I was rather shocked when Herman told me about this place that serves tomato-based ramen. Now as a primer, most ramen comes from a stock, miso or dashi, so to see a tomato broth instead was strange. I HAD to try this for myself. So he took me to a place called “Taiyo no Tomato-Men” (taiyo-tomato.com Japanese only). They have a really efficient setup!
It was pretty busy and everyone’s faces were right into the heart of the broth getting their grub on. We ordered the tomato ramen with cheese (parmesan being the cheese) plus green onions to add in. I thought a little garlic would be a nice touch, since in a way, you’re eating a soupy version of a pasta dish, but he advised against it, mostly because the Japanese love their ninniku (garlic) and it probably would be a bit too strong.
We had some kara-age (fried chicken) as well right before, and it was seasoned heavily, something I’d love to replicate for one of my dishes. REALLY good flavor. Then comes the ramen.
This dish is chock full of goodness. Simple ramen noodles with a tomato broth, vegetables and add in some of those scallions on the side, and you have an awesome dish. The tomato broth is quite flavorful, but wasn’t strong enough to give me any gastric issues (I have acid reflux… tomato can be problematic sometimes). There were little bits of chicken in the dish, but they had some skin on it which made it slightly weird, but it tasted fine. My thought on this is that they should add pancetta crisps right on top as an alternate option — it would add that wonderful bacony flavor (God bless bacon!) and the presentation would be slamming. Herman did one better and ordered some rice and turned his remaining broth into an asopao (soupy rice) type of dish. But that’s too much starch in one sitting, even for me.
If remember correctly, the base price for the tomato w/ cheese ramen was 800 yen and the extras are 100 yen a piece. Not bad for a somewhat unusual creation of ramen. Apparently, you can also purchase the ramen in the store to buy for 430 yen; I might even be able to get it back home @ Sunrise Mart or somewhere like that.
If you’ve never had it, it’s worth a shot. 
I wonder what in the world I’ll be eating today? Cause you know it’s all about the food…
Wow, I like tomatoes especially used in soup such as egg and tomatoe soup, cabbage and tomatoe soup among others. This is the first time I hear of ramen in tomatoe soup but would not have the chance to try it unless I go to Tokyo or find one outside the city. Maybe in Fukuoka which I visit frequently. Thanks for sharing…..yummy ramen.