Gerbeaud, Gerbeaud (Szelet) and Wafuu Mont-Blanc

Back on Thursday, I tried and failed to set up a cake-off, though I did manage to have some great cake. My plan initially went off the rails because Il Pleut sur la Seine is renovating and I failed to understand the details. Right now, the shop is still open but no fresh cake. They plan to reopen at the end of May, so I'll be waiting a while. Ended up down at Paris S. in Jiyugaoka, but either they sold out early or they have an abbreviated line-up on a weekday, as they had neither the several new nor the specific cake I was look for as a cake-off entrant, though I had just seen it the previous weekend, I thought. But it was good weather and good running.

Friday, I ran without cake, working on the neighborhood course. I failed on the revised East Shibuya loop, but reviewing, it didn't really make sense anyway, so I've revised it again; it looks simple enough now. I was finally able to finish confirming knowledge of the Minami-Aoyama--Shibuya loop and was successful for clockwise at the revised Minami-Aoyama 3&4 loop, so that completion will simplify my next attempt at the other two. I did have a snack from a new counter at Isetan for Beillevaire, which also has a temporary shop at Roppongi Hills and a main shop in Moto-Azabu, so it might count as a neighborhood shop anyway, but I need to confirm both of those. As an Isetan exclusive, they have Mille-Feuille Fromage Pie Blood Orange, which was good but not really that interesting as either pastry or cheese (which is what the shop specializes in).

Saturday, I was busy, so I didn't run, but I did get to Gerbeaud for lunches  and cake sets for two. One cake was Wafuu Mont-Blanc. I'l say it was good, though that is based on two bites. It's a simple cake and not my style even among mont-blanc. It was pronounced delicious but not as good as Angelina's Mont-Blanc, which is more comparable than my preference of mont-blanc, so I'm reasonably confident about the rating. I had all but one bit of the Gerbeaud (Szelet), which as the name implies, is very layered, like a pasty, alternating in apricot jam (like a Sachertorte) and walnut. It was like a cross between a pastry and coffeecake, dry, but not in a bad way. It was a big change from my favorites but a nice change. This was definitely excellent, so Gerbeaud'll make the cut as a quite good Tokyo cake shop.

Ikebukuro H&C, Aigre-Douce and Shirokanedo

There was light rain, but I went out and did the Ikebukuro History and Culture course, as shown on the map. It took 34'01''60 to get to the end (for some reason, I didn't look up the direction first and did it in reverse; I'll try to straight that out for next time) and another 1 20'29''57 to give up on finding the beginning, which included one long double back where I missed a turn and a circling back around Kishimojin (characters, Demon Child Mother God) because the online map which I copied into my map book skips it but the markers (if I were going in the correct direction) go right past it. The online map makes up the distance by moving the route "before" that further west, which doesn't seem necessary, except to get people off a narrow street. I suppose I should have done both versions there just to see what was on the posted route, but following markers in reverse, it screwed me up for the next turn. I'll take a look next time. The railway crossing "after" the temple near there seems to have been under construction for years (at least it was a couple/few years ago when I last traveled it, which at least at that time of day required two guys to direct traffic). An advantage of the following the intended direction would be that it was be mostly downhill instead of uphill. Anyway, there is lots of room to improve my speed.

From Ikebukuro (where I verified that Pierre Hermé has at least a few cakes at the Seibu counter), I went to Aigre-Douce to get cake and then hurry home and shower in time to be no more late for my appointment than the other person was. The cake was Fraicheur Exotique for 600 yen. I'm not sure what made it exotic, maybe some sort of citrus fruit in the meringue on top. The chocolate was the watery chocolate that I don't like, although not the worst I've had by any means. I didn't have much time to explore this when eating it, but the name suggests that this was chocolate whipped cream between the layers of chocolate cake, which might explain why I was not impressed with it (whipped cream is not a good filling in general, in my opinion). This was not revolting, but still disappointing enough that I reviewed my ratings so see whether this should stay a great cake shop. It's had a couple great cakes, so I'll give them another chance before I demote them.

My appointment was for shopping. After, we just barely had time to get some cake at Isetan, and Shirokanedo was chosen. I would have chosen elsewhere (as the counter: I got to choose Isetan), but was okay with it. I've had a couple cakes from there since they replace the California place but didn't get into them. The cake was Ichigo ("strawberry") Tarte for 594 and a Wafuu (I think, but I didn't have time to take notes, but means "Japanese-Style") Mont-Blanc for 810 yen. It's Isetan, so I can update the names later, when I have time. The tart was fine. It was a very flaky crust, with the flakes being radial, which was interesting, but still not a substitute for great cake. Just a little custard (and no whipped cream). The Mont-Blanc was actually the best of the day. It was not as good as Jean-Paul Hevin's, but otherwise very good, as it should be for the price. Still not particularly interested in this place (which has an actual shop that I should put on the map), but I'm willing to eat things from there again.

Speaking of whipped cream, I received cookies from La Primeur, and they were fine. I also really like the cookies from Henri Charpentier, but would have been more disappoint if there had been select today.