Ron Herman Café: Cheesecake and Mont-Blanc

I was busy on the weekend, but did a first visit to the Ron Herman Café in Sendagaya and had lunch and cake for two. The cakes were their Cheesecake, which has fresh grapes, and a Mont-Blanc. For a café, this place has a pretty good selection, which was one reason for choosing it, plus it's not in a crowded area, though fairly busy (not sure where people come from, since it's far from the standard shopping areas, and yet they continue, though obviously on people's radars). Too much gelatin on the top of the cheesecake for me, but definitely good cake, with amount of sour cream sourness that I miss in a lot of cheesecakes here. 

I thought the Mont-Blanc was also definitely, but it was pointed out that it had a sort of amateurish disorder. The base is about 1 centimeter thick of something between a dense pound cake and a sablé-type cookie, which is a bit unusually, but probably useful for a café. I suspect both the base and the cheesecake are prepared in advance at a remote location and the top parts are added locally.

Anyway, good enough that it should count as a cake shop on my local running map, but not good enough that I'll probably get back to it now that I've had two cakes.
 

Sanjikken, Sachertorte and Cheesecake

Had a visit to a café/coffee salon (with waiters) on Aoyama-doori near Omote-Sandou Sta.: Sanjikken. It's on the second floor, so I had never seen inside. We (cake for two) were lucky, as we were seated rather quickly. When we left, there were at least ten people waiting. I considered it worth visiting even if I don't need to hit every café and coffee shop, because they advertise cake, specifically the Sachertorte by picture, on the sign by the door. I haven't had a sachertorte for a while, but it seemed excellent, perhaps the best I've had. If I finding myself needing something in a Starbucks again, I'll get their to compare as some sort of reference so I know I'm not just imagining things. This seemed to be a one-layer type, with apricot jam on top of the cake, under the icing, but I suppose it's possible that there were two layers and I just couldn't tell. I'm too hurried to check the two main schools of sachertorte now.

I also has some Cheesecake, which was soufflé-type, I think, rather than the dense type I prefer, but still definitely good, so the shop gets in the stable part (won't get denoted when I finally have enough better shops to split this bloated group) of the fine shops group.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Rire Ginza: Griotte Cherry and Pistachio Fondant Chocolat & Baked Apple Mille-Feuille

Despite the title, the most significant find was perhaps my taking advantage of a Monday off to visit the Morihan shop in Sendagaya, very close to the base of my running map, so a priority (though I've since added even closer ones that I haven't finished getting to).

This seems to be half office for the Tokyo branch of a tea distributor, which explains why they keep office hours, closed weekends and holidays and closing at 18:00. I was there because they had enough snake-time things to deserve to be on the running map, even if they're usually closed when I'm running. They had chocolate, but I went with Matcha Dacquoise, I didn't expect a lot, but actually for once I could understand the appeal of dacquoise cookies: this was excellent. I should remember to add that I was over there working on the neighborhood running course clumps in that neighborhood. I successfully did the Kitasandou east clump and the Sendagaya Elementary School clump, neither of which is much larger long than 2 km, which fit in the amount of time I had before going out for lunch.

Wanted to visit Rire Ginza, maybe based on the chef's reputation. However, I'm all about cake and this was strictly café desserts, so I probably should select my locations more carefully. Still, the lunch and the desserts were good, and the location was convenient for us. I got the most cake-like thing, the Griotte Cherry and Pistachio Fondant Chocolat. It was good, but definitely too little and subtle for my tastes, which says more about me than the shop.

The other dessert was Baked Apple Mille-Feulle, which is basically an kind of apple pie with ice cream on top. That said, it was definitely good and I liked it more. The apple had more texture than a tatin, but fit the dessert and the cidre sabayon sauce worked well to combine the ice cream, fruit, and pastry.

I'll also include here that the Match Chocolat, made by Hokkaido Carmelite monks, which was excellent. Maybe I'll get the white chocolate next time, from San Paolino near Yotsuya Station (because it's near Sophia University).

Finally, running news for Monday, at night I tried to do the Akasaka--Azabudai--Roppongi--Toramon loop counterclockwise and realized (1) I didn't know where to turn at the far east corner, (2) I hadn't followed the map previously, when I thought I did it clockwise, and (3) the map wasn't followed, because it didn't follow a legitimate route. This entire loop may collapse, which isn't shocking since I've lost a major interior street to a construction project; I not sure whether there is a way to unravel this. Probably I'll just do a cheat and add a loop that overlaps a bit, since otherwise, it's going to be a huge ugly revision and I'll have to revise again when they finish the project (March 31, 2023). Anyway, I have bigger problems on the west side, that I discovered Tuesday.

