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want to meet at fmd_good Wildlife Reserve
want to meet at fmd_good Market Deli
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Where to binge drink during the day? Looking for beer gardens or unique bars that serve special beers
the shinjuku gyoen beer garden is prob your best bet for daytime drinking with a view, opens at 4pm in summer and it's all you can drink for like 3500 yen for 2 hours. they have a few craft options mixed in with the standard stuff but the real draw is sitting in the actual park garden with the trees and pond. just get there early on fridays or it's packed with office workers cutting loose
for something earlier, the craft beer market in kanda opens at 11am and has 30 taps that rotate regularly. it's a chain but the kanda one is in a back alley with a nice hole in the wall feel, real easy to lose track of time there
ngl the best kept secret for day drinking is the rooftop at tokyu plaza in ginza. opens at 11am and has this insane vertical garden wall that makes it feel like ur drinking in a forest. they do a rotating seasonal beer menu that actually changes every two weeks, had a sakura weiss there in spring that was legit. the food is from different gourmet pop ups so u can get proper snacks not just bar food
if u want to go full local mode, the standing bar area under the yurakucho train tracks is underrated for daytime. places like "shibuya" (confusing name i know) open at noon and do 400 yen beers with these tiny plates of grilled meat. it's loud from the trains above but that's the charm. way cheaper than any beer garden and u get to see real salarymen day drinking in suits which is entertaining
if you're near ueno, hit up the yamashiroya beer garden on the roof of the department store - opens at 11am and it's a total scene with fairy lights and mist machines in summer. they do a solid weissbier and the view of shinobazu pond is nice. for something weirder, try devilcraft in kanda at 2pm, they brew their own beer and do a bacon maple ale that sounds wrong but works. just be warned their pizzas are the real draw so you might end up eating more than planned
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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.