Ryoura, Mille-Feuille Mistral

Finally got back Ryoura a while back for a new cake. I can get their one (available) remaining great cake at Tokyo Midtown, but the selection there is fairly limited so I did a bicycle ride. I wasn't quite as crazy there as last time. They have actually been limiting the number of people inside, but probably I can't remember well. Anyway, even at the main shop, I've pretty much had all their standards already, so it's touch choice. On the grounds that Mille-feuille are a fairly safe choice and I have had one excellent one from there (and one just good), I tried the Mille-feuille Mistral, which is F.Cassel like in having a gelatin layer for the flavor, which honestly I'm not that convince is a good ideal but is a reasonable simple variation. A Japanese source reminds me (not that I probably read in this detail at the time) that its passion fruit and mango mousseline and the gelatin is rhubarb and strawberry, which sounds about right. It was good, but I'm more convinced that gelatin in my mille-feuille is not optimal, but not the worst, as I've found out.

Cake-off: Frédéric Cassel's Fraisier over Pierre Gagnaire's Mousse au Chocolat et Yuzu

Having starting working through the two-and-two cake-off great cakes for fifth-round cake-offs and noticing the appearance of Frédéric Cassel's Fraisier, I worked it in. Also back, was Mousse au Chocolat et Yuzu by Pierre Gagnaire. The latter is a unique taste, but that wasn't enough to overcome my love of pistachio, at least when presented well, so the win went to Fraisier.
 

Bien-être, Chiboust au Pistache Framboise

Back in April (not sure whether I'll ever get caught up with no running to speak of to write about), I got a cake-off reward from Bien-être, Chiboust au Pistache Framboise. I had seen this when I was last there. Two other chiboust au pistache cakes are among my favorites, but they already changed the base recipe in a way that I like less, so I wasn't raising my hopes up too high. It was good, but I was correct that I'm not that into this new version, also the ones I liked most went with sourer fruits.

A. Lecomte, Gateau au Muguet

Since I was nearby and shop hours were about to be shortened (but not closed, unlike the first emergency restriction period), I stopped at Shibuya Scramble to get a second cake from on of the (possible) fine shops. Not that this is really on the second, since the main shop is near an highly frequented area before I starting blogging. This is pretty standard cake from them and attractive to me, so it's probably not my first time I've had it, though it would have been several years ago at least since the previous time.

The name is Gateau au Muguet, from the A. Lecomte counter at Shibuya Scramble Square, and the inside is just pralin cream, which was good, but not so exciting. This cake won't overshadow your tea but it's not interesting enough to keep this shop in the fine category. At least it's good enough to keep from wanting a pause in visiting such shops.

Cake-off: Bien-être's Mont-Blanc over Viron's Gateau Chocolat

This is about two weeks behind, as worsening conditions naturally drain my enthusiasm, but still these were great cakes I had in a cake-off. These were the the last (until enough new great cakes advance) of the 5th round cake-offs for cakes with 3 wins to one loss. Getting the cake was pretty easy. Viron in Shibuya opens at 10:00 and always has their Gateau Chocolat. Matching against this was the best cake of Viron's biggest rival in terms of my own ranking, Bien-être's Mont-Blanc, which was among the few types of cakes for sale from 11:00. 

Today, maybe I wanted something softer with more texture variation, even though I love chocolate, so the underdog shop won with the Mont-Blanc. While there, I noticed a new cake I wanted, which hopefully didn't influence me.

Actually, I lied. I remember now that I was running late and went to B-E first and then to Viron. Viron open's earlier, but B-E is more likely to sell out and there was less certainty that they would have what I wanted. In pursuit efficiency, I also stopped at Scramble Square building to get a cake from a counter, which is how I suddenly remembered the order. More about that in the next post. 

 

Dalloyau, Chou Cubique Fraise

Continue on about last Saturday, after Midtown, the next cake stop was Ginza Mitsukoshi, where I wanted to get a cake from Dalloyau. Actually, the cake I wanted was not there, but the overall goal was just to get a new cake, so got their Chou Cubique Fraise, if I've got that right. I worried more about the pastry versus a normal cream puff, but it was fine. Too much fruit in the custard for my tastes, though, even if it was good fruit, making a good cake. 

A la Bonne Heure, Strawberry Shortcake

Maybe due to little running, I haven't been as motivated to keep up, but I'll do one now. On Saturday, after a wasted morning, I went to Midtown to see what they might have for me. Still the same couple cakes from Ryoura, no surprise, but I'm now ready to work through the huge list of fine shops needing a second cake and it's convenient to get an A la Bonne Heure from there, even if the selection was only from two. I went with the Strawberry Shortcake, which I'm appreciating more these days. As it happens, I appreciated this one too: cream, strawberries, and some sponge to balance it and make it cake. Sometimes simple is best, and this seemed excellent, so I guess this shop will make the cut, which is only going to leave a minority but is going to take a long time to get around to. 

