Yatsudoki, Chocolate Pompette

As a new shop to visit while I wait for the month to run out, I visited a shop of the dessert chain Yatsudoki, which has cakes, among other things. For logistical reasons, I ended up visiting the Shinjuku branch rather than the Jinguumae branch on the neighborhood course, though I had gone by that one on the way out. I choose the dense chocolate layer cake, which is not on the website. It's layers of almond biscuit and ganache, I assume, with some, probably inconsequential, amount of alcohol, thus the pompette. It's a relatively new chain (or a new brand of a relatively new chain), compared to most of the chain stores of the same level. Anyway, it's still a low level, but it was still good cake, which is a huge improvement over some of cheap chain shops that are hanging on, it least based on my small sample of each. Next, on to better things, though (if I could just finish work on time or if shops could stay open later without spreading illness).

Atsushi Hatae, Gourmandise

Foraging for food, I went out again today. I originally intended to do a neighborhood course clump, but quickly decided that the weather was too miserable, and that I wasn't actually confident about the changes I made in merging three loops into one, and combing that with two other loops, one new, to form the clump.  Fortunately, the miserable weather and general requests to avoid unnecessary excursions, kept people off the streets around the time I was running (i.e., during the March snow). I wasn't the only jogger, or the only one buying food that might not be vital to life, but it was pretty easy to keep a good distance from everyone. I'm remembering, now, that running, like alcohol, might not be best for maintaining good judgement, so I plan to be even more careful next time, if there is a next time (i.e., if the city isn't completely locked down). When I jogged in the evening, it certainly looked (from afar), that some shops were hurting for sales, as I would expect, at least for ones away from residential areas. But enough of the depressing stuff.

Working on the neighborhood sites, I got mini-financiers from Chavaty, which is a milk and tea shop (though I don't like milk in my tea), that has scones, but no clotted cream, so I'm not sure whether to trust them for scones. Thus, I went with the mini-financiers. They aren't like homemade, but maybe not everyone likes their financiers as baked/dry as I do. Also, these seem to be chocolate, from the color, though I can't tell so much from the flavor for this kind of baked good. They were good, but not impressive. I think I got 12 originally, but this was after the late run (after I dried off, had lunch, and then the first cake).

The first shop I got cake from was the Sarugaku-chou (the website, of course, says Daikanyama, since that's the nearest station and more sophisticated than "monkey pleasure") Atsushi Hatae shop that opened last year (at the same time as his other two shops). I went with the Gourmandise as likely to meet my tastes, as well as being strong for the return trip, which probably took me an hour through mush and detours trying to confirm other shops. Tea-flavored chocolate ganache, caramel and orange chocolate cream, and hazelnut praliné as the main components. Quite sophisticated, though not original, which is fine with me. I can call it excellent. This shop goes on the list of fine shops as one that I definitely want to get back to, in the next year or so (under the current strict system).

Cake-off: Pierre Gagnaire's Mousse au Chocolat et Yuzu over En Vedette's Mont-Blanc

Only yesterday, on a necessary trip for food, I did neighborhood course run down through western Minami-Aoyama down to Roppongi. Coming back, I stopped for my first pastry from Nino Caffe, across the main north-south street from Nogi Park. They had various fillings, and plain, but I went with the chocolate. Note sure how they were naming this, so I'll call it a just Chocolate Croissant. The croissant is pretty soft and holds a lot of filling, which seems to be chocolate custard. Very rich and good, but of of course, not so sophisticated. It was too messy to each on the way, so I saved it for home, even though I was also carrying cake and still needed to stop at a grocery (where the shelves were pretty bare, so I just got bananas, which I was running low on).

The main event, of course, was the cake-off, though that required another trip, this time down to Shibuya through Jinguumae, where I found that Yatsudoki had built a shop deep in on a street not on the running course. In the end, adding it led to merging three loops, so I'm back to having one big loop south of Omote-Sandou Road to match the one north, for the main strip between Harajuku Stn. and Omote-Sandou Stn. That's turned this clump of loops (which include a new one using the remaining bridge over Meiji-Doori to get to a little loop under Yamanote Line that has a coffee shop and a convenience store. Under current conditions, Shibuya Scramble Square had almost no customers, so social distancing was possible.

