Cake-off: Bien-être's Chocolat Cuit over Jean-Paul Hévin's Victoria

First, let me mention that I ran to Christa Friday evening and got a Pain au Chocolat. I stopped and ate it nearby rather than make it travel a long time, so the photo is not very flattering due to the lighting, but it was great: lots of crispy layers with good chocolate, completely different from the previous pastry that I had claiming that name. Although this was my first pastry from them, I was expecting something pretty good, just because I had an excellent bread sample and they seen pretty serious about their breads while also making fancy cakes. There had a few other pastries there, so I should go back there so. The rest of the run was going to Roppongi Link and Loop. I had to move the connection to agree with the open crosswalk, but otherwise the route seems good. Other steps are to visit in the daytime for photographs and confirmation that things are where they are supposed to be and actually running over the course in a full continuous neighborhood run. It's not the most attractive place, so I might slip in on larger runs (or need to anyway, to get the far without cheating), but I shouldn't judge to quickly. On the way back I stopped at Tokyo Mid-town and remembered all the things I wanted from there. Probably I'll go at least once next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Today, I walked first to Jean-Paul Hévin around 11:30 and got get to the cake counter within a few minutes to purchase the Victoria, which is available through Valentine's Day. Except for the top biscuit, it seems to be the same cake as their two-person special seasonal cake. The website has been updated to reflect this and says that it will be replaced by Violet, which, reviewing old posts, I've never reviewed, so I have that to look forward to.

Next I went to Bien-être's by the long way to stop and take a few pictures of Tougou Shrine. Didn't realize that I hadn't done the Seichou no Ie complex to the northwest, or I would have picked that up to. Takeshita Street to Harajuku Stn. was packed, so no running around here. I've reverted my course over there to a single loop, but it's not practical on weekends except really early in the morning. I went to Bien-être for their baked (flour-less?) chocolate cake, Chocolat Cuit. It's simple but works, which is pretty much the shop's overall strength. On the way back, I confirmed that I could connect them up to my neighborhood map, via big detour north to get the crosswalk over the continuation north of Inokashira-dori avenue (which takes a east/left at the Yoyogi Public Park Police Box intersection). I also confirmed that you can cross through the north end of Meiji Shrine, when it's open (daylight), though you're not supposed to run, of course, as it's not a public park.

Did the cake-off, another chocolate match-up that finishes off the first round for Jan. 2018 great cakes. Actually, though it was excellent, wasn't remembering what I thought was great about Victoria this time around, which isn't too surprising given the number of similar cakes that I've liked from JPH. Still, the Chocolat Cuit was great, so I don't have any problem giving them the win. Maybe I'll test it against Viron's similar cake in the second round.