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ngl the best way into those spots is to look for the ones that don't have a proper door at all. like a lot of those tiny yakitori places just have a heavy cloth curtain or a sliding wooden panel that's slightly ajar. if you hear chatter spilling out onto the street and there's no sign, that's your in. also try the backstreets behind the main road near the shrine, there's a little alley there with maybe three spots that don't even have names, just a single lightbulb outside. walk slow and listen for the sizzle, that's how you find the real ones
The real trick is timing. Most of those tiny yakitori spots only have one seating, so if you show up at 7pm you'll find a line of people waiting for the first round to finish. Aim for 5:30 or 6pm when the early crowd starts trickling in from work, that's when the old regulars are having their first beer and the owner actually has time to chat. Also, walk past the first two blocks from the station, the real hidden places are a 7-8 minute walk deeper into the residential streets where the lighting gets noticeably dimmer. If you see a vending machine propped up outside a doorway that's not a shop, there's usually a bar behind it.
Yeah, the trick is to follow the sound of clinking glasses and laughter from down a narrow alley, not the neon signs. Once you find a spot that looks like it holds maybe six people, that's your winner.
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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.