chocolate cream puff. The short cake, which boast 4 fruits (not sure which ones, besides kiwi and strawberry, but not a lot of fruit to worry about anyway and the white chocolate flavor was not strong enough to save this from being just another spongy short cake. Still, it was basically good, so I'll designate the shop good. Probably, I should try their larger chocolate cakes. Maybe some weekend.
First, a moderate 1.5 km to the start and then 4 laps (1325 m each) for 7'06''07, 7'19''46, 7'17''55, and 7'25''38. Actually, the first lap turned out very fast, with the other three laps fast. I took the long way back, following the east part of the Gaien Walk, which ends just past Yotsuya Station. There was a chronometer mishap and I only managed to time the last bit, so I'm extrapolating that the last 4.4 km was very slow.
So 4.4 km very slow, 1.5 km moderate, 4.0 km fast, and 1.3 km very fast. Slightly less total distance for two runs than last week, but a lot more fast running. I want to try to go farther tomorrow, so i'll plan on not trying to go too fast, although it may be hard to get out of work in time to get to Glycine before they close.
Had gotten the White Chocolate Short from Bel Amer (Isetan) for 540, after finding the visiting shop without any fresh cake and Demel never seems to have anything but their Sachertorte, recently. Other choices at Bel Amer were an unusual looking mont blanc (which I remain curious about) and a chocolate cream puff. The short cake, which boast 4 fruits (not sure which ones, besides kiwi and strawberry, but not a lot of fruit to worry about anyway and the white chocolate flavor was not strong enough to save this from being just another spongy short cake. Still, it was basically good, so I'll designate the shop good. Probably, I should try their larger chocolate cakes. Maybe some weekend.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Sadaharu Aoki: Mont d'Or
Okay, first with the running. I decided to time myself around Akasaka Palace again, aiming for just one lap at a moderate pace. Since this has hills, it's more difficult than Gaien, which is almost completely flat, but the hills are all during the second half (the way I run it), so I'm not sure how to pace it, and anyway, I haven't memorized enough points of specific distance yet.
Apparently, I did a very fast 1.75 km to get to the starting point (northwest corner), not by the shortest route for no go reason, but it was a good route. The actual loop then was 18'46''14 for 3.31 km, which was actually fast. As I said, it was hard to judge and I wasn't that committed to moderate.
Then a moderate speed 1.87 km to Midtown to visit Toshi Yoroizuka, who was closed for an event (at the bar area, I could see) for the first time I've seen. No problem: I went inside to Sadaharu Aoki, where they had cakes that I hadn't had before as a 10-year "festival" (which is almost over) of being in Japan. The cake, Mont d'Or is chocolate mouse and almond cream on top. The almond cream must have then the pencil line-sized part on top, with the chocolate mousse as the main body. The bottom was a dense and pound-cake like, and is reportedly chestnut and cassis. I suppose there must have been chestnut flour in the cake, as I didn't notice actual chestnut pieces. I would have guessed that the red fruit was raspberry from the taste (and the sense of seeds in my teeth afterwards), but it was just an accent and worked well with the cake. The cake was different from anything I've had before from them, but it was a great, high-quality piece, which it should be for 830 yen. It had been a while since I had cake from a great shop. Still need to get to Toshi Yoroizuka, though. Maybe Thursday.
There were multiple chromometer mishaps, but I seem to have run another 3.3 km slowly (with cake on a crowded sidewalk) coming back, so I hit a variety of speeds today.
Apparently, I did a very fast 1.75 km to get to the starting point (northwest corner), not by the shortest route for no go reason, but it was a good route. The actual loop then was 18'46''14 for 3.31 km, which was actually fast. As I said, it was hard to judge and I wasn't that committed to moderate.
Then a moderate speed 1.87 km to Midtown to visit Toshi Yoroizuka, who was closed for an event (at the bar area, I could see) for the first time I've seen. No problem: I went inside to Sadaharu Aoki, where they had cakes that I hadn't had before as a 10-year "festival" (which is almost over) of being in Japan. The cake, Mont d'Or is chocolate mouse and almond cream on top. The almond cream must have then the pencil line-sized part on top, with the chocolate mousse as the main body. The bottom was a dense and pound-cake like, and is reportedly chestnut and cassis. I suppose there must have been chestnut flour in the cake, as I didn't notice actual chestnut pieces. I would have guessed that the red fruit was raspberry from the taste (and the sense of seeds in my teeth afterwards), but it was just an accent and worked well with the cake. The cake was different from anything I've had before from them, but it was a great, high-quality piece, which it should be for 830 yen. It had been a while since I had cake from a great shop. Still need to get to Toshi Yoroizuka, though. Maybe Thursday.There were multiple chromometer mishaps, but I seem to have run another 3.3 km slowly (with cake on a crowded sidewalk) coming back, so I hit a variety of speeds today.
Saturday, February 20, 2016
Senju History and Culture course
Today was the week's big run. Started cloudy and there was a little rain, but it was okay and warmer than yesterday.
First I had to get to the beginning of the course, which took 44'43''86 for 7.3 km, which comes to a moderate 6.13 min/km. The course as I marked it seems to be 7.99 km, although with deviations I ran about 8.4 in 54'22''87, which is a slow 6.47 min/km, not bad for a first H&C run. Not that I was perfectly following the course. I recall seeing a marker on the far side of the main road indicating that I should have passed to the east side of Ueno Station along the south side of the road before crossing, but I'll need to check that next week and update the map as necessary. One other course deviation between the posted map and my previous map that I did investigate at the time was where there were lots of turns without help, until I found a tile on a straight bit that said I should have just turned, so I could track it back one block to another tile indicating the complement turn. Also, Minowa Station was tricky and I crossed a main road (Route 4) that I didn't need to and then followed it north past where I should have turned until I hit a railroad line and followed that enough east to know that it was not the one I needed it to be for me to be on the correct road and then pulled out the map and was able to pinpoint where I actually was. Managed to get back to where I should have been and was pondering which of 4 roads branching off was the correct one (during all of this, the sun would have been useful, or a compass). At this point, an older Japanese man offered help in English, so I showed him the map and what road I wanted. It took him a little while, but eventually he told me I was where I had definitely just come back from, to the north, and that I was still south of where I actually wanted to go so I should go north (pointing south) past the McD. As expected, people don't know where they are, which direction is north, what side of the street they are on, and/or how to read a map, but I thanked him, let him walk away in the direction that he had just recommended, and, after a suitable pause, went back and tried the road that I had been considering previously, which turned out to be correct (eventually, there were marker tiles confirming this, but this course is not the best marked on the street of the ones I've been on). Mostly, a nice enough route, certainly better than just following Route 4, which I think I've done in going to Saitama, although you still have to get back to Route 4 or some major street to cross the rivers. I've considered this because I marked a shop over by Kanamachi Station as "worthy", so if it turns out to actually be, I'd like a better route than either of the two that I've used in the past. It's outside by current range for a round trip, so no hurry.
