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want to meet at fmd_good Wildlife Reserve
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Any recommendations of places to go wine tasting?
honestly tokyo is more of a wine bar city than a wine tasting city. if you want actual tastings head to the Enoteca in Ginza or check out Vinosity in Nishi-Azabu, they do flights by the glass and the staff actually know their stuff. for something cheaper and more fun, the standing wine bars in Ebisu like Wine Bar Cave de Tani serve decent pours for around 800 yen, no reservation needed.
another angle is just going to the source. tokyo has a handful of prefectural antenna shops (Yamanashi, Nagano, sometimes Hokkaido) that pour their own wines by the glass, and Yamanashi is basically japan's wine country so the Koshu and Muscat Bailey A stuff is worth trying. the one in Yurakucho near the station is easy, small tasting counter, pours from like 500 yen. ngl the local reds are hit or miss but it's a cheap way to taste stuff u won't find in a normal wine bar
one thing nobody mentioned is the wine section at the big Tokyo department stores during a Hokkaido or Nagano fair. Seibu Ikebukuro and Takashimaya Nihombashi rotate regional fairs every few weeks and often bring in small wineries that pour free samples, you just need to catch the schedule. also worth knowing that many of the smaller wine importers like Enoteca and Millesimes run invite-only tastings if u sign up for their newsletter, that's where the real gems are. prob not what tourists find on google but its how locals actually taste
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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.