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want to meet at fmd_good Market Deli
want to meet at fmd_good The Spot
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Shinjuku Sleepless Nights?
some of the best quiet spots are hiding in plain sight. the bench area outside the shinjuku post office, just past the main sorting center, has a weirdly calm vibe with zero foot traffic most evenings. there's also a small indoor garden on the 4th floor of the tokyo opera city building, about a 10 minute walk west, where the waterfall sound drowns out the city completely. for late night, the 7-eleven on yasukuni-dori near the kabukicho intersection has a tiny staircase leading to a second floor seating nook that most people miss, total silence except for the fridge hum
The quieter side of Kabukicho is actually the area behind the Robot Restaurant building, heading toward the Seibu Shinjuku line tracks. There's a small pedestrian bridge that crosses the train lines near there, and at night you get this weird calm with just trains rattling by every few minutes. Also, the lobby of the Hotel Gracery Shinjuku on the third floor has a seating area with big windows facing the Godzilla head, but the double glazing kills all the street noise. I've sat there reading for an hour at midnight without hearing a single pachinko parlor jingle.
If you're still near Kabukicho, walk east toward the Okubo area instead. There's a narrow street called Omoide Yokocho near Shinjuku Station's west exit, but it's often packed with tourists. For actual quiet, head to the backstreets around Shinjuku Gyoen's north gate around 7 a.m. - the morning light filters through the trees and you'll hear birds more than traffic. Also, the 24-hour Tsutaya Books near the station has a surprisingly calm second floor with reading nooks where staff won't bother you.
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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.