Sangenjaya 三軒茶屋 locals! What are your favorite spots that you are gatekeeping?

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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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

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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.

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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.

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