Today's match up was a first-round cake-off between two recent picks, and I'm still a little tentative about both, but they both are great simple cakes, chocolate mousse cake in the form of Pierre Gagnaire's Mousse au Chocolat et Yuzu and meringue mont-blanc in En Vedette's Mont-Blanc. I'm giving this one to the mousse cake, because it manages to give a real dark chocolate taste to mousse and cutting it with yuzu so it doesn't wear out it's welcome. En Vedette should get a remain yet, as their Roche also has one win.

Pierre Gagnaire, La Panthère Rose

Thursday late afternoon, I ran down to Pierre Gagnaire's shop for a 9th cake, as a detour from the neighborhood running course Roppongi 7 loop, which I just thought I had, but found a flaw (due to allowing the taiyaki place, since they have custard-filled ones now). I took a chance and lost, but it was educational. There were actually only 3 cake types left, one of which is great but I was looking for something new. I went with La Panthère Rose, on the grounds that there is always a panther and the "verte" wasn't that impressive, but that might be more a fault of the variation. This is a mascarpone cheese cake flavored with strawberry, the flavor of the season (ending this month, according to the original plan I saw). I had trouble with the texture of this until the very end. It might have to do with how much gelatin was in it (i.e., too much), or maybe just mascarpone cheese needs to warmed up even longer than whipped cream when taken from the refrigerator, so longer than 5 minutes, according to one authority. I'll try that next time I deal with this kind of cake.

Les Cacaos, Chocolat Noisette

Thursday, I took off the PM and went out for cake. Wasn't sure whether I would find it, since pandemic was exploding in Tokyo, but cake shops have materials, and expenses, so they go on. Under the circumstances, I changed from running and coming back by train to bicycling both ways. Still looking for a shop to promote to exceptional, I went first to Les Cacaos for a 6th cake. Chocolat Noisette seemed like a good bet, though not one that always pays off. This one had a nice thick biscuit with some toughness, reminding me of a cake from PS. For additional flavoring, this has orange, which worked for me. It's simple, but excellent, so I'm promoting them (Jun Homma will have to wait its chance).

En Vedette, Fragola

Monday or Tuesday (can't remember which), I took advantage of the fact that, during the week, the food floors kept their regular hours, so I could go after work for another new cake from En Vedette, which is heading for promotion. I've run through most of their line-up, so I went for the shape cake this time, Fragola (which is Italian for strawberry). The outside is white chocolate and the inside is lemon cream and strawberry jelly. The cake provides some texture variation, but I think it needs something more on that front. It's good, but weak for me, maybe because I'm not a big strawberry fan.

Cake-off: Pierre Hermé's Tarte Infiniment Vanille over Jean-Paul Hévin's Matcha

The (previous) cake-off of the week was sourced in the morning, and it's been too long since to remember what the running was, but I'm sure there was a lot of it, working on revised loops and clumps of loops. Jean-Paul Hévin's Matcha, which was one and one coming into a third cake-off, had just entered the line-up. I matched it up against Pierre Hermé's Tarte Infiniment Vanille just because it was convenient and I was not sure how easy it would be to get to other shops. I had forgotten that Matcha had gotten a warning the previous time around. This time too, I couldn't really remember why I singled out this cake. It's definitely at least good, but I didn't think the fruit, chocolate, and chocolate were harmonizing that well. I'd rather jettison the fruit, which seems. Pierre Hermé's Tarte Infiniment Vanille remained reliably great, so it picks up a second win and should get a fourth round this year.

Noix de Beurre, Strawberry Tartelette

Looking for a shop to replace Juliet 14 in the exceptional shop list, last Sunday I got the Strawberry Tartelette from Noix de Beurre at Isetan. I have to say, people in that line didn't really have the concepts of pandemic and social distancing down as well as I would have liked. Noix de Beurre is the house brand and they make basic things from basic ingredients, so I shouldn't be surprised that this was a basic tart, though good.  Note that I was catching up from the previous week, as I also did a cake-off the same day (with the expectation that the next week would involve cake that I would like, due to long work hours and short shop hours).

