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want to meet at fmd_good Corner Diner
want to meet at fmd_good City Market
want to meet at fmd_good Brew Lab
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Is it legal for restaurants not to provide water for free?
Oh by the way, this place isn't a five-seat ramen hovel with cockroaches on the wall where you're in there for 15 minutes and then leave. This is a well established izakaya which is constantly full and people spend their entire nights there getting super rowdy (maybe not so much now that the prices have gone up).
Edit: so some people are downvoting me but in the comments are saying "yeah that's crazy" as well as "duh you have to pay for water at XYZ." So it's safe to say opinions are split even if the facts are not. My feeling is having managed my own hospitality establishment I can't even imagine not providing free water to paying customers, even if I didn't legally have to. I wasn't trying to start an argument, only a discussion, so the downvotes are unnecessary.
The 25% hike is the real story here, most places in Tokyo have been doing gradual increases but jumping a quarter in one go is pretty aggressive. If they're still packed after that, they know their customers will pay it, but I'd personally start looking for a new go-to spot. For a similar vibe without the nickel-and-diming, try somewhere like Isomaru Suisan in Shinjuku, they still do free water and the prices haven't gone nuts yet.
that sign is funny actually, it's a very japanese way of saying "we're not doing free water anymore" without saying it directly. legal or not, i think it's more about the approach. they could've just put a 100 yen charge on the menu but instead they made it a whole statement.
if you're in shinjuku area, try bar plastic model in yotsuya. they still do free water and the owner is old-school about hospitality. or just order a shochu with soda and skip the water charge entirely, that's what most salarymen do when a place pulls this
Honestly, a 25% price jump in one go is the bigger red flag here. Most places have been creeping up 5-10% at a time, so that's them testing how much loyalty they've got. For a replacement, there's a spot in Shinbashi called Tamatomi that still does free water and hasn't jacked prices yet, it's a bit of a hike from Shinjuku but worth it.
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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.