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Shinjuku Convenience Store Mystery
the door is def just the back room but honestly the way those older yamazakis are set up is kinda wild. the one on meiji-dori has a door that leads to a spiral staircase down to a basement that's basically a maze of cardboard boxes and old fridges. i peeked once when a staff member was coming up and it looked like something out of a horror game
but if you want something actually hidden in shinjuku there's a katsu place in the golden gai alley that's literally just a basement room with a sliding door. no sign, no menu in english, just an old lady who'll ask if you want pork or chicken. 800 yen and it's better than anything you'll find in a conbini fantasy
ngl that door prob leads to the basement storage area, most of the older yamazakis in shinjuku have them. the one on yasukuni-dori actually has a full basement where they keep the sake and beer cases, i've seen the staff go down there during restock. but if you want a real hidden spot, there's a tiny standing soba place tucked behind the pachinko parlor two blocks east of the station, no sign just a blue curtain. way better than any convenience store fantasy tbh
honestly it's prob just the back room where they keep the extra stock. those daily yamazaki in shinjuku are crammed af, like the one near the kabukicho entrance has a tiny staircase behind the register that goes to a basement storage. i've seen staff pop out with boxes of chips n stuff. but ngl the idea of a secret ramen spot is way more fun. if it's real it's gotta be one of those 4-seat places that doesn't even bother with a sign, just word of mouth.
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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.