Higuma Doughnuts x Coffee Wrights: Cinnamon & Sugar Doughnut

Sunday morning, I went around Jinguumae on the way to some neighborhood running course loop (I think the Jinguumae 5&6), to try to complete my visits to all the food sites I put on the Jinguumae Kita-Aoyama north loop. The first thing I ate was a cake-shi (but soft/fresh/fluffy) one from Burnside Street Cafe/B Portland Cafe. It was excellent, as a fresh doughnut, but only because they heat up a plain one or fry on the spot and add the topping, so it's a restaurant, and not really a running stop (took a few minutes). I get to check them off as visited, but now I know that I didn't need to.

Actually, on the way, I stopped at what I thought would be (and might still be named) Tournage in Jinguumae 2 (versus their east shop), but I was informed that actually the shop was now an organic cafe and this was their first day with new staff. This seems to be Sunday Co-bo Kafe, so I guess just a Sunday thing and maybe I didn't get or understand the full explanation. They had soup, so it's not just baked goods. I went, not because I've never had anything from them, but because I'd never had a fresh pastry from them, but the new version didn't have pastries. They were nice though, so I bought a strawberry jam based yeast cake (basically, a coffee-cake), which was definitely good. (It didn't have a card, so I don't have a name, as they just described it rather than claiming a name.) Hope it works out for them, despite their terrible timing to open a cafe (but they can sell takeout).

The other new shop I visited was Higuma Doughnuts x Coffee Wrights. This place does count as a running site, because the donuts are already made and kept warm. I got the Sugar & Cinnamon Doughnut. It was good as a doughnut, but this was a yeast doughnut that squished to nothing when you bit into it, though I guess that's really the best a yeast doughnut is going to do.

Jean-Paul Hévin: Tartelette Soufflé Chocolat Pablino

Friday, which was a non-running day, and also non-cake, we went to the Kihachi restaurant (as a second choice) and ordered with a dessert course. I went with the regular Kihachi Napoleon Pie (whipped cream, strawberry, a little custard, and puff pastry), as an upgrade. Note, staff are all masked, of course, we sat a "bar" (actually one side of a big wooden table), so we were actually relatively separated from most people, though of course there was another couple on one side.

This was versus the upgrade course menu which included a dessert platter. I guess the Match Tiramisu is actual cake, but just yogurt and fruit was the best for me sampled from this selection.

Saturday, when there was running in the evening, included a visit to Jean-Paul Hévin, where we tried two café desserts which they claimed just started, though I had seen one before, the Tartelette Soufflé Chocolat Pablino, which is a great café dessert, for those who like chocolate cake at least. The filling is chocolate and orange sauce.

The other dessert was also good, just I'm not that into ice cream, even if I like macaron and the sauce. It was definitely good ice cream, of course. The name of the dessert is Gâteaux à la Minute, according to the menu, but I'm going to ignore than an make it Gâteau à la Minute, as in instant cake, I think, though I'm not counting it was cake.

Sadaharu Aoki, Florentin Chocolat

Last week, no more cake Tuesday to Thursday, but I kept running, mostly working on revising the Jinguumae, specially the area north of Omote-Sandou, where I ultimately had to combined the new loop with the main loop (which had already absorbed two other smaller adjacent loop in the previous revision). One new shop on the route is Comebuytea, which I hadn't realized until now wasn't even on my map (and not on Google map yet, as it just opened). I don't know how the tea is (uses a machine like a coffee maker, apparently, so presumably it's fast), but they have some good packaged snacks (as found in the best convenience stores), though they had a display for this tart that hid that it was packaged. I've had this brand and size before from a grocery store, though the packaging is slightly different. Still, it seems to be a good brand. I could have gone for the muffin for about 500 yen, but I'm not sure who makes that anyway; it at least looked more local.

I also found a buffet sweets place (so a curiosity, but not somewhere I would go), Maison Able Cafe Ron Ron. Earlier, I did get to Isetan again, surprisingly, but En Vedette was already gone. Actually the Ma Patisserie is closing down at Isetan as of today, though there is still the other rotating sweets shop and a shop I'm interested in comes at the end of the month, so I'll see whether they sell cake. I got useful information on JPH's line-up, which I took advantage of later, but for Wednesday, what I got was a Gâteaux Sec (baked sweet): Florentin Chocolat, which was excellent. I should get the plain one.