Paris S'éveille, Bagatelle

Way back I had Bagatelle, but I just got the name so I'll post. Seems to be pistachio biscuit dusted with pistachio powder. It's good pistachio cream, as are the strawberries, but I'm not sure that the whole is better than the parts. Still, I'm willing to say that it's semi-excellent. Now if I just knew what it was called (the tabelog entry showing a picture doesn't know the name either). Eventually, the shop will probably post on Instagram, but not yet. Lastly I need to say that the shop is Paris S'éveille and I picked it up during the last cake-off run down there, which might be the last of the year unless I can get a couple 3-time winners together from a 4-round cake-off.

Cake-off: Au Bon Vieux Temps' Marjolaine over Pierre Hermé's Tarte Infiniment Vanille

Thursday (so no cake since Sunday), I went for a long walk with a little running for lights and downhill, enough to arrive in about 110 minutes, even with with the lights I didn't beat. I was afraid that it would be three hours, so it wasn't as far as I thought and I wasn't as slow as the beginning implied. The goal was a cake-off, with the primary being Au Bon Vieux Temps' Marjolaine, a classic. I started a little after 8am, thinking they would open at 9am (based on their not up-to-date homepage), but arriving at 9:55 am, they were closed and I was first in line, arriving just ahead of the second person. I got my cake, no problem. Would have been nice if they had had one of two other great cakes not recently in the line-up, but I wasn't expecting them. I took the train back to Isetan and got Pierre Hermé's Tarte Infiniment Vanille their standard tart. Very different in size and in price, though the larger is cheaper by weight. Tarte Infiniment Vanille remains a great vanilla cake, but the variation and bitterness of the Marjolaine brings me to give the classic the win. I should say this was a 5th round for two cakes with only one loss each going in. I have have two more likely available cakes left in that group, which I plan to hit this weekend, after which I'll have to expand the competition to include two-and-two cakes. Haven't had as many new great cakes or returned great cakes this year, so I'm whipping through the planned list rather quickly. I'll put ABVT down for a backup visit this weekend if Paris S. doesn't come through with new cakes, though I'll probably also pick up something from the main Dalloyau in that case, taking care of two shops in one neighborhood visit.

Dalloyau, L'Isolent Fraise

Catching up, last Sunday evening, I walked over to Dalloyau for a new cake and could. I got their L'Isolent Fraise (I assume from the phenetic Japanese). The macaron is rusk, I think, and the cream is coconut cream, which are both fine. This ended up being definitely good, certainly as good as I expected and good enough that I need to hit them again, since I let myself get behind in keeping them up with Sadaharu Aoki.

Musée du Chocolat Théobroma, Caramel Orange

The other cake the Sunday before last was the cake-off reward for Musée du Chocolat Théobrom's win. I went intending to get their version for Forest Noir, which I would generally avoid, as I can't expect cherry and chocolate to come out well, but their best cakes have been chocolate. However, I ended up getting a cake I hadn't seen previously, Caramel Orange. It ended up being more eastern European, though that just means east of France, as far as being heavy on almond biscuit. It was good, so I'm not disappointed, and I'm caught up with the quite fine shops that aren't tens of kilometers from central Tokyo, which are going to be a problem now that Isetan isn't rotating visiting cake shops on a weekly basis.

Aigre-Douce, Tarte au Citron

Back on Sunday, the last day I had cake, due to their cake-off the day before, I was back in line at Aigre-Douce. This time I ran about 1 km and walked the rest of the way, as well as walking back. As I've noted, I've had a lot of less than good from here,  so this time I went with a cake that was similar in type, though not in flavor, to the caramel tart that I so much. I got the Tarte au Citron. It was definitely good, relative light, as lemon tarts good, which is no criticism. It was a good choice, even if I still haven't found a new great cake from there.
 

Rue de Passy, Fraise Pistache

I had delayed getting a cake from Rue de Passy when I worked through the exceptional shop because they had a surcharge if you only bought one cake, which is only unreasonable in that no one else does that. Anyway, since I was there fore a cake-off cake, I also picked up a new cake, the Fraise Pistache. The (raw) meringue layer on tope makes it different, though so does having a relatively thick, but I guess the first requires for stability. So it's an interesting combination and unique, so it gets an excellent rating from me.

