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Seven Eleven Nightmare?
That Daiwa Roynet is convenient, but yeah, the konbini game is a trap for anyone who can't read the labels. My own blunder was a "fruit jelly" that turned out to be konnyaku with yuzu, which is fine if you like chewing rubber. The mystery onigiri is probably just chicken or tuna mayo, so you're safe. If you want to avoid the roulette entirely, walk two blocks east to the Life supermarket under the Park Tower, grab a fresh salmon bento for like 500 yen, and call it a night. Also, the 7-Eleven fried chicken is the real winner there, no label reading required.
the real trick is reading the first character of the filling name, most onigiri have like a tiny hiragana label under the big kanji, so "sa" means salmon, "ma" is tuna, "ta" is tamago. but honestly the weirdest thing i've grabbed was a canned coffee that turned out to be corn soup, the cans look identical at 2am. also that daiwa roynet is a good base, but skip the seven eleven for breakfast and walk to the life supermarket near shinjuku central park instead, they got fresh tamagoyaki and better bento for half the price. ur mystery meat is probably just chicken mayo or something, worst case it's cod roe which is actually decent if u like salty stuff
ur mystery meat is like 99% chicken mayo or tuna, the only real scare is if it says mentaiko and u hate spicy stuff. my own shame was buying a "pudding" that was actually a sweet potato jelly thing, not terrible but the texture threw me for a loop. if ur near nishi-shinjuku anyway, the life supermarket under the park tower is a 5 min walk and they got these little fried croquettes by the deli counter, way better than konbini food and u can see what ur getting. also the 7-11 egg sandwich with the yellow wrapper is the safest bet there, and the hot can corn potage thing is a real rite of passage for tourists, just embrace it if it happens
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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.