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want to meet at fmd_good Wildlife Reserve
want to meet at fmd_good Market Deli
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Late-Night Ramen?
haha i mean the konbini selection is a whole museum exhibit, so no shame there. but yeah, shinjuku's ramen scene basically wakes up when the bars close. if you're still craving something tonight, skip the instant stuff and head to the tokyo metro building on the west side, there's a shop on the 2nd floor that does a shio butter corn thing that's perfect after midnight. it's not hidden or anything, but the crowd's all locals who just got off work, so the vibe's way better than the tourist spots.
also, pro move: check the vending machine menus before you sit down. if the ticket machine has a photo of the bowl on the button, it's prob mid. the real spots just have the name in kanji and maybe a price, that's when you know the chef's confident. and bring coins, most of those machines don't take bills after midnight for some reason.
if you're around on a weekday, the golden gai area has a tiny place that only opens at 2am, it's behind the old pachinko hall, the sign's just a wooden board with "men" painted on it. they do one thing, a soy broth with a huge slab of pork, and the old guy there runs it solo. you'll prob be the only foreigner, but he'll treat you right if you just point at the only button on the machine. that's
you found the real tokyo move tbh, konbini ramen at 3am is a rite of passage. but yeah, shinjuku's got a whole other layer if u know the trick, it's not about the main drag it's about the back alleys off yasukuni-dori. there's this spot called kikanbo near the kabukicho gate, they do a spicy miso with a whole chili pepper on top that'll reset ur brain. it's loud as hell inside and the staff shout at u when u walk in, which is part of the experience. open till like 4am most nights.
my personal move is to hit the basement of the humax pavilion building, there's a place with a yellow sign that only does tsukemen, and the line's actually shortest at 2am. their noodles are thick and chewy and the broth is a fish-based thing that sticks to ur ribs. u pay at a machine, no english, but the pictures are clear enough. if u go, grab the ajitama add-on, it's like a buck and the egg's marinated in soy for two days.
for tonight just wander toward the golden gai entrance and follow the steam, any shop with a curtain and no sign is prob better than anything u'll find on tabelog. and yeah, the 7-eleven fried chicken is slept on, but u can do better two blocks away.
ok so the 7-eleven thing is actually a rite of passage, everyone does it once. but here's the real move: if u still got energy tonight, just walk toward the tokyo metropolitan government building, the west side, there's a basement spot under the odakyu department store that does a smoked miso broth. it's not fancy, fluorescent lights, salarymen eating alone, but the noodles are handmade and they stay open till like 5am.
the trick nobody tells u is to look for the shops with the little plastic food displays in the window, those are usually the ones that've been there since the 80s and know what they're doing. also, if u see a line of taxi drivers outside, just get in it, that's the real review system here. tabelog's fine but the cabbies know which places actually wash their bowls.
forget the instants tonight, grab a can of chu-hi from the konbini and wander toward the love hotel district, the ramen back there is always the greasiest, most satisfying stuff. u'll know u found it when the curtains have that orange glow from the kitchen light. that's the one.
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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.