Sadaharu Aoki, Chou Truffle Caramel

Saturday afternoon, after going to Ginza to get a Pain au Chocolat from  from Camélia (which was definitely excellent, so they're my top priority on pastries, even if I'm not blogging pasties any more, due to lack of time), I stopped in at the Sadaharu Aoki main Tokyo shop in Marunouchi to see again whether they had a yearly shop exclusive yet for the new fiscal year that started in April. The website is still showing last year's. What they did have, and I don't know whether it is an exclusive, was Chou Truffle Caramel, so I got it. I'm pretty sure this is chocolate truffle, not the mushroom type, but I still haven't found anything online about it. It was good but traditional still seems to be best. It's been a while since I've had a new great cake them, so they they've slipped enough that Dalloyau, significantly behind them in number, deserves a visit for a new cake. I keep finding reasons to start hitting the merely fine shops.
 

Cake-off: Aigre-Douce's Tarte au Caramel Salé over Rue de Passy's Opera Pistache

As a 5th round cake-off of two cakes with three wins each, I first went first to Aigre-Douce, which is always super busy. Now, that means a long line, enough that they have to be careful about their neighbor. Under former conditions, it was crazy crowded inside, so I prefer the current situation, actually. Anyway, they only have one great cake available, at least for the last several years, and I get it every year, Tarte au Caramel Salé. It actually rather soft among caramel tarts, which might be what makes it great. I went by bicycle, which it was strong enough to survive. I took it home first before going out again to Rue de Passy to get, not their only great cake (the shop is a level above A-D), but the one great cake they always have, Opera Pistache. I'll have to keep my eye open for the other, as I missed it for the current round, I think. This is a more solid, dry cake, like torte. I was happy with both cakes and deciding wasn't an immediate thing, but in the end Tarte au Caramel Salé won again, despite the distinction have coming from the shop that's given me the most less than good cakes. But I have to keep trying.

Frédéric Cassel, Pavlova Fraise

I had the afternoon off, so after a little running (about 1 km, which is the most I'm trying in a given day), I did a long walk to Ginza, which I got a new cake from Frédéric Cassel in response to their cake-off win. I got Pavlova Fraise, the first pavlova I've had from them. Best guess as this will become the new base cake for the monthly theme. Compare to other pavlova, they went light on the meringue, which is reasonable, and more healthy. Instead, it featured more cream, which they say leans toward cheese, which I could see. The fruit is strawberry compote with a hint of balsamic vinegar, so that's new in my ingredients labels. I'll say that it was excellent and look forward to other flavors, if this is a series.

Sadaharu Aoki, Tarte Caramel Framboise Pistache

I couldn't, or didn't resist getting more cakes during the week despite already being one ahead, though I did hold off until Wednesday. I'll catch up in a couple weeks, by which time I've finally start on the just fine shops, which have interesting points but will be something of a slog. Anyway, Sadaharu Aoki is a quite superb shop with not so many new cakes, so I got this one when it was available, still looking for a great tart from them. This is at the other end of their range, but still definitely good: Tarte Caramel Framboise Pistache. Under the pistachio cover is a fairly thick layer of fruit (and caramel, I think, which balances out the fruit well) sauce. 

Cake-off: Musée du Chocolat Théobroma's San Jaunquin Dos over Viron's Baba

Not finding a new cake, I did a fourth-round cake-off for two cakes with only one win each, starting with Musée du Chocolat Théobroma, where I got their main chocolate cake, San Juaquin Dos. I wanted to test it against a new cake (for take-out), Viron's Baba. These are very different, so it's hard to choose when comparing, but I could enjoy both. In the end, I'll take the chocolate cake this time, the San Juanquin Dos. This is a milder cake than the previous JPH cake-off cake. It might be interesting to compare them some time.

You might notice that I'm now 1 cake ahead for the rest of the week, so I'm ahead, but I'm about as caught up as I'll be for the current quite fine shop list, so won't be in a big hurry the next weekend, except there's a new month coming up, so their could be new cakes. I'll be head next weekend as well but catch up the following weekend, which also won't have a day off going into it. 

Musée Du Chocolat Théobroma, Diable

Sunday, I started with this small item, which I got as my 4(+1 for a cake-off win)th cake from Musée Du Chocolat Théobroma, though most past purchases have been via their Cocoa Store shop nearer Yoyogi Park. This is Diable and is just what it looks like, chocolate custard on a chocolate puff pastry. It was definitely good, which is both better than I expected of the item just based on the concept and actually the second best "cake" I've had from this shop, so I was satisfied. 

