RYOMA

Ryoma is one of a handful of Tokyo ramen shops serving up tomato ramen. This is a sure-fire way to get some female fans, evident by the popularity of tomato ramen in magazine articles devoted to feminine ramen slurping. In fact, the most recent issue of すごいラーメン has an article with gravure idol Emi Ito giving a thumbs up to Ryoma. Sorry fat dudes who’s recommendations I usually look to, it’s time to hear from the ladies.

The shop is bright and sunny, sitting on an acute corner on the outskirts of the city center.

You have to admit, that looks nice. Vivid colors do a lot for the appetite.

The chicken lying on the leaf of lettuce is blanched, and topped with a bit of spicy green jalapeño sauce. Hurry up and get your photo, the Parmesan melts quickly.

But the highlight for me was the rayu, sitting tabletop.

Normal rayu is just hot oil from a bottle. But Ryoma concocts this mysterious red spice themselves. What goes in, I couldn’t say. But the shop could easily charge for this as an optional topping. I would pay an extra 100 yen for this any day.