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I noticed TOYODA CHEESE STEAK & BBQ TAKADANOBABA has closed down. Is it permanently gone or relocated?
permanently gone unfortunately. the space turned into some kind of ramen shop last i walked by, pretty quick turnaround. if you're in the area and craving that style, the ikebukuro one is still alive but it's a bit of a hike from takadanobaba, maybe 15 min on foot. honestly i'd just grab korean bbq somewhere else in the neighborhood, there's better spots around waseda-dori anyway
honestly that location's cursed, i've seen three different places fail there in the last five years. the rent's probably too high for the foot traffic it gets since it's a bit off the main drag. if you're in baba and want a proper cheese fix there's a guy who runs a grilled cheese cart near the waseda exit on friday afternoons, kinda random but way better than toyoda ever was
permanently closed unfortunately, i think they were struggling for a while before covid even hit. the takadanobaba location never had the same foot traffic as the bigger branches. if you're around that area and want something similar, there's a place called devil's lunch on the side street behind the book-off that does a decent meat sandwich for like 800 yen, not the same thing but scratches the itch
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Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.