Ginza Sembikiya, Ichigo Shortcake

Last Saturday, leveling up my quite fine shops that are available, I went back to Ginza Sembikiya and got their Ichigo Shortcake, which is not cheap, so I wouldn't take it as a first cake but figured that it represented what they were best at, so I'd try it as a 4th cake. I was not disappointed. Though I don't know one strawberry variety from the other 500 Japanese varieties, so I can't really say how great the strawberries themselves were. They didn't have that many, so I would guess that they're pretty special. It's shortcake, so just whipped cream, sponge, and fruit. That was enough to make this a definitely excellent cake, probably the best I've had. I'll have to reevaluate my attitude toward other high-end shortcakes. This guaranteed that would make a cut of the quite fine shops under the theoretical assumption that I'll find a few outside members before I need to level up to 5 cakes, which is likely to take a couples years, so not an unreasonable assumption.  

Noliette, Sicilian

Saturday, I hit one more remote potentially quite fine shops, Noliette out west in the north part (relative to where I usually go, anyway) of Setagaya. I went with the Sicilian. I went by cycle, since I can't run so far and didn't get up early enough to walk very early. Actually, I arrived at opening time and was second. I went with the Sicilian, which in this case was (milk?) chocolate with pistachio. This cake actually survived better by bicycle than I should have expected, but the weak point was the macaron on top, which caused the top to to crack and sag. Chocolate and pistachio is actually a difficult combination, but this was working well. It was definitely good, so I was satisfied. However, it means that I have too many shops with 2 good and 2 excellent cakes to make a cut. I've got a lot of fine shops to go through, so I might find a great cake among them, which is what it would take to make the jump to quite fine. I more likely way to add to the quite fine shops would be to find an excellent cake from some new shops. I've still got three more 3-cake fine shops, two that are really far out (so I'm willing to wait on the off chance that they'll visit a department store in central Tokyo) and one that's pausing on their cake, so one clearly quite fine shop might not be enough.    

Ginza Senbikiya, Chocolat Orange

While already next door, I made an attempt to get more cakes from a shop that was on the path to be a fine shop, Ginza Senbikiya, Chocolat Orange. The orange (or mikan) was seemly high quality, the combination of chocolate and orange wasn't really harmonizing in any useful way. Still good. Note, on a Thursday, no short cake. Guess it's too high-end for a weekend.

Cake-off: Frédéric Cassel's Choux Vanille versus Jean-Paul Hévin's Guayaquil

Thursday, I took off in the morning and did got cakes for the cake-up skipped last weekend, when I was busy. Since I didn't manage to find a new great cake, I worked through my list to run a 5th-round cake-off for cakes that have only one loss. This pair has the advantage that they are both available at Ginza Mitsukoshi: Frédéric Cassel's Choux Vanille and Jean-Paul Hévin's Guayaquil. These are both pretty basic cakes in their ways, but great. Guayaquil is JPH's base straight chocolate cake; I still haven't tried the thing he showed on public TV of microwaving it to experience the change in flavor chocolate flavor from change in temperature, but that remains a good idea. It's got various layers, so there are texture variations, but the Choux Vanille still has a better contrast, or maybe I'm just a sucker fro the sugar on the pastry, but once again I have to give the win to the one puff pastry on my greats list. Check it out if you get a chance.

Le Jardin Bleu, Tarte Chocolat Macadamia

Last Wednesday, for a third day in a row, I could get to a (now opening later) department store to get a cake from the current quite fine shop group. In this case, I wanted to get one of Le Jardin Bleu's cakes via Shinjuku Takashimaya, since the main shop is a long way away. Maybe because it is so far away (or because it was the end of the day, leaving only the least popular), I had only one choice, a fairly solid item that I imagine could be made far ahead. This is Tarte Chocolat Macadamia. The chocolate coating is fairly thick. The inside also has caramel, besides the macadamia nuts. So this is more like a candy bar than any typical cake, which is not a complaint. It was good, but that's probably not going to be enough to keep it in the quite fine group. 

Demel, Arriba

Tuesday, I again took advantage of Isetan being open until 8pm and my not working past that (not true every day this week) and visited Demel for a 4th cake. I got the Arriba, the other option having been a strudle, I think. Since Demel's signature cake is a Sachertorte, it's not surprise that Arriba is a very dense chocolate cake. It was good, with good chocolate, but I guess I don't need a whole piece of this dense of cake, not without some whipped cream or fruit sauce to bring in some variation, but it's unfair to imagine what I might like better, when it did a fine job to being as intended, I'm sure.