Pierre Marcolini: Marcolini Chocolate Gateau

On Jan 3rd, finally got over to my next target café for two, the main Pierre Marcolini in Ginza. My interest was only in the cake, which they call Marcolini Chocolate Gateau. It's a café dessert, but one could image whipped cream sold on the side, so I'm going to go ahead and list it with other cakes. It was excellent, as a quite dense moist cake. I ordered it with the Marcolini Cacao Tea, which was interesting but I got tired of pretty quickly, so I can't recommend more than a taste.

For completeness the other dessert was the Marcolini Brussels Waffle, seasonal Cacao flavor. As it happens, ice cream and waffles doesn't work for me. I should of recommend the parfait. Actually, I had their vanilla soft-serve ice cream the day before in Shinjuku, and it was excellent.

Running, over a few days. I did a couple neighborhood course "clumps" of loops, the Suga-chou clump and the Soka Gakkai clump, which covers the neighborhood course between Yotsu 3-choume, Yotsu, and Shinnomachi stations, which only adds up to about 5 km.

For new loops, I finished off the Aobadai central loop, which gives access to both directions and sides of the Meguro River around Nanakameguro Station. I also completed the Ebisu 4 loop (two different days), which gives gives further access to loops leading up to immediately east of Meguro Station before dead-ending.

Mariage Frères: blueberry cassis tea tart and figgy pudding

Saturday, went to a fancy café around the corner north of Ginza Mitsukoshi. It's their "new" tea salon, being only 2 years old. It was good, but maybe not high return on cost, though it depends how much you value atmosphere. For an older crowd than my typical choices. It was lunch and cake for two and the cake was from the base choices (versus any of the items requiring an extra expense). I went with a blueberry tart with a base of cassis and some sort of tea (like every dessert there) that I've forgotten. Not sure whether these had official names, so I'm sticking to descriptions.

The other dessert chosen was figgy pudding, which is like fruitcake without the cake, I found. Both were certainly good, though once with figgy pudding was enough, though it cake whipped cream, which at least makes it fresh as a café dessert.

Croissants: Sadaharu Aoki, Fraoula, and St. Marc Cafe

Thursday, I was busy. Friday, I took the day off. Mid-day, I worked on two revised and one loop I'm adding to the neighborhood running course. I failed at the Jinguumae 5&6 loop going counterclockwise because, after stopping at the new Hotel Chocolat, I thought I needed to run farther for the turn to go by Number Sugar. Now I know. Going down to the Shibuya Stn. area to start the next loop, I got a Croissant Matcha from the Sadaharu Aoki at ShinQs. Like the plain, it was high-quality, but I thought the match was unnecessary in this case, but it was still excellent. I look forward to catching their chocolate version some time.

I was successful at the Kamiyama-chou--Tomigaya--Udagawa-chou loop counterclowise, interrupted at the north end by doing the Tomigaya--Yoyogi loop, so the latter has been reconfirmed and the former has been officially added, which is out of order, but I had to run what I had time for. Before finishing off the former, I stopped at Fraola, at got their croissant. This also was a proper pastry croissant and was definitely good, but I'm raising the bar on croissant now that I've confirmed that they can be great. They have other pastries there that I want to retry on other days, so I'm not writing them off by any means.

Saturday, I had more time for running, so I made an attempt at the Daita--... loop, but failed almost immediately on a new part near the beginning (with respect to counterclockwise), but at least could confirm the proper route. It was just as well, since I wasn't well prepared (hadn't charged my phone for a couple days). Coming back, I passed near Yoyogi-Uehara to confirm the Starbucks there and also found a Fujiya bakery nearby (on the route) and confirmed the route near where I previous failed. I can also say that at least I did the tiny Moto-Yoyogi-Chou loop correctly this time, so just counterclockwise to go. At the station, there is also a St. Marc Cafe, which I had a bad experience with several years ago, but since they have fresh pastries, I figured I should give them a try. I think they call this little thing a ChocoCroi.

