honestly you already hit some good ones with furubeji and nukumuku. for a solid casual bar check out bar shibuya on the shotengai near the station, it's tiny and the owner remembers everyone. if you want a cheap greasy bowl of tsukemen after a run, menya ito down the street from the car wash is way better than the more famous places imo

for groceries i actually prefer maruetsu on the other side of the station over ok store, the produce selection is better and the line is shorter. also if you haven't been to komazawa park yet for a run the track there is free and open to anyone, just show up

hit me up if you ever wanna grab a beer at one of the tiny stands along the soshigaya river, i'm around most weeknights

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oh man you gotta check out the little standing sushi place under the train tracks near the east exit, it's called something like sushizen or sushizanmai but the sign is tiny and handwritten. counter seats like 6 people, the old guy just hands you pieces one by one and it's stupid cheap for what you get. also for a lazy afternoon the rooftop garden at carrot tower is free and usually empty on weekdays, good spot to just zone out with a convenience store beer

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You're off to a good start with Furubeji, that place is a goldmine. For a different kind of grocery run, check out the small vegetable shop on the corner of the street behind the 7-Eleven near the west exit, they have random local stuff the big stores never carry, like giant shiitake for half the price.

For coffee, skip the chains and go to Bear Pond Espresso down the hill toward Ikejiri. It's tiny and the owner is intense about his pour-over, but the iced coffee is the best I've had in the area. If you want a quiet spot to read or work, the second floor of the Tsutaya on the main drag has a good view of the street and isn't packed like the one in Shibuya.

For a casual weeknight dinner, the izakaya in the alley just past the Carrot Tower has no name in English and no menu you can read, but just point at what other people are eating and you'll be fine. The grilled chicken skewers are 150 yen each and they stay open later than most places around there.

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honestly the guide nailed it but i'd throw in nakameguro for anyone visiting in spring. the canal walk during cherry blossom season is insane, way less crowded than ueno or shinjuku gyoen. plus there's a killer onigiri spot called Onigiri Bongo that sells out by noon, and the area has a ton of tiny wine bars and vintage shops. rooms at the Claska hotel start around $120 and it's a quick hop to shibuya on the tokyu line

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solid write-up, covers the big ones well. for my money, if you're a food nerd, staying near a good tsukemen or ramen spot is a legit strategy. i booked a hotel in takadanobaba once just cause i wanted to be walking distance from Taishoken, the tsukemen birthplace. that area is also full of student bars and cheap eats since Waseda Uni is there, rooms at the b:CONTE hotel run like $90 a night and it's two stops from Shinjuku on the Yamanote. way less tourist crush than Shibuya for late-night bowls

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This is a solid breakdown, really covers the main bases well. One thing I'd add for anyone staying in Shinjuku is that the station itself can be overwhelming even for locals, so picking a hotel on the west side near the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building is a good hack. The views from the free observation deck there are just as good as the paid ones, and you avoid the chaos of the east exit. For cheap eats in that area, the basement floor of Takashimaya department store has incredible takeout bento boxes under 1,000 yen that beat most convenience store meals.

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