Shiseido Parlour, Mont-Blanc

The emergency declaration for the Tokyo region as been rescinded, so Isetan is now open until 8 pm. Searching for a new great cake within this month but still working through the quite fine shops, I hit the Shiseido at Isetan. The 8 pm closing time was new, so it was pretty empty just after 7 pm and already discounts from the non-dessert areas had started. I had two shops to choose from to visit and I went with Shiseido. Actually, I may not have had a choice. At Shiseido, I definitely didn't have a choice because they only had their Mont-Blanc. As it happens, that was pretty lucky, because this was definitely lucky. The special feature of this is that the cream inside (I think) has white chocolate. The result is a mont-blanc that tastes like (not wet) ice cream to me, and not much like chestnut, which actually I'm fine with. There were actually also exercises. Besides walking, I did squats, presses, and curls. The squats were only 5 per set, but I did too many sets, I found out afterward, so I was limited the next couple days. Now I have an incentive to building up those muscles. 

La Précieuse, Montelimar and Waguri Mont-Blanc

Though it doesn't feel so long ago now, last Saturday I got a couple cakes for two from one of the shops on my quite fine group, La Précieuse on the north side of the Yotsuya Station building. I got the take-out, though they have a café space that I've used before. My choice was Montelimar, since I've had good luck with at least one cake of that name, and I like pistachio (hard to see in the picture, but the bottom is pistachio cream) and I think the top is mousse with honey and fruit. It was good. 

The other cake was the Waguri (domestic chestnut) Mont-Blanc. The sign says that you have to wait a couple minutes, because they make them fresh, but I think they didn't take so much time in the backroom. It also was good and had a meringue base, if I'm remembering correctly. So it's definitely a fine shop, but will get cut if I every manage to do a cut (I'm running out of shops to test, so it will probably depend on whether I add any new shops that make it to that level).

Atsushi Hatae, Chocolat Noir

I was busy and then put off blogging, but not eating cake, so I'll update. On Thursday, I set off for Atsushi Hatae for a fourth cake, the target for the quite fine shops. Since the first three were all excellent, it's in no danger of getting bumped, regardless of the result, but I am urgently looking for something great I can put in a cake-off against the new to Tokyo JPH cake. This is the one I passed on last time for a less obvious choice, which means this is the obvious choice for me, as is also pretty clear from the picture: mostly chocolate. I think this is Chocolat Noir (tricky, because Noix would also fit, so I might have to update this later, but I'm not as mobile as I used to be, so I'm not sure when it's going to be convenience to do that). Anyway, thick chocolate, a little layer there at the bottom of pralin, and a good biscuit. Like the other cakes, sophisticated modern French petit gâteau, and excellent. 

Dandelion Chocolate, Mascarpone Chocolate Cake

Ran marginally farther than last run, which was Thursday, which means maybe an extra couple hundred meters, but probably still under 1.5 km. It wasn't as comfortable as I would want. Anyway, I made it to Dandelion Chocolate and got a new cake. They have perfect excellent record so far, which is enough to be quite fine and get a fourth cake. They don't have a huge line-up, so I could hardly double that anyway, but I would like to find a great cake, of course. I went with Mascarpone Chocolate Cake, which I've seen there before but haven't gotten. I was actually a little skeptical, since mascarpone is notoriously tasteless and just used as a medium for other flavors in cakes. I thought just the visible mousse/cream was the cheese, but the chocolate was fairly dense but cuttable, apparently due to cheese, and it definitely tasty cheesy, which is a first for mascarpone cheese cake for me. It was definitely excellent, so Dandelion Chocolate keeps their perfect record. Next I'll try the other shop with a three excellent cake record.

Très Calme, Printemps

Started Sunday (today!) with a cake-off win inspired visit to Très Calme, where among the new cakes I went with the Printemps, which seemed a longshot, but something different appealed to me more than just something with my favorite flavors. Not that it was obvious what flavor a pinkish mont-blanc-shaped cake named 'spring' from the shop of someone on the record for not liking mont-blanc in general, due to the taste and texture of chestnuts. This particular cake was strawberry flavored, with the, I assume, chestnut paste used to cut that and vice versus (wasn't any distinctive chestnut flavor). The base was consistent with the fruit, being like a flaky pie crust, though just on the bottom, not folded up on the sides like a pie or tart. It was good.

Jean-Paul Hévin, Kibune

Lacking enough new cakes to keep Jean-Paul Hévin even even with the next lower shops, I've been giving any excellent cakes that come back into the line-up a second chance. This time it was the Kibune, which was an exclusive in Kyoto when I had it before. Top to bottom, this is pistachio nougatine over a matcha mousse that's half the cake, then a griotte cherry flavored biscuit, a little Brazilian cacao chantilly, and then a chocolate (I assume) biscuit base. Seemed great to me this time, certainly not inferior to other great JPH mousse layer cakes. I've supposed I've had a lot more experience with green tea by this point and also found other cherry cakes that I appreciate. So after getting lucky and quickly finding a partner for one great JPH cake for a cake-off, I'm back to having another seasonal cake needing a partner (which is better than the alternative of not needing one). Guess I need to needing to prioritizing shops with the best records among the ones I'm trying to visit.

