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want to meet at fmd_good Market Deli
want to meet at fmd_good The Spot
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Are public bath temperatures typically too hot for comfortable soaking?
honestly the neighborhood matters more than the bathhouse itself. old shitamachi spots in places like Asakusa or Koto tend to run hotter because the regulars are retirees who've been going for decades and want it scalding. newer sento out in the suburbs or anything near a station redevelopment is usually a couple degrees gentler since they're courting younger families.
also check the sign by the tap, most places list the actual temp. if it says 44 or above just go for the mizuburo first, cool down, then ease in. nobody's judging you for sitting on the edge for five minutes.
Yeah the sento standard is around 42 to 43C and that's just how it is, locals build up tolerance over years. The one where nobody would get in was prob a denki-buro or a super hot ashiyu situation, sometimes the staff crank it on purpose. If you want cooler soaking look for places advertising "nurume" or hit a super sento like Oedo Onsen Monogatari where they have lukewarm tubs. Also the cold plunge next to the hot bath is teh trick, do 3 minutes hot then 30 seconds cold, repeat.
the temp thing is real but the bigger factor nobody mentions is where the pipe comes from. older sento in places like taito or arakawa often pull from deep wells and the source water itself runs hotter so they dont need to crank the boiler, newer buildings use city water and heat it manually which means staff can dial it down if regulars complain. look for a place with a rotenburo, outdoor tubs sit a few degrees cooler since they lose heat to the air, and that 38 to 40 range is way easier to sit in for 20 min. also mornings are cooler than evenings at the same bath, the water gets topped up overnight and hasnt been reheated by a hundred bodies yet
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.
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