I decided that P. Fr. Inamura Shozo might be a worthy shop, and, anyway, it's the best up in that area that I know of, so I thought that I'd at least get a cake to post, since if I did decide it was worthy, I could go back next week when I hope to follow an H&C course branching off from today's, namely, the Kototoi H&C course. The distance was 5.4 km, but I failed to stop my chronometer until after purchasing, so all I know is that it took less than 45'15''38 (the wait was not that long, but probably more than 5 minutes). The 6.7 km I used to get to Yotsu Station with cake took 46'29''06, which is a very slow 6.94 min/km, so I'll treat the early one as very slow too, for purpose of tracking speed as a measure of running capacity. I did another 1.1 km to Natural Lawson for ice cream (because I made kabocha tarts yesterday, whose appeal I'm failing to see, so I'm going to try eating one with ice cream, since pumpkin pie seems to be just an excuse for eating ice cream, as far as I could ever figure out), which was also very slow.
So for today, I have 13.2 km of very slow, 8.4 of slow, and 7.3 of moderate, so 28.9 km, within the 25 to 30 km goal. For the week, then, I have 17.5 km of very slow, 19.4 km of slow, 15.3 km of moderate, 7.2 km of fast, and 6.1 km of very fast, which is 65.5 total on 5 days. That's a 18.9 km and 2-day increase, and probably reflects my current capacity more or less, so I should be careful about how much I increase from this in a given week. In terms of intensity, that's a 6.1 km increase in very fast and 13.3 km increase in fast+ (all new for both), although only a 6 km increase in moderate+, so mainly I'm just not holding myself back from running fast. The rest of the increase is in slow (8 km) and very slow (4.9 km), as I try to get my total up closer to my pre-injury amounts.
The cake from Inamura Shozo is the Black Dandy, for ４８０ yen, and is a flour-less chocolate cake: sponge alternating with ganache. I figured correctly that it would survive rough handling. It's good, maybe very good, as chocolate cake, and does not offer any surprises. I think I'll leave this shop as just "good" and be satisfied with having blog post on this shop, which is worth knowing about if you're in Tokyo.
First I had to get to the beginning of the course, which took 44'43''86 for 7.3 km, which comes to a moderate 6.13 min/km. The course as I marked it seems to be 7.99 km, although with deviations I ran about 8.4 in 54'22''87, which is a slow 6.47 min/km, not bad for a first H&C run. Not that I was perfectly following the course. I recall seeing a marker on the far side of the main road indicating that I should have passed to the east side of Ueno Station along the south side of the road before crossing, but I'll need to check that next week and update the map as necessary. One other course deviation between the posted map and my previous map that I did investigate at the time was where there were lots of turns without help, until I found a tile on a straight bit that said I should have just turned, so I could track it back one block to another tile indicating the complement turn. Also, Minowa Station was tricky and I crossed a main road (Route 4) that I didn't need to and then followed it north past where I should have turned until I hit a railroad line and followed that enough east to know that it was not the one I needed it to be for me to be on the correct road and then pulled out the map and was able to pinpoint where I actually was. Managed to get back to where I should have been and was pondering which of 4 roads branching off was the correct one (during all of this, the sun would have been useful, or a compass). At this point, an older Japanese man offered help in English, so I showed him the map and what road I wanted. It took him a little while, but eventually he told me I was where I had definitely just come back from, to the north, and that I was still south of where I actually wanted to go so I should go north (pointing south) past the McD. As expected, people don't know where they are, which direction is north, what side of the street they are on, and/or how to read a map, but I thanked him, let him walk away in the direction that he had just recommended, and, after a suitable pause, went back and tried the road that I had been considering previously, which turned out to be correct (eventually, there were marker tiles confirming this, but this course is not the best marked on the street of the ones I've been on). Mostly, a nice enough route, certainly better than just following Route 4, which I think I've done in going to Saitama, although you still have to get back to Route 4 or some major street to cross the rivers. I've considered this because I marked a shop over by Kanamachi Station as "worthy", so if it turns out to actually be, I'd like a better route than either of the two that I've used in the past. It's outside by current range for a round trip, so no hurry.
I decided that P. Fr. Inamura Shozo might be a worthy shop, and, anyway, it's the best up in that area that I know of, so I thought that I'd at least get a cake to post, since if I did decide it was worthy, I could go back next week when I hope to follow an H&C course branching off from today's, namely, the Kototoi H&C course. The distance was 5.4 km, but I failed to stop my chronometer until after purchasing, so all I know is that it took less than 45'15''38 (the wait was not that long, but probably more than 5 minutes). The 6.7 km I used to get to Yotsu Station with cake took 46'29''06, which is a very slow 6.94 min/km, so I'll treat the early one as very slow too, for purpose of tracking speed as a measure of running capacity. I did another 1.1 km to Natural Lawson for ice cream (because I made kabocha tarts yesterday, whose appeal I'm failing to see, so I'm going to try eating one with ice cream, since pumpkin pie seems to be just an excuse for eating ice cream, as far as I could ever figure out), which was also very slow.
So for today, I have 13.2 km of very slow, 8.4 of slow, and 7.3 of moderate, so 28.9 km, within the 25 to 30 km goal. For the week, then, I have 17.5 km of very slow, 19.4 km of slow, 15.3 km of moderate, 7.2 km of fast, and 6.1 km of very fast, which is 65.5 total on 5 days. That's a 18.9 km and 2-day increase, and probably reflects my current capacity more or less, so I should be careful about how much I increase from this in a given week. In terms of intensity, that's a 6.1 km increase in very fast and 13.3 km increase in fast+ (all new for both), although only a 6 km increase in moderate+, so mainly I'm just not holding myself back from running fast. The rest of the increase is in slow (8 km) and very slow (4.9 km), as I try to get my total up closer to my pre-injury amounts.
The cake from Inamura Shozo is the Black Dandy, for ４８０ yen, and is a flour-less chocolate cake: sponge alternating with ganache. I figured correctly that it would survive rough handling. It's good, maybe very good, as chocolate cake, and does not offer any surprises. I think I'll leave this shop as just "good" and be satisfied with having blog post on this shop, which is worth knowing about if you're in Tokyo.
Friday, February 19, 2016
Saturday: Chez Cima
Today was forecast rain from late morning, building into a storm in the evening, with intense winds. Since I had a late-morning appointment, I gave up doing a big run for day; also the weather was reported to be unstable and I've going to need to check the map a lot for a run along a new history and culture course. Instead, I did an early-morning run along just the east half of the Shinjuku H&C course: Gaien Walk and Outer Moat Walk. These I did in 22'34'' and 9'20'', both relatively very fast. Total, I did 6.1 km very fast and another 3.1 km at moderate speed. So not a big run, but harder than recently (and also, like yesterday, using my racing shoes, although this time I used the running backpack).
On the moderate stretch coming back, I got an Croissant Amonde (345) from Paul, which was excellent, so I'll post a not particularly exciting picture.