My memories was that it was disgusting. Actually, though it is overly soft, the chocolate is fine so actually this is good. I thought adding this chain would disrupt a lot of loops, but actually I only have to revise two, the Kamiyama-chou--Tomigaya--Udagawa-chou loop that I had just done and the Ebisu-nishi west loop. I did have to add a couple tiny loops near two other loops because I couldn't incorporate them directly into existing loops, due to the needs of other sites. However, after returning home and having lunch, I went out by bicycle to confirm sites (and take pictures, though now Google maps is rejecting all my pictures) and found a dessert shop that's forcing a revision of the Akasaka-Roppongi loop again, which just doesn't seem to settle down. Most of my effort was confirming new loops east of Ebisu Station.

Ryoura, Fromage Cru

Friday night was a neighborhood run. I only managed the revised Minami-Motomachi--Wakaba--Yotsuya--Sugachou--Shinanomachi loop, which itself is just 4.17 km.

Saturday, I had some time before a 10 am Skype appointment, so I went out before 8 am. At the last minutes, I decided that I'd try the updated Tomigaya--Yoyogi loop, which I hadn't reviewed and failed. Still, I went around to the new sites I had added that prompted the update and confirmed and photographs them (one of which I decided was a mistake to add). Since it nearby, next to route, and famous, I tried looking in on Path Cafe, which was full and had people waiting and eating take-out outside. The freshly made Croissants and Pain au Chocolat were already spoken for, so I would have had to wait 30 minutes. I could buy a Cannele immediately, so I went with that. On one hand, it seem perfect, not like my fake ones (which don't replicate the outside coating). On the other hand, in the end, they were too strong for me, at least without some sort appropriate beverage. Maybe I'll not that into real canelé. If I get by there nearer 8 am (when they open), I'd still like to try their Pain au Chocolat. Coming back, I could do the updated Jinguumae east and Minami-Motomachi--Moto-Akasaka loops clockwise.

The cake run came from after 11 am. I went to Yoga and visited Ryoura for a 16th cake. I've had the least luck with seasonal variations there and recent good look else with Fromage Cru, so I got that from Ryoura and brought it back for eating at home. It's two layers, so I suspect it's actually a rare/baked cheesecake combo, but whatever it was, it was definitely excellent. Not sure what a great one would be like, but I'll have to consider that when I get to a third-round cake-off with my favorite cheesecake.

Ralph's Coffee: Cheesecake

Wanted to try a new shop on my neighborhood route and the nearest loop is the Jinguumae central loop, so I looked around and found a coffee and doughnut shop away from the main route that I hadn't noticed and completely reworked it. I failed the new loop, but then I found another shop I wanted to add near the first one and the only way to accommodate both is to give them their own tiny loop, so I didn't need to mess with the loop anyway. It will take awhile to undo all the changes.

I did manage the goal of visiting Ralph's Coffee shop and had their cheese cake. It was definitely good, and different from other cheesecakes I've had recently, maybe coarser, if that makes sense. Not really worth the price, though, but then it's trying to be a nice shop in a nice area. The pastries looked more reasonable, though I've sworn off evening pastries.

Le Chocolate Alain Ducasse, Mousse au Chocolat & Millefeuille Chocolat/Noisette

Saturday, I finally visited a pricey chocolate salon on my neighborhood running route (Roppongi 6 north loop), Le Chocolate Alain Ducasse. The other location is Nihonbashi. I can't say I know a better shop for chocolate desserts, though the best JPH café desserts are at the Kyoto shop, as are some special cakes I'm envious of.

Besides a nice tea and definitely good hot chocolate, the order was Mousse au Chocolat, which is a lot of mousse (I was happy to eat just half), with decorated by a different kind of chocolate, but I'm so sophisticated that I can remember what two countries they were from, but I believe that it does matter. Definitely good.

The other was Millefeuille Chocolat/Noisette, which has quite rich chocolate cream and a millefeuille that matched well. I think I could detect the hazelnut (beside the millefeuille obviously having been made out of something) but it is not a huge influence. Also definitely good.

Good is maybe not high praise but I'm serious that this might be the best place for high-end chocolate café desserts, even if I'm more interested in straight cake, which these could qualify for in a pinch but doesn't seem like a fair classification.

Tante Maria, Camembert Cheese Cake & Tarte Pistache

Was busy Saturday and not fit to run, but I'm feeling less hopeless about my feet, which tells you about how my week was going. Anyway, cake for two, with drinks (required) in the max 3-group, 8-person eat-in area of Tante Maria in the Marunouchi Oazo building. I've passed by the regular home shop, though I've never stopped. Since it's their main thing, I choose the Camembert Cheese Cake and the other chosen cake was the Tarte Pistache. Based on half of each, and allowing some leniency in a first visit, these were both excellent.