En Vedette, Mont-blanc

Monday of last week, I had lunch at Isetan and could make buy cake in the middle of the day on a workday (and in fact would be the only such cake during the week). En Vedette was visiting, so I took advantage of the opportunity to buy their Mont-blanc. This is the usual whipped cream under chestnut paste arranged horizontally between two meringue disks, which makes for a high meringue to cream and chestnut, and a rather sweet cake, which suits me, especially for something that get verge on bitter like chestnut. In fact, I want to have it again, which is another way of saying that it was great. This puts En Vedette on a path to challenge the category above, quite exceptional shops, though this third great cake probably isn't going to be enough to take it all the way, even if it stands up under testing.

Rue de Passy, Chocolat Pistache

When they didn't have the great cake I wanted for a cake-off two Saturday's back, not to waste the trip at a time with fewer opportunities to get cake, I choose the Chocolat Pistache, on the reasoning that the other best cake I've had from there was this combination. This was a more traditional cake, though, and was maybe cream rather than ganache, so I should have eaten it at a warmer temperature. Actually, this combination is tricky, as while pistachio can accent chocolate, the latter has a strong taste that doesn't benefit from being diluted or give way to other flavors easily, so I didn't really feel like this harmonized the best, though it was still good.

Happily, I did much better on Sunday for a cake-off, which I failed to photograph, apparently. The cake-off was a third round between two cakes from the double-loser's bracket, between Pistache Chocolat from Coffee Parlor Hilltop and Concert from Lenôtre. I learned from Saturday's mistake and let the Pistache Chocolat sit out for 5 minutes from the refrigerator. It was definitely great and the light pistachio and chocolate taste was harmonizing well, though it still lost to the chocolate simplicity of Concert.

While I was at Ginza Mitsukoshi, visited Johan and got a pastry (which used to be my favor pastry source when they were in Shinjuku). Ig to the Kouign Amann. This seems to be the traditional shape, which is not my favorite, but I felt that I was recognizing it's good points finally, as this was excellent.

Paris S'éveille, Tarte Bergamote Framboise

Eight days behind, I'm sure I did some neighborhood running course running in the afternoon, but I can't remember what I was working on back then. In the morning, I was trying to get cakes for the next cake-off, but failed. First I failed at Rue de Passy, which is not too surprising, given the epidemiological conditions (no pastries today) and that maybe the great cake I was looking for was seasonal, since it was fruity. I went on to try my backup cake-off, which involved a cheesecake from Dalloyau, which was another couple kilometers down the line (though I was running) which when it came to it, I finally realized had changed. So I went to Paris S'éveille, to at least get a new pastry. They did have pastries, but it was still a little early for them to have everything out, so I went with Chauson aux Pommes. It's very traditional and excellent but not the most interesting type of pastry and I wouldn't have minded a recipe with more fruit.

There were a couple new cakes at Paris S'éveille, which doesn't get many. The other was sold out (or not yet sold), but I could get the Tarte Bergamote Framboise. This is in the form of a lemon meringue tart, though bergamot oranges are less tart than lemons but not sweet like other oranges. It was definitely good and interesting as a variation, but I think I'd like lemon or yuzu more, though maybe those wouldn't harmonize with the raspberry accent.

Pierre Gagnaire, Mousse au Chocolat Rubis et aux Fraises

The last cake of last Thursday was from an exceptional shop that is challenging for a position in the quite exceptional shop group. They've shorted their hours to closing at 19:00, is now it requires a holiday to get there. I've had an excellent ruby chocolate cake from them previously, so I went with the Mousse au Chocolat Rubis et aux Fraises, which I ate after dinner. It was good, and maybe ruby chocolate goes better with strawberries than other forms, but I wasn't feeling that any kind of special harmony was going on.

