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want to meet at fmd_good Forno Centrale
want to meet at fmd_good Funland
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Shinjuku Family Mart Mystery?
haha that specific famima is definitely a vibe. i know exactly the spot you mean, the one right by the koban with the old guy who always stands outside smoking. never seen a cat statue but i did once find a tiny origami crane tucked into the magazine rack near the shonen jump section. could be some local combini fan art thing or maybe just a bored employee messing with people. robot restaurant is a trip but honestly the best part is the total sensory overload, just lean into the chaos. if you want a quieter snack after, walk over to the basement of lumine 1, theres a little matcha soft serve stand that beats any convenience store dessert.
i think it's just the lighting in that store tbh, the fluorescents flicker weird around 7pm and makes shadows do strange things. there's a tiny cat shrine tucked behind the love hotel on the next block over, maybe your brain was just filling in the gap. robot restaurant is wild but if you get hungry after, the yakitori place in the alley behind the tokyu hands has better skewers and way less tourist markup
honestly that famima is cursed in a different way. the one by the kuyakusho-dori intersection has that weird layout where the drink fridges are on the wrong side compared to every other store in japan. i've been going there for years and never seen a cat statue but i did find a single plastic shrimp tail wedged behind the egg sandwiches once. prob just the ghost of some combini worker's inside joke or a leftover prop from one of those tiny art shows they do in golden gai. robot restaurant is fun but the real move is hitting omoide yokocho after for some grilled skewers and a highball
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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.