Rain started on time, but light, so I walked to the home store of Chez Cima. I did not get something that I couldn't get at Isetan, but if I get back to Isetan and compare, I'll maybe get a sense of what additional things are available at the Home store. The cake is Jardin (?) and was 594 yen. It's just a chocolate cake, which a crunchy base, but it is excellent, so it makes up for Friday's cake even if it was not great.
On the moderate stretch coming back, I got an Croissant Amonde (345) from Paul, which was excellent, so I'll post a not particularly exciting picture.
Rain started on time, but light, so I walked to the home store of Chez Cima. I did not get something that I couldn't get at Isetan, but if I get back to Isetan and compare, I'll maybe get a sense of what additional things are available at the Home store. The cake is Jardin (?) and was 594 yen. It's just a chocolate cake, which a crunchy base, but it is excellent, so it makes up for Friday's cake even if it was not great.
Friday: Jun Honma (Isetan) and racing shoes
Since the last cake from P. Jun Honma was great (although not exciting), I returned to Isetan for another piece of cake, this time Majestic for 550 yen.
The run was intended to be a short run, but I wanted to use the racing rather than thick novice shoes, which I have not used since my injury. First, I ran down to the start point of the Gaien loop course (the course has a start/end marker at the south point and 100 meter tiles, which I was not making much use of when I timed from the entry point at the northwest point): a moderate 9'03'' for 1.5 km. I did just two laps, from there, focusing on keeping my pace fast but stride short. To avoid dragging/swinging my right leg around, I tried to focus on bringing the right heel down and rolling off it. Also, I checked my time at the 500 m and 1000 m markers to make sure I was keeping my target speed. I had set up my timer to ring every 36 s but didn't use it (since the track is 1325, it would not have stayed in sync after the first lap anyway). Just two laps at a moderate speed taking 7'49''.33 and 7'46''.40 left me tired; yup, I've lost some muscle. Continuing back around before, and I thought trying less hard (but maybe that meant longer stride despite the slower pace) was 1.62 km in 9'25''24, which is actually fast; don't remember why now. So the today was 1.6 km fast and 4.1 km moderate.
The cake struck me as only good at the time, but I've downgraded that to okay later because ultimately it really made me want to have great cake, which is a bad sign. It is another chocolate mousse, this time with caramel crème brûlée. Like the orange cake, this was pretty unexciting and the basic flavors did not really add up to something worthwhile to me. Not bad or poorly made, but not something that I need. Sorry about the picture; guess the auto-focus or something failed. That's toasted puffed rice, maybe, covered in caramel, on top.
I got these last Thursday and have been trying them, just to explore what else the sweets section of Isetan has to offer. This is from the Yokohama Francais counter. I suppose should show what they look unwrapped, but I don't need three photos of them and I've only eaten one a day. The three flavors in this set, "Mille feuille", of six are chocolate, which was excellent, caramel, which was okay or good, and gianduja、which was at least good. "Gianduja" was a term I did not know for a mixture of chocolate and hazelnut. I've had what looked like chocolate but tasted like this and had not known what the weird flavor was and wondered if it had gone bad. This is the first I've finally "gotten" it. I think sometimes I mistake this taste for coffee, but the nuttiness is definitely there. This set is about 600 yen, about the price of a piece of cake, but can be stretched to six servings. Not sorry I tried it, but it's not going to replace cake in my life.
The run was intended to be a short run, but I wanted to use the racing rather than thick novice shoes, which I have not used since my injury. First, I ran down to the start point of the Gaien loop course (the course has a start/end marker at the south point and 100 meter tiles, which I was not making much use of when I timed from the entry point at the northwest point): a moderate 9'03'' for 1.5 km. I did just two laps, from there, focusing on keeping my pace fast but stride short. To avoid dragging/swinging my right leg around, I tried to focus on bringing the right heel down and rolling off it. Also, I checked my time at the 500 m and 1000 m markers to make sure I was keeping my target speed. I had set up my timer to ring every 36 s but didn't use it (since the track is 1325, it would not have stayed in sync after the first lap anyway). Just two laps at a moderate speed taking 7'49''.33 and 7'46''.40 left me tired; yup, I've lost some muscle. Continuing back around before, and I thought trying less hard (but maybe that meant longer stride despite the slower pace) was 1.62 km in 9'25''24, which is actually fast; don't remember why now. So the today was 1.6 km fast and 4.1 km moderate.
The cake struck me as only good at the time, but I've downgraded that to okay later because ultimately it really made me want to have great cake, which is a bad sign. It is another chocolate mousse, this time with caramel crème brûlée. Like the orange cake, this was pretty unexciting and the basic flavors did not really add up to something worthwhile to me. Not bad or poorly made, but not something that I need. Sorry about the picture; guess the auto-focus or something failed. That's toasted puffed rice, maybe, covered in caramel, on top.
I got these last Thursday and have been trying them, just to explore what else the sweets section of Isetan has to offer. This is from the Yokohama Francais counter. I suppose should show what they look unwrapped, but I don't need three photos of them and I've only eaten one a day. The three flavors in this set, "Mille feuille", of six are chocolate, which was excellent, caramel, which was okay or good, and gianduja、which was at least good. "Gianduja" was a term I did not know for a mixture of chocolate and hazelnut. I've had what looked like chocolate but tasted like this and had not known what the weird flavor was and wondered if it had gone bad. This is the first I've finally "gotten" it. I think sometimes I mistake this taste for coffee, but the nuttiness is definitely there. This set is about 600 yen, about the price of a piece of cake, but can be stretched to six servings. Not sorry I tried it, but it's not going to replace cake in my life.
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
(P.) Jun Honma (at Isetan): Orange Noisette
Got cake from the visiting Jun Honma, since I've never blogged them, although I've had their cake before and visited their store at some point, I think. Since I did fast running last time, which I did not do last week, I kept it slow today: 4.3 km in 26'51'', which is 6.24 min/km, going out to the Akasaka Nikunohanamasa to get nuts (mostly roasted peanuts, but some almonds). Coming with my pack stuffed with nuts (it's not a big bag, but I had more than 1.5 kg) took 29'31'', which is a very slow 6.87 min/km. I don't want to make the mistake of running too much during the week, so Friday I'm thinking 8.3 km would be ideal, since that would give me 30 km for weekdays. Fast would be bad, but some moderate running would be okay. I'll probably get cake from Jun Honma again, so maybe I'll join the mob running around the Gaien loop. Less than 11 days until the Tokyo Marathon.
Today's cake was an oddly named Orange Noisette, for 460 yen. Well, not so odd, because it does have a little orange inside and there is a hazelnut on top, and I assume hazelnut is involved elsewhere, but mostly it is the standard chocolate mousse dome with a centimeter disk of Bavarian cream (?) inside, right above a couple millimeters of orange. The taste was very smooth and well blended (I don't mind the white chocolate, either), so I can imagine that the secret is how the hazelnuts are used, unless they are just involved in the couple millimeters of sponge base. Anyway, it is chocolate without being overpowering, watery, or anything else chocolate mousse cakes are prone to. I'm reminded of the ice cream-like mousse cakes that I have had, but this doesn't go that far in richness or sugar, which I appreciate. So it's doing something right, and I'll say that it is great and that Jun Honma is worthy of special attention. Since they are out of easy jogging range, I'll take advantage of them while they are at Isetan at least one more time (as I try to bring up all the "worthy" shops to 2 cakes before needing to get back to "great" shops).
