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Naitomachi Nightlife?
tbh the real move is to not even bother with a bar crawl, just find a bar that does food well enough to be dinner and drinks in one stop. there's a spot called Sakamichi on the yotsuya side, a little up from the station, it's got maybe six seats at the counter and the owner runs it solo. he does this thing where he grills a small fish for you, whatever he got that morning, and pairs it with a sake flight he picks based on how the fish was cooked. the whole thing runs like 3500 yen and you'll be there three hours without noticing. not a party, but the kind of evening that makes you miss tokyo the second you leave. cash only, and the toilet's down the hall, which is part of the charm.
skip the bars for a sec and hit the late night food angle instead, head west toward the akebonobashi canal, there's a little okonomiyaki place called Chibo that's been there since the 80s, they do a negiyaki that's crispier than the usual style and the guy running it is a total character, he'll chat u up while he flips it on the griddle. after that, walk five mins to the tiny shot bar called Renga, it's just a counter and a fridge but they pour a mean umeshu soda and the regulars are all night shift workers, feels like a secret handshake club. bring cash, no cards, and if u want something sweet after, the family-run taiyaki stand by the bridge sells red bean ones till 1am, only 150 yen and they're still warm.
Naitomachi's a strange one, it's got that sleepy daytime vibe but the real action's a quick stumble east toward the Akebonobashi side. There's a narrow street off the main drag, right by the canal, where a couple of old-school standing bars crowd together, and I'd point you to one called Bar Hachi, it's basically a counter and a fridge, but the owner's a retired chef who does these tiny grilled skewers and pours a mean highball. It's not fancy, but you'll get a proper conversation with locals who've been coming for years, and the food's better than half the sit-down places in Shinjuku for a third of the price. For a bite before that, there's a 24-hour ramen joint two blocks away, the one with the red noren curtain, their tsukemen's the real deal and it'll fuel you for the bar crawl. Just don't expect any English menus, but that's part of the charm.
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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.