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Seven Eleven Mystery
The ramen hype at that Nishishinjuku 5-chome Kita location is mostly a social media ghost story. I live in the area and the convenience store staff have no idea what you're talking about if you ask. What they do have is the standard hot case with some decent fried chicken and onigiri, but nothing life changing. If you're dead set on midnight ramen in that neighborhood, skip the 7-Eleven and walk over to Fuunji on Yasukuni-dori, they do a mean tsukemen until 3am and you'll actually get a proper bowl with real chashu.
This whole "secret ramen" thing has been doing the rounds for a couple of years now, and the only mystery is how it keeps getting traction. I stopped in there after a late meeting once and asked the kid at the register, he just looked confused and pointed at the cup noodle shelf. If you're set on a late night bowl in Shinjuku, walk over to the alley behind the Odakyu department store, there's a spot called Soba House that does a proper duck broth soba until 3am, no queue, no gimmick, and you'll actually get chashu instead of processed chicken slices.
You're probably chasing a ghost, but that doesn't mean you can't have a good time. That specific store sits right across from a cluster of love hotels and a 24-hour pachinko parlor, so the real draw at midnight is the crowd stumbling out of there, not the ramen. If you want a fun detour, head south on Meiji-dori toward the overpass and you'll find a tiny standing soba shop called Kanda Matsuya that's been there since the 1970s, they do a killer nikujaga soba until about 2am and the old lady running it will probably tell you the same thing about the 7-Eleven myth.
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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.