The cheesecake has a distinctively strong cheese taste, though it still managed to be cake (it looks like it has a mold rind on top, but it's actually powered sugar). For its attention to cheesiness, I can say that it is excellent. They have two other cheesecakes, though the brie seems to be whole cake takeoff only, though it is smaller than the other whole cakes.

The Pistachio tart was mostly as expected, though it was softer than others I've had recently, which doesn't generally appeal to me, but it came without a sacrifice in flavor, and in fact it was more flavorful than some recent good pistachio tarts, so it also gets an excellent.

Del'Immo: Noisette & Montblanc Chocolat

Went to the Del'Immo café for cake for two. I knew that they were not a high priority after the shop ranking reorganization, but I didn't like to give up on them as a back-up and the new Sadaharu Aoki Marunouchi exclusive cake seems to be Opera, which is no good for me. The cake was Noisette and Montblanc Chocolat. The noisette had a strong enough hazelnut flavor to stand out against the chocolate and there was also a layer of passion fruit and orange, which harmonized well. This was definitely good cake, but I was bored with the texture, perhaps. The Montblanc Chocolat was also good, as a mixture of cream and chocolate but stood out less.

They were still pretty good cakes for basically a café restaurant, but I may never get back there, as I don't think I'm likely to find anything great. Of course, it also depends on how comparable shops do.

Charmant Gourmand: various

Friday I took off work and went to Charmant Gourmand (after lunch, though from Thursday they had lunch there, which I had not known) and got a variety plate, the name of which I'll have to update later, though I think the menu varies. This had their Moelleux au Chocolat Figue, Madeleine Lemon Lime, Crème d'Anjou, and I think some kind of dacquoise sandwich, though it's not something I found outside the salon. The moelleux au chocolat was the most interesting, being more like a thick chocolate filling than anything baked. (This is my first time to find a moelleux that had a separately made firm base.) I would say the moelleux was excellent and the rest were good. Since Crème d'Anjou is not so different from cheesecake, I'll treat it and the moelleux as cakes, whereas the other two are baked goods, so they don't really affect my cake shop rating. Still, one excellent and one good makes it at least in the running for quite good, so I'll go back and get one of the other flavors of moelleux au chocolat some time, though they are expensive for the size. The house-blend tea was also definitely good.

Cake-off: Paris S'éveille's Monsieur Arnaud over Rue de Passy's Opera Pistache

No running is this plan for this week too. For today, though I went by bicycle down to Jiyuugaoka and back to get cakes for a cake-off. The lead cake Paris S'éveille's Monsieur Arnaud, in the sense that it's next on the list of available cakes, originally from April. To go with it, my first choice was Opera Pistache (a name I apparently haven't used before, but that's what I remember seeing on the card, though it could have said "Pistachio" without me noticing). I also confirmed the hotel bar and patisserie, Megan, in Higashi, Shibuya. I could see a lot of foreigners inside, so image a hotel on a former site of an incinerator is less attractive to locals. Also, I assume it's cheap and for people attracted to the Shibuya Station area.

Both of these cakes are pretty robust to cycling, for fortunately. I enjoyed both cakes, though I admit my physical condition wasn't as good as I would like, and it might have been impacting my appreciation. Still, I don't feel compelled to cut either of these from the list, but Monsieur Arnaud is more important to me.

Other important news is that Paris S'éveille had a new cake, so when I've got more than one day free a week (when I like to do a cake-off), I should try to get down there; I'm about 3 cakes beyond on visiting them. Until then, Isetan has more shops with cakes that are a high priority than I have days this week to visit them, so no problem.

I almost forgot to mention that I visited the Tokyo Midtown Jean-Paul Hévin for lunch on Saturday. For dessert, besides half a Mont-Blanc (maybe their best cake), I shared Œuf à la Neige, which was interesting as something new, but other not very exciting, just good.

Colombin: Gateau aux Fraises

I visited Colombin for the first time. Rather than the main shop that is directly on my neighborhood course, I was in the Shinjuku Station neighborhood, so I went to the Keiou Shinjuku Salon. As my cake sample, I got the Gateau aux Fraises, though the Japanese was Shortcake. This was definitely good. This was maybe average or slightly heavy whipped cream, whereas some like it light, but I was fine with it.