Today's cake was an oddly named Orange Noisette, for 460 yen. Well, not so odd, because it does have a little orange inside and there is a hazelnut on top, and I assume hazelnut is involved elsewhere, but mostly it is the standard chocolate mousse dome with a centimeter disk of Bavarian cream (?) inside, right above a couple millimeters of orange. The taste was very smooth and well blended (I don't mind the white chocolate, either), so I can imagine that the secret is how the hazelnuts are used, unless they are just involved in the couple millimeters of sponge base. Anyway, it is chocolate without being overpowering, watery, or anything else chocolate mousse cakes are prone to. I'm reminded of the ice cream-like mousse cakes that I have had, but this doesn't go that far in richness or sugar, which I appreciate. So it's doing something right, and I'll say that it is great and that Jun Honma is worthy of special attention. Since they are out of easy jogging range, I'll take advantage of them while they are at Isetan at least one more time (as I try to bring up all the "worthy" shops to 2 cakes before needing to get back to "great" shops).Tuesday, February 16, 2016
Potager: Garland Chrysanthemum Opera
Today I ran a good distance and actually got cake on a weekday for the first time together in more than a month.
The 0.8 km, my chronometer was not running. The next stretch was 5.6 km, which I did in a fast 32'10'', 5.74 min/km, so I'll estimate that the part I missed was only moderately paced, since although I was trying to run the same, it also amounted to my warm-up. Coming back was a slightly different route from Nakameguro Station up to Old Yamanote Road. the Routed ended up being 6.7 km and took 41'41'', which is a slow 6.22 min/km, but then I was carrying cake, tired, and going more uphill. Actually, I was very tired after running after a long day at work. Had forgotten what that was like.
The Garland Chrysanthemum Opera, for 500 yen, is what it sounds like, except that they use sweet potatoes where another cake would use cream cheese, for example. I can't say that I could really tell what chrysanthemum tastes like from it. It is a good cake, but not exciting. I like Potager, but I'd rather have richer cakes, as long as my health can support them, so I'll designate them as "Good" and focus on other shops. I make sure that I eat a lot of vegetable with my meals: today dinner was a Chinese cabage and broiled kabocha (basically, pumpkin) salad with kabocha, zucchini, and marinated (?) tofu pizza (with mozzarella cheese and Indian tomato sauce, as usual).
That said, I think I'll try making use of the known shops who come to Isetan that I have not blogged about. They are all places that I have not been to for a year and don't really remember much about them, so there might be some excellent one's among them that I don't know about. For those who don't come to me, I can wait until I get 9 items from the great shops and 3 items from the worthy shops before I worry about getting at least one cake posted from each good shop.
The 0.8 km, my chronometer was not running. The next stretch was 5.6 km, which I did in a fast 32'10'', 5.74 min/km, so I'll estimate that the part I missed was only moderately paced, since although I was trying to run the same, it also amounted to my warm-up. Coming back was a slightly different route from Nakameguro Station up to Old Yamanote Road. the Routed ended up being 6.7 km and took 41'41'', which is a slow 6.22 min/km, but then I was carrying cake, tired, and going more uphill. Actually, I was very tired after running after a long day at work. Had forgotten what that was like.
The Garland Chrysanthemum Opera, for 500 yen, is what it sounds like, except that they use sweet potatoes where another cake would use cream cheese, for example. I can't say that I could really tell what chrysanthemum tastes like from it. It is a good cake, but not exciting. I like Potager, but I'd rather have richer cakes, as long as my health can support them, so I'll designate them as "Good" and focus on other shops. I make sure that I eat a lot of vegetable with my meals: today dinner was a Chinese cabage and broiled kabocha (basically, pumpkin) salad with kabocha, zucchini, and marinated (?) tofu pizza (with mozzarella cheese and Indian tomato sauce, as usual).
That said, I think I'll try making use of the known shops who come to Isetan that I have not blogged about. They are all places that I have not been to for a year and don't really remember much about them, so there might be some excellent one's among them that I don't know about. For those who don't come to me, I can wait until I get 9 items from the great shops and 3 items from the worthy shops before I worry about getting at least one cake posted from each good shop.
Monday, February 15, 2016
Sunday night: custard tartlets
Since I was left with strawberries, I tried using my brioche forms to make tartlet shells, which worked with no mishaps, and I filled them with custard and strawberries (not very well arranged). The result was okay, but not really worth the effort, although I've got some ideas on ways to improve it. Still, I was felling a headache from either pollen allergies kicked up by the rain or fighting off a cold, so it worked as comfort food. I was still feeling other typical symptoms in the morning and the temperature had gone from a high Sunday of 22 C to being 4 C with a little snow in the air by the evening of Monday, so I quickly decided against running. Instead, I tried again to do my indoor workout and could. Also, I could clean up from yesterday, including making this post. With any luck, I'll be fine tomorrow and be able to run, perhaps to Potager.
Sunday, February 14, 2016
Visit to Jiyugaoka and P. la Glycine
Rain cleared up earlier than it might have and I was able to get out by noon in sunny late-spring/early-summer weather (with heavy wind). I took my usual route, which Google says is 11.3 km and it took me 1:08'27'', which is 6.06 min/km, moderate speed, which is as fast as I do long runs, although in this case I didn't try to maintain the pace.
At Jiyugaoka, I went to Paris S'éveille to get a croissant for 250 yen, which was fine although not special, and a Kouign Amann, which was great again, despite not being fresh from the oven this time. I ate these just in the little strip park that runs in front of Origines Cacao, which was perhaps a mistake, because I'm finding mosquito bites. Apparently, I need mosquito repellent in February now, at least if there are a couple warm days in a row (although I've seen them around my door even when it was just above average warm in winter).
Next, I ran to P. La Glycine, which was not exactly where I thought it was (and Google thinks it is). Until now, I had been visiting the French deli next door. Now that I know where to look, it's hard to miss; I'll try again going there at night. The run took 43'32'' and covered 6.4 km, which is 6.8 min/km. I was trying for faster than that, but there are other people out walking and hills to climb.
Coming home, I got turned around, so I just tried to climb (to get up to Old Yamanote Road) and then take my usual way back, but I ended up going through Shibuya Station (literally), before catching up with Aoyama Road. Google's estimate of my best guess of what route I used is 6.2 km, and my estimate of how long it took is 41' (I caught myself running with the chronometer stopped), which means 6.6 min/km, still very slow, but suspiciously faster with the cake than without it.