Frédéric Cassel, Macaronade Sakura

Still catching up on blogging and posting pictures on my neighborhood running course map, I come to last Thursday afternoon. I had gone one getting cake I hadn't been able to get all week due to late working hours and early shop closing hours. After a half-lunch, I ate a new cake from the quite superb Frédéric Cassel that I had gotten at Ginza Mitsukoshi at the end of the afternoon run. The name is dubious, but the closest I could get to French (I don't think macaronade actually usually refers to macarons, but I don't really know). Obviously, its cherry, in the form of cream, but also raspberry in an almond macaron sandwich. I'm not always a fan of these types of cakes and cherry is definitely a difficult fruit for cakes with me, but this was definitely excellent, so I can certainly recommend it to anyone interested in either.

Pierre Hermé, Tarte Rose et Jasmin

Finally got to Isetan (by virtue of taking PM off Thursday) and got a new cake from Pierre Hermé in response to their recent cake-off winner. I even got the (probably) monthly cake I was targeting:  Tarte Rose et Jasmin. This looks a lot like their vanilla tart, which is one of their great cakes. I had this after a half lunch, before even running (there was afternoon running for more cake, to catch up from lots of overtime work this and the previous week, and then evening running). This cake was definitely excellent. I really like this solid tart. The mascarpone cheese has a good texture, but no flavor, so it's good for adding sutler flavors. I think even Earl Grey tea was a little strong for this cake, but in general I prefer stronger cake, so I doubt it makes a huge difference, just something to think about for next time. This is a good enough showing that the shop is not in danger for it's superb shop position from challengers below, for the moment.

Chez Lui: Cassis Dijon

Went to another shop on the neighborhood running course, this one in Suragaku-chou, down southwest from Shibuya Station. Never had high expectations for this shop based on never having heard any recommendations and the line-up, but I did have an excellent (rather old-fashioned Japanese) pastry. I went with Cassis Dijon. The card claims that it has chocolate crunch, would would be expected to go with cassis/blackcurrant, but I don't remember any crunch, just the bottom layer is thick chocolate sponge, which doesn't really go with anything, but certainly not with a mousse top. It does explain the low price, although the size would also explain that. Anyway, this cake reminded me of other cakes from similar old chains, just those cakes are not my style, so I won't need to get cakes as such from them, though I will try more pastries.

Lotus: Apple Cheesecake

Monday, I worked late, of course, and Isetan closed early, so along with verifying my knowledge on some revised neighborhood running courses, in that direction (though doing that particular one came later) I finally visited Lotus, on the Jinguumae Shopping Street. Eat-in requires a drink order, but they do take out and they're open until at least 3 a.m., last I checked. I got the Apple Cheesecake and ate it in the park in front of the new Olympic Museum. It's a dense cheesecake with a thick layer of apple on the bottom, well balanced to the cake. Definitely excellent, which surprised me. It's solidly in the fine shop group, so I should get around to having a second cake eventually.

Toshi Yoroizuka: Mémorial

Sunday night, I ran first to Ginza, where FC was sold out of what I wanted, not sure whether I checked in at Pierre G, but they would have been closed by the time I could have gotten there under current hours, but went to Tokyo Midtown, which also was closing early, but has later base hours, so I could get a 21st cake from this quite exceptional shop. I went with Mémorial, which was memorializing probably 10 years at Tokyo Midtown. It's chocolate, yuzu, and nuts, or at least that's what I can remember, and what was obvious. It was good, but the flavor combination wasn't really working for me as anything special.

Viron: Tarte (Pear) and Tarte Tatin

Sunday, went to Viron (with a reservation) for a nice lunch for two. For dessert, we had Tarte Tatin, which I've had before, but can't find a posting for, so must of been preblog, and the seasonal tart, which was pear. The tatin was great, as before. Apparently, the season would usually be over but is extended this year, so it's still possible to get.

The seasonal pear tart was a pretty standard baked tart, but baking is what Viron is good at, so it was definitely excellent. I need to get over there more often. This is the only place I know with great café desserts (though there are places that sell their take-out cakes for eating in that have some great cakes), despite trying various other places, so I've pretty much given up searching.

Sadaharu Aoki: Feuilletée aux Pommes

Long spell without cake last week, but continued running the normal amount, if latter than normal, trying to learn new highly revised neighborhood routes, mostly with success. The lack of cake was due to shops closing early and me working late.

