TOMO — Restaurant in Tokyo

This is a counter seating ramen shop meant for quick meals while you’re on the go. You order and pay from a tablet when you enter which has multiple languages available, once you get your meal tickets you find a seat and hand the ticket to the chef behind the counter. We waited about 10 minutes to get our ramen. Each ramen also comes with a unique sauce or seasoning depending on the ramen you order that can help change the flavor so you don’t get bored.

The Tsukemen I ordered cold because I wanted to cool down from the summer heat was really flavorful and delicious, the dipping broth was rich and thick and had pieces of chasu and chicken balls in it and it wasn’t overly salty. The noodles had a good texture and the slices of chasu were really flavorful.

The Flying fish shoyu ramen to me was unique because I never tasted this kind of ramen broth before. It had a clean fish flavor mixed with the mellow shoyu flavor it was a good combination. The chasu had a good fat to meat ratio and the eggs were a beautiful sunset color with the yolk a little coagulated. The fan of seaweed and vegetables they add to the bowl add a...

Ramen Tomo is located in one of the less busy parts of Akasaka, just a stone’s throw away from the Akasaka 2-chome police box. However, if you’re in the mood for ramen in the Akasaka area, this is probably your best bet. It is the second highest rated ramen restaurant on Tabelog, the highest being Kisurin. Tomo’s claim to fame is a rich soup based on ago dashi (broth extracted from dried flying fish) flavored with soy sauce. The “special” (特製) ago dashi ramen comes with generous toppings of flame broiled chashu, menma, dried roasted seaweed and a half boiled egg.

Also on the menu is an equally luxurious salt flavored paitan (chicken based) soup for those who aren’t a fan of strong seafood based soups. Instead of chashu, the paitan ramen comes with tender and juicy chicken meatballs. The soup is thick, rich and deeply flavorful. In my opinion, you can’t go wrong with either option. Tomo offers both regular ramen and tsukemen options.

Expect long lines...

This was our favourite ramen in all of our Japan trip and maybe ever. Now maybe it had to do with the fact that it was raining, we were hungry, and our previously saved dinner location was closed - but this just hit the spot like no other ramen has.

There are only maybe 10 seats but people are in and out quite quickly. The ordering is easy on the machine and it takes card payments. If you look like you're struggling, someone will come help you. Both our ramen were the perfect amount of salty with firm noodles.

We went to a Michelin Guide ramen place in Osaka after this, and both of us just kept saying "but it's not as good as that ramen in Tokyo..."

I hope you have as good of a...