So my weekly running is, in 3 days, 47 km comprising 22.6 km moderate, 11.4 km slow, and 12.6 km very slow, compared to last week in 4 days 34 km comprising 8 km moderate and 26 km very slow. That's faster than maybe I should be ramping up the moderate-speed running and I would have liked to have gotten in more than three days running and another few kilometers of very slow. I've heard, don't increase more than 10% per week, but that can't apply to getting back into running after an injury (10% more of zero is still zero), so instead I'm thinking that my maximum was about 100 km a week before and 50 km for one day. Since I figure subtract 1% per day inactive and it's been 4 weeks since my injury, maybe 70-75 km is enough for next week and I can try to increase 10% from there after that. Similarly, next week I'll try for 30-35 km for next Saturday, if that is my maximum run, and raise that to 35-40 km the next week, which should both be enough for the next two History and Culture courses that I want to do, even with cake detours.
Finally, the cake for today: I got Mistral (which means "masterly", but is the French name of a particular type of strong cold northwesterly wind) for 600 yen. This is pistachio mousse, in which I think there is cherry liquor (having trouble with the translation, but it's definitely cherries, and they've definitely been pickled or fomented), but also some chocolate crunch. I choose this despite the cherries because it was the one marked "recommended" (by the "Chef"). It's not a big shop, so there was not a huge choice, but enough for me to go back. Since I've been badmouthing them because I couldn't look as far as the next building to find them, I may be feeling generous, but I liked this, so I'll say it is excellent and mark the shop as "worthy" of further special attention.
Since I got this shop from Sweet Sonobe, I'll need to start exploring that blog further for recommendations.
At Jiyugaoka, I went to Paris S'éveille to get a croissant for 250 yen, which was fine although not special, and a Kouign Amann, which was great again, despite not being fresh from the oven this time. I ate these just in the little strip park that runs in front of Origines Cacao, which was perhaps a mistake, because I'm finding mosquito bites. Apparently, I need mosquito repellent in February now, at least if there are a couple warm days in a row (although I've seen them around my door even when it was just above average warm in winter).
Next, I ran to P. La Glycine, which was not exactly where I thought it was (and Google thinks it is). Until now, I had been visiting the French deli next door. Now that I know where to look, it's hard to miss; I'll try again going there at night. The run took 43'32'' and covered 6.4 km, which is 6.8 min/km. I was trying for faster than that, but there are other people out walking and hills to climb.
Coming home, I got turned around, so I just tried to climb (to get up to Old Yamanote Road) and then take my usual way back, but I ended up going through Shibuya Station (literally), before catching up with Aoyama Road. Google's estimate of my best guess of what route I used is 6.2 km, and my estimate of how long it took is 41' (I caught myself running with the chronometer stopped), which means 6.6 min/km, still very slow, but suspiciously faster with the cake than without it.
So my weekly running is, in 3 days, 47 km comprising 22.6 km moderate, 11.4 km slow, and 12.6 km very slow, compared to last week in 4 days 34 km comprising 8 km moderate and 26 km very slow. That's faster than maybe I should be ramping up the moderate-speed running and I would have liked to have gotten in more than three days running and another few kilometers of very slow. I've heard, don't increase more than 10% per week, but that can't apply to getting back into running after an injury (10% more of zero is still zero), so instead I'm thinking that my maximum was about 100 km a week before and 50 km for one day. Since I figure subtract 1% per day inactive and it's been 4 weeks since my injury, maybe 70-75 km is enough for next week and I can try to increase 10% from there after that. Similarly, next week I'll try for 30-35 km for next Saturday, if that is my maximum run, and raise that to 35-40 km the next week, which should both be enough for the next two History and Culture courses that I want to do, even with cake detours.
Finally, the cake for today: I got Mistral (which means "masterly", but is the French name of a particular type of strong cold northwesterly wind) for 600 yen. This is pistachio mousse, in which I think there is cherry liquor (having trouble with the translation, but it's definitely cherries, and they've definitely been pickled or fomented), but also some chocolate crunch. I choose this despite the cherries because it was the one marked "recommended" (by the "Chef"). It's not a big shop, so there was not a huge choice, but enough for me to go back. Since I've been badmouthing them because I couldn't look as far as the next building to find them, I may be feeling generous, but I liked this, so I'll say it is excellent and mark the shop as "worthy" of further special attention.Since I got this shop from Sweet Sonobe, I'll need to start exploring that blog further for recommendations.
Saturday, February 13, 2016
Zephyr [Isetan]
Went to Isetan and took some notes on other cakes I've had (need to update P. Cover now), and got not cake, in this case, a little pie-let from the Zephyr counter of Isetan, which is a brand of Tokyo Fugetsudo, a huge company. This is made from Janathon apples (from Aoyama), but underneath is some kind of sweet (?) potato, I think. Anyway, definitely good apple pie for when I'm not in the mood for cake and only 480 yen. Tomorrow I'll run, so I avoided it tonight. I may have to wait for the rain to end, so I'm not planning to get up early, and since I won't go that far, (just 25 to 30 km), that should be fine even for getting cake.
Friday: La Vieille France (at Isetan)
The first cake I sampled was a chocolate cake, selected for me. I don't know the name, but it looks like a Valentine's Day variation of the Forêt Noire on their website, which does not have little heart. Also, I was told that the red fruit was strawberry, versus cherries, which is true as far as I could taste and would win me over to choosing Forêt Noire for myself. There is cream on top with chocolate pieces, layers of soft sponge cake, layers of chocolate cream, I think, and a little strawberry in there, as I already indicated. Most of these are things that I don't want much of in a cake, but they do work together and the strawberry (or whatever it is) definitely is the right touch to make this a definitely good piece of cake, versus just okay.Next was the Savarin, which I've found going back is 481 yen. It's definitely good, but I'm not an expert on this type and it did not stand out among the good ones that I've had.
 |
| La Vieille France: Cube a la Vanille |
Since these cakes were all good or better, I'm raising my rating of the shop to "Good" on the map. Not near to me, so no reason to give them further extra attention.
Thu-Sat: Henri le Roux [Isetan]
Got a box of caramels from Henri le Roux Isetan basement, since I had someone to share them with and I've already had all four of their "cakes" and this is the shop of the only caramélier (since he made up the term and trademarked it, reportedly). These are 162 yen each, regardless of how how many you buy.
Caramels are no substitute for cake, but they were very good. I would say that the C.B.S (Caramel au Buerre Salé) is the best, but the Chocolat and Framboise (raspberry) are also excellent if you like those flavors, and I found that I did. The Orange Gingembre (ginger) was also good, but I was not as into it, so it just seemed like candy to me. They have other flavors for caramels, although I might try their chocolates next if I feel a need to visit here again to keep up with the other great shops.
Caramels are no substitute for cake, but they were very good. I would say that the C.B.S (Caramel au Buerre Salé) is the best, but the Chocolat and Framboise (raspberry) are also excellent if you like those flavors, and I found that I did. The Orange Gingembre (ginger) was also good, but I was not as into it, so it just seemed like candy to me. They have other flavors for caramels, although I might try their chocolates next if I feel a need to visit here again to keep up with the other great shops.