Cake-off: Viron's Menton over Jean-Paul Hévin's Maya

For the weekend, I started off
going to Isetan to get cake for a Cake-off at Isetan. It's the weekend of White Day, so even getting there at opening, there was a long line at Jean-Paul Hévin. Fortunately, they closed the bar and were using the space for people who didn't need to individually select chocolates, so I got my cake. For the cake-off, I needed Maya. I figured I had time, so I walked it home before setting out for Viron to get their new Menton, which involved a little waiting but was no problem. It's a rainy day, so no attempts at running were involved.

Both these new cakes stood up to evaluation. As much as I like chocolate, its a crowded field, which might be why I'm giving the Menton the win. It's lemon, but there seems to be a lot else going on, even if I'm not sure what, and a satisfying mix of textures.

Viron, Menton

In a rare (though repeated the following day) event, I did not have to work late and went out to try to score a cake from one of the two three-excellent-cakes shops on the neighborhood running map. It occurred to me that I hadn't checked in at Viron, though, so I did that was was pleasantly surprised to find that they had a new cake, Menton. Like the only other Menton I've had, lemon was the main flavor, so I assume that's what Menton, France is famous for. Can't remember what the card said or tell for eating it what else is there besides custard, which seems to be the lemon part. There is thicker lighter area above it (and a nice nutty biscuit below it, almond I assume from the top) that's light brown; can you make just the burnt part of crème brulée, since this was uniform and mousse-like? Guess I need to swing by there again, though they won't have another new thing. Great cake! This works a lot better for me than a lemon tart in terms of balancing the texture of the custard against mousse, reasonably solid biscuit and some solid nuts and coating. I was looking for a great cake especially since I just had a new one from JPH, so this determines the next cake-off.

Tadashi Yanagi, Mont-Blanc

Working through the quite fine shop list to get them all up to at least 4 cakes, I picked up a Tadashi Yanagi cake, Mont-Blanc, from the counter at Shinjuku Takashimiya, as they are featured there on Mondays. It was good and had a meringue base, I think, both huge improvements over my previous Mont-Blanc. Unfortunately, that probably isn't enough to keep in it the quite fine category, but we'll see.

I note that I'm also going to want to go back there to get cake from Le Jardin Bleu for the same reason. Yanagi actually isn't that far away, even for Setagaya (they used to have a shop on Aoyama-doori Ave., but that's been closed for a while), whereas Le Jardin Bleu is deep in the western suburbs. Not that far but not as close as Yanagi, I note that Noliette doesn't have their counter there any more, so I should have visited them earlier at Takashimaya.

Juri's Tea Rooms, New York Cheesecake

As a partial sampling, I had most of a piece of New York Cheesecake from Juri's Tea Rooms, as takeout. Previously, I've had the afternoon tea set there, the best of which is the scones, though the cake was fine. This was also fine, or rather good, so it gets on the list of fine shops that I need to get a second cake from.

Vie de France, Mont-Blanc

Full disclosure, since a bakery with cake moved into the Shinanomachi Station, I felt compelled to give it a chance, but I wasn't that surprised that the result was not good. It's close enough that I could actually run the entire way. This Vie de France is in the Atré café space, next to a Starbucks. Anyway, I got the Mont-Blanc, which is in the same old-fashioned early-Japan style (in my imagination, anyway: when they were just recreating western desserts in the early days before studying cakemaking in the west) or maybe it's just a café style that is more robust. Anyway, the base is dense like pound cake but overly dry for fresh cake and making up way too much of the cake, and the top has little make up for it. It's a style, I suppose, but I can't call it more than okay, so no need to every eat cake from there again, much less buy it.  
 

Éclat des Jours, Tarte aux Fruits

While I was visiting Éclat des Jours for a cake for a cake-off, I also got a new cake for their previous cake-off win. My choice was between a tart and a glass dessert, so I went with the latter, even though it obviously wasn't a great back for me. Specifically, I got the Tarte aux Fruits. It's not the first time I've had this kind of tart. The good point is it features various kinds of small fruits, all high quality. The bad point is that's about all there is to it and I'm not sure a connoisseur of fruits. Still it was good. 

