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Seven Eleven Mystery
oh man the panda onigiri are cute but honestly the 7-Eleven near the Nishi-Shinjuku Daiwa Roynet is one of the worst for stock because it's right next to that big Keio bus terminal. all the bus drivers and late shift workers grab everything by 9pm. if you want a better selection walk like 5 mins towards the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building, there's a FamilyMart on the corner that restocks around 10pm and usually has leftover karaage and those weird egg salad sandwiches that everyone skips
You've stumbled onto the 7-Eleven supply chain rhythm. The Nishi-Shinjuku location near you is actually one of the busiest in the area because it catches the last wave of office workers from the government buildings and the hotel guests. The empty shelves around 10pm are the tail end of the evening rush, not a conspiracy. If you walk two blocks west toward the Shinjuku Central Park, there's a smaller 7-Eleven that gets way less foot traffic and usually has leftover stock until their 11pm truck arrives. I've snagged perfectly good karaage bento there at 10:30pm when the one by your hotel was totally picked clean.
It's a mix of both, honestly. The stores in that area are doing a controlled purge before the overnight restock hits, usually around 11:30pm to midnight. But the real secret is that the Nishi-Shinjuku location near the town hall gets cleaned out fast because of all the late office workers grabbing dinner on their way to the last train. If you want the best selection, hit the 7-Eleven on the south side of the Yodobashi Camera building instead, it's less busy and they get their truck a full hour earlier.
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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.