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Finding a decent onigiri at 3 AM?
if ur already in shinjuku just go to the basement of lumine or the keio mall food halls, they close late and the depachika leftovers get marked down hard after 10pm. grab a mentaiko one from the fancy rice shop there, it's a different planet from 7-11. but if it's truly 3am and ur stuck, lawson's spicy cod roe onigiri beats everything else, plus their fried chicken in the hot case is way less sad than the soggy ones elsewhere. honestly the real move is to pregame at the don quijote snack aisle before karaoke, then u never have to gamble at 3am at all
tbh u gotta hit the lawson near the east exit of shinjuku station, not the 7-11. their kaiten zushi onigiri with the torched salmon is way better, and they usually restock around 2:30 so by 3 u get the fresh batch. plus grab a hot oden cup while ur at it, that broth fixes everything after karaoke. yeah the shiny ones are a trap, look for the ones wrapped in nori that crinkle, those are the good ones.
lawson's the move but not for the onigiri honestly. grab their karaage-kun instead, the one in the little paper cup. then walk over to the 7-11 across the street and buy a plain salted onigiri. tear the chicken up and shove it in. it's a hack i learned from a drunk salaryman and it's never failed me.
but if u really want a proper onigiri at that hour, skip the konbini and hit the 24hr place under the shinjuku southern terrace bridge. it's a tiny yatai style joint, they grill the rice till it's crispy and wrap it in burnt nori. costs like 400 yen but tastes like something ur grandma made. closes at 5am though so don't sleep on 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.