Cake-off: Très Calme's Pistache Apricot over Éclat des Jours' Rhum Raisin

Last Saturday, I got cakes for a cake-off. Due to leg problems, I went by bicycle, which doesn't seem to mind. I was looking at a fifth-round for two shops with 3 wins to only 1 loss. The first was Rhum Raisin from Éclat des Jours and the second was the Pistache Apricot from Très Calme (which also has a great Kouign Amann, if you like fairly solid ones versus more puffed up ones, which I do). It's kind of obvious what the winner is, based on my over preferences, and yet somehow the uniqueness of Rhum Raisin among my great cakes has enabled it to be in a high bracket. The need for it is less now that I have a Baba on my list, but it still has merit, I think, though I'm giving the win toe Pistache Apricot because I like pistachio cream a lot, which is well balanced, and this is a nicely solid cake as well.

Lenôtre, Carré Citron Yuzu

Thursday last, I caught up for the week with a cake from Lenôtre. They got demoted, so they only get cakes from cake-off wins for the foreseeable future, but I saved one of those until now, when there is a new cake. This is Carré Citron Yuzu. It's not so different from the other Carré cakes, but these are nice moist fruity cake (versus cream, mousse, or sauce) cakes that have been excellent so I was interested in this one too. It's definitely nice, and I don't have other cakes like these from other shops, so I don't mind saying that this one was excellent too.

Jean-Paul Hévin, Maya

Thursday, I had the morning off and slightly ran to Fiorentina Pastry Boutique down in Roppongi Hills to find out whether they still have Estate in the line-up with they don't. That was as much as I could manage as far as running, so I walked to Ginza Mitsukoshi. The big goal was to get one of the new cakes at Jean-Paul Hévin, which I've never had before. There is also one that I've only seen in Kyoto previously, which was excellent, so I might have that again. I let one of the great ones from last month go without having again, just because I couldn't do a cake-off, which is unfortunately. This month, I don't have a match for Bergamot.

But for now, what I got was Maya, which follows the usual JPH pattern as far as chocolate cakes with layers of mousse. This uses Ecuador chocolate mousse, Provence honey nougatine, crème brûlée, a chestnut biscuit, and croustillant. This gives it relatively sharp taste (I don't really know how to describe chocolate), but that's good, great actually. 

Lotus, Matcha White Chocolate

The other new cake from last Sunday was a second cake from Lotus, from which I had an excellent apple cheesecake. Selection is limited to things that slice well and probably have good shelf-life. I went for Matcha White Chocolate, knowing it was a long shot. It wasn't bad and lived up to the name that I can call it good, so I'll call this a fine shop and leave it at that.

(Café) Le Pommier, Mont-Blanc

I'm probably not going to catch before the weekend, but last Sunday I hit a couple local shops. Imperfect is a chocolate shop that's gotten out of the cream puff business, so they no longer have anything that qualifies as fresh cake. Next in that neighborhood was (Café) Le Pommier, from which I got a Mont-blanc. I'd probably have a bigger selection if I went to one of the regular shops, but I was only looking for a fourth cake, so this seemed good enough. It's got the meringue-type base but the unusual feature is a chocolate coating. That's not a bad idea, but wasn't really making this special. Still a good cake, but probably not enough to keep this shop in the quite fine category. 

Ginza Sembikiya, Setoka no Mousse

I had an excellent first cake, so I finally followed up and got this cake. On the minus side, once you take the plastic away, it's not that good at supporting itself, but so it goes. The official photo is a little better, but they went for texture over strength, which I appreciate. This from Ginza Sembikiya, maybe the least widespread of the Sembikiya. They have a main shop in Ginza, but also a counter at Ginza 6, where I went, since I was coming from Mitsukoshi and it's connected underground, though I guess the main shop almost is. They also had a +1000 yen sponge strawberry cake (which is huge for a piece of cake in Japan), but I passed. This is Setoka no Mousse, where Setoka is a kind of mikan, as one can see. It's really nice and I can say excellent, especially since I don't get so many mikan cakes. The mousse is mascarpone cheese, of course, so it's just a medium. I guess I'm going to need to get back there and try the strawberry cake. Hopefully I can get it when I can split it with someone.

Pierre Hermé, Tarte Infiniment Chocolat

I'm coming back to pick up a cake I skipped reporting, accidently, from before last weekend. From their cake-off win, I owed Pierre Hermé a cake, which I picked up from the Isetan Shinjuku counter. I really like the Tarte Infiniment Chocolat au Lait, so I thought I'd try the Tarte Infiniment Chocolat, though I think I misread the card, as I thought it had some pralin going on, but no, just chocolate. Still, it was up to their Tarte Inifiniment standard, and the chocolate was excellent, so I can't complain. 

