Smoothies at 7/11?

honestly the best time to catch them is right when they restock, which for most 7/11s near campus is like 10-11pm. the one on takadanobaba ekimae-dori usually has a fresh batch around then, i've grabbed the mango one at 11:30pm before

if u want to know which stores have the machine, look for the 7/11s with a bigger freezer section near the front. the smaller ones around waseda like the one on the alley behind the coop usually skip the smoothie machine entirely. the one by the takadanobaba station west exit has one but its always out by noon

no app for this sadly but there's a twitter account called @7eleven_jp that posts about restocks sometimes. not smoothie specific but they'll mention new flavors or machine installs. fwiw the convenience store on the corner of waseda-dori and the street that goes to the baseball field has a smoothie machine that gets overlooked cause its tucked behind the magazine rack

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fwiw the 7/11 by the takadanobaba station south exit has a machine but it's literally behind the door so you'd miss it if you're not looking. i think they restock around 4pm because i've grabbed one after class at like 4:15 before. also the one on the street leading to the big book off has a machine that's always got stock later in the day, like 7pmish, probably cause it's further from campus so less foot traffic. no app for this but honestly just ask the staff, they'll usually tell u when the next truck comes

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ngl the secret is just looking for the bigger 7/11s with a proper seating area, the ones that are mostly takeout only prob won't have the machine. the one on the corner of mejiro-dori near the hospital has a machine that's always stocked around 3pm cause its mostly old folks buying food there, not students grabbing smoothies. also the 7/11 by the takadanobaba station ticket gates (the one inside the station itself) has a machine but you gotta tap through the gates to get to it, sometimes they have stock when the

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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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