Friday, February 12, 2016
Thursday: Rose Bakery [Isetan]
Holiday, but I'm busy, so no running. Went to Isetan in the afternoon and was able to get the timing to allow getting seated at Rose Bakery (around 6 pm on a midweek holiday). Along with tea and hot cocoa, we got Trifle for 527+8% tax and Chocolate Cheese Cake for 574 + 8% tax
The cheese cake is excellent if you like chocolate and cheesecake, which I do (although I can see that I could quickly get tired of this), and this is dense, not a mousse--very American. Not something I need everyday, but not something as common around here as in the U.S., so I'm got to find it handy.
Trifle seems to be a light chocolate cake with the cream already in there, also almonds and chestnuts. It's good, but fluffier than I'm interested in.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Wednesday: Glycine failure
Ran out to (P. la) Glycine, which I've gone to three times now, and I'm zero for three in finding them open. First, it was preparation for Christmas and then it was holiday after Christmas (neither of which were really shocking). Today, I went on a day when they are supposed to be open and their hours are posted as until 20:00, and yet they were closed at 19:27. Not the only shop like that, but it means that I'm taking them off the list of places for weekday evening visitations.
Good run though, so no worries. Did a moderately paced 6.4 km out in 37'12'', which is just short (at 5.81 min/km) of being fast. To balance that, my coming back time (more up hill, on average) was a slow 41'50'', not far (at 6.53 min/km) from being very slow. Some pretty steep (like, with warning signs on the road with the grade, as well as road texturing) hills, strong winds, cold, and I went through Omotesando, so a little crowded. Also, there were multiple stairs involved.
Third attempt at canelé with brioche forms, and at least I smothered them with enough butter so that they popped out, but I found pouring that I did a poor job of mixing up the batter and they seemed soft coming out, but not burnt, a first. The canelé seem good enough to make again. Even reducing the cooking time another 3 minutes to reduce burning, the center was not such a blob, although that might have to do with how long I let them cook before eating. I may try chilling the batter next time, since that would effect how it interacts with the butter coating, and for that matter, I might try chilling the buttered forms enough that the butter all solidifies (I refrigerate them before buttering, which speeds that up, so it wouldn't take long).
Also found out tonight that pecan pie tartlets are delicious straight from the freezer, which is dangerous knowledge.
Good run though, so no worries. Did a moderately paced 6.4 km out in 37'12'', which is just short (at 5.81 min/km) of being fast. To balance that, my coming back time (more up hill, on average) was a slow 41'50'', not far (at 6.53 min/km) from being very slow. Some pretty steep (like, with warning signs on the road with the grade, as well as road texturing) hills, strong winds, cold, and I went through Omotesando, so a little crowded. Also, there were multiple stairs involved.
Third attempt at canelé with brioche forms, and at least I smothered them with enough butter so that they popped out, but I found pouring that I did a poor job of mixing up the batter and they seemed soft coming out, but not burnt, a first. The canelé seem good enough to make again. Even reducing the cooking time another 3 minutes to reduce burning, the center was not such a blob, although that might have to do with how long I let them cook before eating. I may try chilling the batter next time, since that would effect how it interacts with the butter coating, and for that matter, I might try chilling the buttered forms enough that the butter all solidifies (I refrigerate them before buttering, which speeds that up, so it wouldn't take long).
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Clover [Isetan] and 9.9 km
Got cake from (P.) Clover, at Isetan and did a run down to Aux Bacchanales in Akasaka, which closes really early (before I got there), although I was just trying to confirm their existence. I thought at least the café was supposed to be open, but apparently not. There were still staff, so they were open sometime today, I assume.
The run was a moderately paced 4.9 km in 29'35'' there and a slow 5.0 km in 31'48'' coming back.
The cake was the standard chocolate mousse type that attracts me and usually disappoints me (because I'm tired of chocolate mousse), but this was good. I think it was Chocolat Noel, but I'll have to check back at Isetan, which I don't always remember to do. It was definitely 509 yen and is a small seasonal cake, so it's not posted on their regular website (they have a large seasonal chocolate cake by this name, but it has strawberries). The cream layer inside was earl grey flavor, and there was a layer with orange peel, giving a good balance of flavors. It was not great, but it is a kind of cake that I'd like to enjoy, so I'm happy with it being definitely good and marking this place as "Worthy" on the map, although it clearly is serving the lower end of the Isetan basement market (other evidence is that they also sell at other department stories in the Shinjuku Station area, although that doesn't necessarily mean cake) and was not busy (unlike Sadaharu Aoki, which is doing a brisk Valentines Day business). Also in favor of this place, when I asked what was in the cake, not only could they immediately tell me, but they pulled out a schematic cross-section of the cake showing what the parts were. I'll go back just for more of that.
The run was a moderately paced 4.9 km in 29'35'' there and a slow 5.0 km in 31'48'' coming back.
The cake was the standard chocolate mousse type that attracts me and usually disappoints me (because I'm tired of chocolate mousse), but this was good. I think it was Chocolat Noel, but I'll have to check back at Isetan, which I don't always remember to do. It was definitely 509 yen and is a small seasonal cake, so it's not posted on their regular website (they have a large seasonal chocolate cake by this name, but it has strawberries). The cream layer inside was earl grey flavor, and there was a layer with orange peel, giving a good balance of flavors. It was not great, but it is a kind of cake that I'd like to enjoy, so I'm happy with it being definitely good and marking this place as "Worthy" on the map, although it clearly is serving the lower end of the Isetan basement market (other evidence is that they also sell at other department stories in the Shinjuku Station area, although that doesn't necessarily mean cake) and was not busy (unlike Sadaharu Aoki, which is doing a brisk Valentines Day business). Also in favor of this place, when I asked what was in the cake, not only could they immediately tell me, but they pulled out a schematic cross-section of the cake showing what the parts were. I'll go back just for more of that.
Monday, February 8, 2016
Noix de beurre
Had business nearby, so in keeping with the season, I got a Financier aux Chocolat for 260. It tastes like a really good thin brownie, although I assume that it has almond in it. This is maybe something I'll try making if using brioche molds for canelé never pans out. (The second batch was just starting to burn at the edges but the centers did not cook enough and they stuck in the molds. I think there was not enough egg and my timing and maybe the amount of buttering of the molds were different, so I'll try correcting both those points before I give up.)
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Sunday run to Lettre d'Amour [Closed]
Ran just over 14 km, which was a couple kilometers too far (I walked the last kilometer), although the stiffness went away before I had a chance to ice it, so no harm done, I think. You can't find out how far you can go without going to far. I think an approximately 30 km run for next Sunday to get back doing new History and Culture course should wait another weekend. Also, I'll rest from running and cake shops tomorrow. I'm busy the end of next week, so it might be hard to keep the training.