A big set menu was also chosen that included an ice cream desert, including the mont-blanc, but not the chestnut. It also was good.

Coffee Parlor Hilltop: Pistache Chocolat & Savarin

No running today, or any time next week. I'll be happy when walking is more pleasant. Still, life goes on, and I had an excuse be out toward Ochanomizu, so I visited Coffee Parlor Hill Top for lunch. This came to my attention from an NHK problem, which is a better commendation than simply being in the neighborhood, though there are still some good prospects there. The lunch was fine, but I don't feel a need to blog it---Expensive, in a nice atmosphere. The place is old, so I guess it will be closed down temporarily, something like May to November, but I'm not sure of the exact dates now. For desert, there were two cake sets. I wanted Pistache Chocolat, so I ate most of that one, but had about half of the Savarin as well.

The Pistache Chocolat also has a some strawberry, which should not be ignored. Slicing the strawberry was a good idea I haven't seen in a similar cake (and I'll do more now at home, where I have a knife). This is pistachio whipped cream, I think, over chocolate mousse, cake, and crunchy bottom. It's not really stable, so really it should be removed from it's plastic base and laid on its side. They certainly shouldn't present it to customers with the plastic wrap still on it, I should think. They need to work on their presentation. As cake, though, it was simple and yet well balanced, rather sweet, but that worked for me. Perhaps out of perversity, because in my condition and the condition of the shop, it's hard to get back there, I'll say it was great. Of course, if I said it was excellent, I would still want to get back there as I collect third cakes from quite good shops, but I have a higher priority now. If I find another great cake, I can do a cake-off with it, but it will have to be see. We'll see what cake JPH introduces next month.

The Savarin was heavy on citrus but I couldn't taste any alcohol at all, so maybe no rum. It was still good but not my kind of thing, nor are verrine generally. Under the new rating system, one just good cake is not a big deal (I always assume the five more good cakes in the pool when estimating my chance of getting a great cake next).

Cafe Landtmann: Landtmanntorte

Friday night, I got of work reasonably on time and did a run down to finish confirming the Minami-Aoyama east loop. The first fact meant that this took me by Viking Bakery F while they were still open, so I got half a loaf of Sourdough Bread, which is not something you can get a lot of places. It was definitely good. I toasted it and had it with olive oil, or at least most of it. The picture is at only half way through, after which I shared.

Saturday morning, I went out and just did photo of sites on the map I wanted to confirm. As usually, I found a couple I didn't know about, so the just expanded Roppongi 6 north loop got shrunk a little to take in a temple. I also found a Shuu coffee shop, and some day I'll actually go inside one and find out whether I'm including them for good reason.

I was busy otherwise much of the weekend, but I did go to a the Marunouchi Jean-Paul Hévin Chocolat Bar, which was crowded for the first time ever (perhaps related to them completing the neighboring building, so now there is more people to be walking around that area look for food). They just changed their special, so I went there and had Madeleine Fondue, which is chocolate fondue for

madeleines with whipped cream was excellent. Also had the O de Chocolat Brésil, which was excellent. I also had halves of two chocolate macarons, which is maybe not enough to judge (I'm not sure even a whole macaron is enough to judge) but seemed excellent, the Constanz, which is a Dominican Cacao ganache, and Crioca, which is Brazilian ganache.

Finally, Sunday for lunch, we went to Cafe Landtmann, which is a restaurant in the AO building. Being a restaurant, I wouldn't usually bother with trying to get and review their cake, but they are on the neighborhood course map and they have "Cafe" in their name, so I decided to allow them. It's a fancy place with good atmosphere, both physical and service, but not exceptionally expensive, considering. I got the Landtmanntorte,

figuring that it would be their best, since they've put their name on it, though maybe I should just have considered that other things already had names, so they didn't have the opportunity. Anyway, this has a little chocolate frosting on the outside edge, a top layer of raspberry sauce, more extensive layers of caramel, and a layer of orange cream. The cake part is cinnamon flavor and has an usual consistency, not sponge certainly, but sort of a wet and nutty, maybe, sort of solid without being hard. It was definitely good, but I should have gone with something with more chocolate. The other dessert was not cake, it was Marillen Palatschinken, which the English explains as Viennese apricot pancakes, though they are crêpes, as the Japanese clearly states.