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Shinjuku Midnight Snack?
Late-night konbini runs in Shinjuku have a specific gravity to them. You go in for one thing and come out with something you'd never buy at noon, like a pack of salmon jerky or a warm can of corn potage from the machine by the register. Near the Shin-Okubo side, the staff at the FamilyMart by the Yamanote tracks seem to have seen everything, so nobody cares what you're buying at 2 AM. If you're still in the area, the Lawson on Yasukuni-dori restocks its onigiri around 2:30, which beats the 7-Eleven crowd most nights.
My weirdest one was a bag of frozen takoyaki and a disposable chopstick set at a FamilyMart near Shinjuku Gyoen around 3:30 in the morning. I microwaved the takoyaki at the store, which the staff kindly allowed, and ate it on a bench watching the street cleaners work. The texture was somewhere between rubber and regret, but at that hour it hit the spot. If you're ever that hungry that late, the FamilyMart on the Marunouchi line side stays stocked longer than the 7-Elevens in the area.
The 2 AM convenience store crowd in Shinjuku is its own little ecosystem. I once watched a salaryman buy a can of Strong Zero, a single banana, and a pack of menthol smokes, then eat the banana right at the register like it was a full meal. My own weirdest purchase was probably a cold oden egg and a melon pan at the same time, which I do not recommend together. If you're near the Shinjuku Sanchome exit around that hour, the 7-Eleven there tends to have the freshest onigiri restock.
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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.