Of the 14 km I did, first there were a very slow 0.63 km in 4'19'' (6.85 min/km) as a loop back home for another layer, a credit card, and a point card. Then I did a moderate-speed 8.26 km in 50'46'' (6.15 min/km) with one early stop to go to Tokyu Hands to check out cake rum and a replacement silicone mat for one that I burned, neither of which I bought; then the basement, where they have a new baking section that will be my new place for buying pecans (smaller cheaper bags, although the nut pieces aren't quite as pretty) but does not do baking alcohol (and the basement alcohol section only had a 700 ml bottle, which I'm not ready for; and also in the basement、Fauchon, where I bought a canelé again (no photo) for 259 yen. The taste was good, but it was too soft for me (says the person who charred the batch yesterday). Speaking of which, I should correct what I wrote about canelé forms, since what I actually have is brioche forms, which I'm not interested unless I'm going to try bostock, which I'm ready for. Lastly, was a very slow 5.19 km in 36'16'' (6.99 km/min) before just walking the last kilometer.
Weekly (Mon to Sun) stats then stand as 26 km very slow and 8 km moderately paced. There's a holiday the coming Thursday, but I'm busy from then to Saturday, so I'm not sure how much running I can get in besides Tuesday, Sunday, and probably Wednesday, although Saturday night I could do a little. I should be able to make 40 km, with at least 20 km slow or faster.
At Lettre d'Amour, I got a croissant for 220 yen and Praliné Opéra for 520 yen. The croissant (no photo) was nothing special, I decided. The cake, which was marked "NEW", was excellent, but very sugary. As one would expect, it is hazelnut biscuit, praline butter cream with chocolate ganache layered and accented with caramelize nuts. When talking about yesterday's cake from Aigre-Douce and labeling it "great" only because I couldn't think of any way to improve it without making it into a different cake, this might be the cake I was imagining. And yet, it was not great to me, so I'm going to stop treating Lettre d'Amour as a "Great" shop, but I don't doubt that when the "Worthy" group gets thoroughly reviewed, this shop will end up in whatever category is below what now I'm calling great, along with Ryoco and others that I started in the great category but later demoted.
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Of the 14 km I did, first there were a very slow 0.63 km in 4'19'' (6.85 min/km) as a loop back home for another layer, a credit card, and a point card. Then I did a moderate-speed 8.26 km in 50'46'' (6.15 min/km) with one early stop to go to Tokyu Hands to check out cake rum and a replacement silicone mat for one that I burned, neither of which I bought; then the basement, where they have a new baking section that will be my new place for buying pecans (smaller cheaper bags, although the nut pieces aren't quite as pretty) but does not do baking alcohol (and the basement alcohol section only had a 700 ml bottle, which I'm not ready for; and also in the basement、Fauchon, where I bought a canelé again (no photo) for 259 yen. The taste was good, but it was too soft for me (says the person who charred the batch yesterday). Speaking of which, I should correct what I wrote about canelé forms, since what I actually have is brioche forms, which I'm not interested unless I'm going to try bostock, which I'm ready for. Lastly, was a very slow 5.19 km in 36'16'' (6.99 km/min) before just walking the last kilometer.
Weekly (Mon to Sun) stats then stand as 26 km very slow and 8 km moderately paced. There's a holiday the coming Thursday, but I'm busy from then to Saturday, so I'm not sure how much running I can get in besides Tuesday, Sunday, and probably Wednesday, although Saturday night I could do a little. I should be able to make 40 km, with at least 20 km slow or faster.
At Lettre d'Amour, I got a croissant for 220 yen and Praliné Opéra for 520 yen. The croissant (no photo) was nothing special, I decided. The cake, which was marked "NEW", was excellent, but very sugary. As one would expect, it is hazelnut biscuit, praline butter cream with chocolate ganache layered and accented with caramelize nuts. When talking about yesterday's cake from Aigre-Douce and labeling it "great" only because I couldn't think of any way to improve it without making it into a different cake, this might be the cake I was imagining. And yet, it was not great to me, so I'm going to stop treating Lettre d'Amour as a "Great" shop, but I don't doubt that when the "Worthy" group gets thoroughly reviewed, this shop will end up in whatever category is below what now I'm calling great, along with Ryoco and others that I started in the great category but later demoted.
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Aigre-Douce: Miroir Cassis and Canele de Marquet
Had a real run of 12 km, still at a slow speed of almost 7 min/km average, but no problems, so I plan to run again tomorrow, despite making my goal of 20 km for the week today. I worked hard to keep in shape while I couldn't run, so if my right lower-leg tendon is happy, nothing else should give me trouble, although my hips while I was running didn't quite seem used to it toward the end (no problems, though).
I ran to Aigre-Douce, as a great shop that needed further visiting, and got Miroir Cassis for 530 and Canelé de Marquet (the last one, which was somewhat hidden) for 230 yen. Up until the actual time of ordering, I thought that I was going to get the cake next to the cassis one, but suddenly realized that I had misread the name and it was actually something I've already had/blogged, so no time to read the card. I'm counting on memory and a description lifted from Google. I had also already picked out a different baked good before I as a new canelé to try, as well.
The cake was very good, and I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt that it was great, because I can't think of any way to make it better that would not make it a different cake completely. The cassis is in the mousse outside and inside there is lemon panna cotta (cooked cream) and red fruits gelatin. Outside, are what look like macarons to me, although called something different on the blog I was comparing with.
The canelé is different from other ones in being more wet/custardy inside, although not in a bad way. Still, it didn't stand out.
I tried to make canelé today and failed, but not in a discouraging way: they burned. My recipe says 26 min for 20-gram size and 45 minutes for 70 grams, so I went with 40 minutes. My forms are very short compared to regular ones, and I don't know what that implies. The burnt taste is enough that I wouldn't want to give them to anyone else, but not enough to stop me from eating them, so I put the remainder in the freezer so that I at least don't eat them all today. Struggling to decide how many minutes to try next: 35 min or 30 min. I suppose 30 min, since I might theoretically back them back to bake longer if they aren't done, although I'm not sure whether that would work.Friday, February 5, 2016
Running and Paul [Yotsuya]
Sorry for the monotony, but I went to Paul and this time I saw where they keep the canelés, so I got one, for 259 yen. It was very good. Not at rummy as others, I think, which I'm not complaining about, just giving my impression. I was looking for "dark rum" at the grocery, but had to continue on to a different station until I saw where it was. On the way, I visited outside of Aux Bacchanales [Kioicho] and the neighboring Pierre Hermé and Patisserie Satsuki, just to confirm them, so I added them to the map. Only rum I found was the one I already have a few teaspoons of, so maybe it is as dark as it's going to get. Found rum extract, too, which I'll keep in mind. Still need to get milk, but probably Marusho is good enough, and closer. Or Natural Lawson is probably find. I always have yogurt on hand, and it would probably work, but I'd like to stay close to the canelé recipe the first time. I should get more bread flour, though.
Maybe it was because of the stops and slow speed, but I could run 5 km with no problems, in 34 min, so still extra-slow. I decided that I'll be satisfied with 10 km this week, so I'm almost there, but my target (must made up today) is 20 km.
Thursday, February 4, 2016
Thursday: Q-Pot Cafe.
Did a longer walk, close to 6 km, which probably took 1 hour, so longer than Tuesday's, but no hills, so it might not be a good comparison. Didn't feel any problems, so I'm thinking I'll try to run down to Yotsuya Station tomorrow night and get some jam, good milk, and dark rum for cooking from the grocery and something sweet from Paul.