Pascal Le Gac, Chocolat Framboise

After finding that the current address for Schloss Backerei is a residence, so they don't even have a Tokyo shop (though they are selling packaged sweets online and as shop-up/visiting counters at department stores, so they haven't given up), I decided to visit Pascal Le Gac for a 4th cake from a maybe quite fine shop. I went with the Chocolat Framboise, as being reasonably priced while most cakish. On the way back, I looked at various places for scones without finding anything I was satisfied with. I have enough cake for today, so I should probably do scones tomorrow, when I want to go out to Omotesandou anyway, though I was hoping for something new from a bakery. Few bakeries deal with them, versus coffee shops. Speaking of both, the bakery next to Starbucks at Shinanomachi has cake. It's a pretty low-level bakery chain shop, but on the root local course (which I'm not running, but still using for reference) so it should be my next new cake shop visit.

I'm delaying saying that I wasn't into the Chocolat Framboise at all. The flavor is fine, but I don't like the gummy texture of the frosting (though not outside the normal for a certain kind of glazing) or having a gelatinous raspberry layer in the middle (but still a pretty standard cake thing, e.g., the mille-feuille of F. Cassel) and too much raspberry with the chocolate for me (with that much raspberry, I'd rather lose the chocolate completely). Still, objectively, it's completely reasonable, so I can say it's good, but not for me. This shop may not make the next cut, but only if I can find enough that can. 

Viron, Praliné Orange

Wednesday (and I found this draft, but not sure what order they were originally), I visited Viron, thinking that they might bring out some new cakes just for Christmas, since they at least had one special Christmas cake last year. As it happens they did. I don't have my notes, but I got lucky and found a picture on Tabelog, so I got the name and confirmed the flavors. The memorable part was pâte pralinée, and I correctly remembered that the fruit flavor was orange. My memory is that it was definitely excellent, enough to consider whether it should be added to the greats, as a representative of fairly traditional cakes of nutty biscuit cake and cream layers, but I have Marjolaine, so I'm fine with not making a special effort to have this specific cake again, though I high approve. Also, it seems like a bakery patisserie kind of cake, so it's reasonable to want more like this. Considering that my backup plans was to try 1st cake from Pronto (which I was reminded recently has a shop in Aoyama, I was quite pleased. 

Viron, Pomme Caramel

Thursday (sometime in December, as I just found this draft), I had the day off to prepare for a busy long weekend. In the morning, I had a hard-to-get-to shop lined up, but more cakes from Viron is a higher priority and I'm not sure how long cakes introduced at Christmas will stick around, so I went there first and got the Pomme Caramel. This is was definitely a nice cake, but apple is a pretty weak flavor in general and they choose not to go so heavy on the caramel as to drown it out, which I can respect, so while good and enjoyable, and of course high quality, it wasn't something particularly interesting to me.

Cake-off: Éclat des Jours's Cheminée over Lenôtre's Concerto

For a cake-off, started off with a trip out to Éclat des Jours to get the Cheminée. This had two losses to 1 win, so it was held back a year and this was only a fourth-round. I started running (or doing squats, if stuck at a light) and walking in 1 min and 1 min intervals, but saw that wasn't going to make it much farther than other trips, so I switched to 1 min to 2 min after 10 sets and then 1 min to 3 min after another 10 sets. So I could do 30 1 min intervals, which was more than recent, but still not clearly an improvement. For the trip back to Ginza Mitsukoshi to get Lenôtre's Concerto, I walked and then took the train back for lunch, after which I did the cake-off.

Since these are both weaker cakes among the great cakes, it was a less exciting but still nice cake. Both of these are chocolate, but Cheminée has raspberry, as the picture suggests. Actually, I had doubts about it last time, but I wasn't so worried about it this time. The Concerto is mostly similar to many of my favorite mousse cakes from JPH, but the texture wasn't quite working for me, which could be partially my fault, as how one eats a cake has an effect on the texture. I have to go with what I taste, though, and I'm back to thinking that Cheminée  might be my favorite raspberry chocolate cake and deserves the win, whereas I'm having doubts about Concerto, so I'll need to review it carefully next time.

Cake-off: Pierre Hermé's Carrément Chocolat over Paris S'éveille's Giverny

Running very far is not possible, so  I did a cake-off buying by bicycle, which is why the fruit maybe isn't as originally placed. Still, the cake managed pretty well. I started by going to  Paris S'éveille to get the Giverny, a cake with three wins and one loss. I matched it with the next cake in line that was convenient for the return trip. Since the Aoyama stop isn't open until noon now and there's bicycle parking at Hikarie, I went there to get Pierre Hermé's Carrément Chocolat. In some ways it's a pretty lopsided match, since fruit cakes have a harder time with me than chocolate, but then chocolate cakes have to live up to my memories of other chocolate cakes to stay in the greats group, so it's fair to a certain degree. However, this turned out to be a really nice cake, with some thick chocolate cream in there and good texture. Still, the greatness of Giverny was not questioned.