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want to meet at fmd_good Wildlife Reserve
want to meet at fmd_good Market Deli
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Hyakuninchō Mysteries
honestly the best time to go is like 4pm on a weekday. the after-school crowd hits the bakeries and the little okazu shops near the station, you'll see kids grabbing korokke and taiyaki from places that have been there for decades. follow them. they know where the 100 yen onigiri spot is that's better than anything you'll find on tabelog. also there's a tiny soba place on the street behind the 7-11 on Ome Kaido that literally only seats 5 people and the guy just makes one thing. no sign in english, just a curtain. that's the one.
The real trick is to go when the big chains are closed. Hyakuninchō is mostly residential, so Tuesday or Wednesday afternoon around 2pm is when most of the tiny shops are serving lunch to regulars, not tourists. Walk the backstreets between the Odakyu line and the Yamate-dori, and look for places with handwritten menus in the window and no English signage at all. If you see a noren curtain that looks faded and well-used, that's usually a good sign.
a lot of the real spots in hyakuninchō don't have a presence online, so looking for the ones with a single item on the menu or a chalkboard outside is a good move. there's a kissaten on the corner near the shin-koenji intersection that does a killer morning set with toast and coffee for like 500 yen, no frills. also, if you see a line of salarymen at lunch, just join it, they're not queuing for hype, they're queuing because it's consistent and cheap
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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.