It's been a while since I went somewhere new that wasn't in Isetan. "Q-Pot Cafe." was listed as "Unvisited" on my map for a long time, so I finally visited. I should probably be more selective about what I put on my map from Joshi+. I know better than to do cafés, but I like to try something new sometimes, and this was within range. The cake was Sachertorte for 690 yen. It was fine. I assume there was some actual apricot in it, because there were a few pieces of some chewy fruit. Not really anything special, and definitely not my first choice for Sachertorte. Not much else among the selection that I would be interested in. I'm tempted to just mark them "Unworthy" so I can just forget about them, but it doesn't seem fair after one cake that was fine, so I'll mark the "Good".
I also got a croissant from the nearby Rituel (par Christophe Vasseur), which was 350 yen and, while artistic and good, definitely not as good as some 200 yen ones I've had.
It's been a while since I went somewhere new that wasn't in Isetan. "Q-Pot Cafe." was listed as "Unvisited" on my map for a long time, so I finally visited. I should probably be more selective about what I put on my map from Joshi+. I know better than to do cafés, but I like to try something new sometimes, and this was within range. The cake was Sachertorte for 690 yen. It was fine. I assume there was some actual apricot in it, because there were a few pieces of some chewy fruit. Not really anything special, and definitely not my first choice for Sachertorte. Not much else among the selection that I would be interested in. I'm tempted to just mark them "Unworthy" so I can just forget about them, but it doesn't seem fair after one cake that was fine, so I'll mark the "Good".
Wednesday: more Canelé
Went to Isetan and got two canelé: one from D'une Rareté for 174 and a chocolate one from Sadaharu Aoki for 380 yen. I almost didn't get the Sadaharu Aoki one, because it was wrapped in plastic, which traps moisture, which makes it soft, and the caramelize exterior is the whole point to some people. Didn't run or walk extra, but did my indoor workout, with squats (which I seem to be pretty immune to now: I can just keep doing them continuously in place of running). I don't buy from D'une Rareté because, for bread, I'm usually looking for something less fancy.
Both cakes were definitely good, but I'll say that I'm not sold on chocolate canelé, but it might just have been canelé overload, since I ate the other, smaller one first.
Tuesday, February 2, 2016
Walking to Précieuse
I tried walking instead of running today, which was okay. This time 2.5 km might have been enough, although my shin never got more than a little tight even going double, and I didn't have trouble or feel anything climbing the stairs when I came home, but I think tomorrow that I'll not run. Still, I want cake, because today's cake was not great, so I'll go to Isetan, probably (I'm not expecting to work late again tomorrow).
Actually, I went to Yotsu Atré to visit Paul with the hope of getting a canelé, which they did not have. I've seen a photo of one posted for them at Tabelog, so it was not my imagination that they have them sometimes. Next time I go, I'll ask what their schedule is for making them.
Instead, I got a Coccinelle (ladybug) for 500 yen from La Précieuse, which is several millimeters thick of somewhat gelatinous raspberry mousse, and there is honey mousse, which maybe the cream belong that, which did not really have a distinct taste. The irregular pile of caramel and almond slices (?) that formed the anchor in the middle was okay, and the cake was good, but it's really not the kind of cake that I want to be eating, so I'm downgrading them to just good. Given that I've posted on at least 6 cakes from each my "Great" shops, I'd like to get all the "Worthy"s up to 2 cakes before thinking about getting all the "Good" shops up to at least 1 cake. I have 11 great shops now (ignoring redundant branches) and I think 28 worthy ones, so 6:2 seems like a good balance.
Actually, I went to Yotsu Atré to visit Paul with the hope of getting a canelé, which they did not have. I've seen a photo of one posted for them at Tabelog, so it was not my imagination that they have them sometimes. Next time I go, I'll ask what their schedule is for making them.
Instead, I got a Coccinelle (ladybug) for 500 yen from La Précieuse, which is several millimeters thick of somewhat gelatinous raspberry mousse, and there is honey mousse, which maybe the cream belong that, which did not really have a distinct taste. The irregular pile of caramel and almond slices (?) that formed the anchor in the middle was okay, and the cake was good, but it's really not the kind of cake that I want to be eating, so I'm downgrading them to just good. Given that I've posted on at least 6 cakes from each my "Great" shops, I'd like to get all the "Worthy"s up to 2 cakes before thinking about getting all the "Good" shops up to at least 1 cake. I have 11 great shops now (ignoring redundant branches) and I think 28 worthy ones, so 6:2 seems like a good balance.
Monday, February 1, 2016
Running and a Canelé from
Tried running. My initial instinct to just do 1.5 km was correct: I did 3 km and it was a 1 km too much for my shins, although I'm fine. I'll not run tomorrow, watch for any problems, and try again Wednesday and keep it at just 2 km. My time was 20'38'', so near but under 7 min/km, which was what I was trying for: a slow run. Went too far because I got sucked into the Gaien Walk part of the Shinjuku History and Culture course (or at least the west half of it). Found another discrepancy between the posted 2010 version and the markers on the ground. Since the posted one crosses where you can't cross, I'm definitely going with old route and updated the map using the new information. I also did some refinements elsewhere for the entire Shinjuku course, as I've been more strict with routes that I've drawn more recently.
I compromised as far as store-bought cake and got a bakery-type cake from Noix de Beurre, at Isetan. I got a Canelé (for 194 yen), which I've been reading up on because I have a bunch of canelé forms for tartlets, although stainless steel ones rather than the copper ones that are supposed to be best for actually making canelé. Anyway, I've had this in the past and was disappointed, but I've had a lot of cakes since then and today had a better idea of what to expect, so I could appreciate it this time.
Definitely something I want to try to make, in a small amount at first, like one, maybe. My forms are huge compared to this thing (mine are 7.5 cm in diameter, but this was probably about 3 cm). In the meantime, I'll be sampling canelé from other places. Doesn't look like I'll get farther than Isetan during the week, so I'll look around there Wednesday. They are closed tomorrow, so I'll have pecan pastries again, which is fine. I know Sadaharu Aoki has chocolate ones.
I compromised as far as store-bought cake and got a bakery-type cake from Noix de Beurre, at Isetan. I got a Canelé (for 194 yen), which I've been reading up on because I have a bunch of canelé forms for tartlets, although stainless steel ones rather than the copper ones that are supposed to be best for actually making canelé. Anyway, I've had this in the past and was disappointed, but I've had a lot of cakes since then and today had a better idea of what to expect, so I could appreciate it this time.
Definitely something I want to try to make, in a small amount at first, like one, maybe. My forms are huge compared to this thing (mine are 7.5 cm in diameter, but this was probably about 3 cm). In the meantime, I'll be sampling canelé from other places. Doesn't look like I'll get farther than Isetan during the week, so I'll look around there Wednesday. They are closed tomorrow, so I'll have pecan pastries again, which is fine. I know Sadaharu Aoki has chocolate ones.
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