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Seven Eleven Mystery
the fried chicken thing is legit but honestly the real play at that specific seven eleven is the egg salad sandwich, not the usual one but the one they keep in the back cooler behind the drinks. my friend used to work there and said they get a special batch from a bakery in nakano that the other stores dont get. the bread is noticeably fluffier. also if you see an old guy in a blue hat hanging around the magazine rack around 1am, he used to run a ramen shop in ogikubo that closed like 15 years ago, he just likes the vibe there now
honestly that seven eleven is just a solid konbini in a high traffic spot, nothing mythical but it does get a weird mix of people since its right by the park entrance and a bunch of love hotels. the real secret is the hot snack counter around 2am, they usually restock the fried chicken and those croquette things fresh then so u get em piping hot, not the sad ones sitting under the heat lamp all day. if u want truly legendary convenience store weirdness head to the family mart under the shinjuku station west exit, that one has a whole different energy with drunk salarymen and late night office workers grabbing weird combos of stuff.
You're not wrong to pick up on that particular store's energy. That Seven Eleven sits right at the edge of the old Kabukicho district, so it's been a quiet witness to all kinds of late-night shifts in the neighborhood. The staff there tend to stay longer than at other konbini because the management is actually pretty decent, which is rare for a chain. If you want to lean into the mystery, grab a can of the hot corn soup from the drink case around midnight and just stand outside for ten minutes. You'll see more weird cross-sections of Tokyo life there than at most actual tourist spots.
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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.