Les Cacaos, Chuao

Thursday, I took the morning off, so I stuck to just my indoor routine Wednesday night and got to bed early. After a short run to the local government building to dispose of an old power block from a printer I was getting rid of the same day, I did a run out to Chez Lui near Shimo-Kitazawa for a mid-run pastry (resisting the temptation to stop to see what Paddlers Coffee, which was open, had). I went with the standard Pain au Chocolat, and it was good in a standard kind of way, so I'll try somewhere else next time. From there, I looped back south to pick up the trail that leads to Meguro River ran along there most of the way down to Gotanda. I stopped about about 2.2 km and 30 minutes out and walked from there (still arriving before opening and before anyone else had lined up, but just after they had put out the bench, so perfect timing). I went with Chuao, which is the name of a cacao growing region in Venezuela. Though this was new to me, it seems to be their standard chocolate cake, for a chocolate shop. Top is milk chocolate cream, whereas the layers are all mostly more substantial. Balance seems perfect, but like fruit, I'm not a great judge of gourmet chocolate perhaps. Not sure whether I'll make it that far before I give myself diabetes and have to give up sugar (I'm still getting an A on my blood sugar reports, though, so I'm safe for another year). Definitely good cake, which I enjoyed. They stay an exceptional shop, and I'll look forward when it's time to get the 9th cake.