Saturday I had time in the morning to swing by Sadaharu Aoki before running, and I got their Feuilletée aux Pommes and ate it outside before going down and hitting the main looks in southern Sendagaya and slightly east. It was excellent, as expected. Apparently, it's apple season, which seems backward to me, but apparently it would normal end in February but is extended this year, at least that's what I heard Sunday at Viron.

Good Morning Cafe Nowadays: Homemade Cheese Cake and Angel Food Cake with Vanilla Cream

Continuing Saturday, after running, I toured the Suga Shrine area and end coming up the other side, in Daikyou-chou and stopped at some place that wasn't even on my map, Good Morning Cafe Nowadays. Their location seems terrible, so I don't know where all their customers are coming from, I suppose from the Keio teaching hospital.

 Anyway, we go cake and tea for two, I think. I went with the Homemade Cheese Cake, which was definitely good. The other is Angel Food Cake with Vanilla Cream, which is definitely too light for me: vegetable oil and baking powder? But I suppose angle food cake works as a medium for toppings, which I can understand, so I see it at buffets with ice cream. Anyway, it was also good as a support for cream, sauce, and almond slices. There's another with chocolate if we stop there to rest again, chiffon cake, but that's as far as the dessert menu goes in that direction.

Coatl, Gateau Chocoat

As a third post on Sunday:

I also stopped at a new bar/cafe/workspace called Coatl, because I felt sorry for them and because the sign they put out mentioned cake. I got the Gateau Chocolat, and it was okay. It might have qualified as good if the top hadn't been more like butterscotch. They didn't have any other cakes on the menu anyway, but I'll leave them on the revised map.

Frédéric Cassel, Tarte Calamansi

Continuing from Ryoura, I put on my mask and used the train to go to Ginza Mitsukoshi and get the new cake of the month from Frédéric Cassel: Tarte Calamansi. The tart is just what the name says, though I've never heard of this fruit before. It's a coconut tart base, obviously, and the top is mixed calamansi and vanilla cream, with lime peal sprinkled in. It's very tropical, which is a hard sell for me, but ultimately it won and I can it was excellent, though I'm not sure that I need more calamansi cakes, particularly.

The afternoon run was all local loops, all successfully completed (about 2.5 hours of running): the Minami-Motomachi--Samon-chou--Suga-chou--Shinanomachi--Wakaba--Yotsuya loop, which is up to 8.44 km and hits all the main Soka Gakkai buildings now, the Daikyou-chou--Shinanomachi loop, which is up to 2.32 km and now includes the folk music museum, since Soka Gakkai claims it on the map of the complex (they also claim their main newspaper buildings, but I'm drawing the line there, as well as buildings that are dormitories or guest houses or shuttered, which might not be fair, but it's hard enough working everything in), the Samon-chou--Yotsuya loop, which is up to 1.1 km (though the link to the previous loop is now much shorter) and now includes the Soka Gakkai International (SGI) Headquarters and whatever the above shop is, the Sendagaya central loop, which is up to 1.90 km and now needs to be part of the cluster as the loop leading to it, as does the final loop, the Sendagaya 3 loop which is up to 404 m and has an OK, which is a grocery store, well named since the Two-Layer Creamcheese Tart I got there was only ok.

Ryoura, Récif

Sunday as a big cake and running day. First, I did the run out to Ryoura. I stopped at Hikarie to check Sadaharu Aoki, but it seems to be one of the shops closed during a 1.5-month renovation. Next, I went to Viron and got their Bostock aux Pistaches, which I decided was excellent, though I'm not convinced that pistachios, much less with cherry, are an improvement.

At Ryoura, I decided that chocolate was a dependable choice (plus, I've had most of their line-up), so I went with the Récif, which I hadn't seen before. This is chocolate and whipped cream, with oat and currant sablé and cacao-scented blancmange, which sounds a little weird perhaps, but the taste was a definitely good chocolate cake, but it didn't really stand out. Maybe the interesting ingredients actually cancelled each other out. I'll included the double picture and split up the post, since I don't have enough space for all the labels.