A note on the words: shio ramen is ramen seasoned with salt rather than soy sauce or miso, so the stock is exposed. Ago is flying fish, and yakiago means it has been grilled before being made into dashi, the stock at the base of Japanese cooking. Mazesoba is a bowl of noodles with no soup, mixed with the toppings. Chashu is the braised pork that tops a bowl, menma is fermented bamboo shoot, and ochazuke is rice with tea or broth poured over it, eaten to finish. Kabukicho is Shinjuku’s nightlife district. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
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Yakiago Shio Ramen Takahashi Kabukichou ten on Tabelog (English) — opening hours, payment details and the Japanese address are kept up to date there, not here.
I want to eat something good today too. This is Hangover Meshi. Now then — a bowl of ramen before heading home after drinking in Shinjuku. I know perfectly well I should not stop in, and I cannot stop myself. Late-night ramen. It means I shall have to settle the calorie account somewhere later, but it is well worth it. Tonight’s stop was Yakiago Shio Ramen Takahashi, the Kabukicho branch, inside Kabukicho in Shinjuku.
I really had never been, and shio ramen is a clean thing to have after drinking.
Yakiago mazesoba DX, 1,180 yen
Yakiago shio ramen, 1,000 yen
Special yakiago shio ramen, 1,340 yen
Yakiago shio ramen with the ochazuke set, 1,100 yen
The autumn-only yakiago mazesoba DX. I want it. But it is not a thing to eat in the middle of the night, is it. It looks as though you can add whatever toppings you like, and garlic and onion and back fat would surely be good. Well, this time I decided to close the night solemnly with the yakiago shio ramen. The sign said the ochazuke set is a Takahashi specialty, but I think I shall pass on the ochazuke.
To start, you get a small taste of the ago dashi broth on its own.
Ah. That is good after a night of drinking.
Ago dashi shio ramen. A lovely smell.
The instant you sip the broth you groan at how three-dimensional the savor is. Comparing it with the plain ago dashi they gave me a moment ago makes it obvious.
The broth is a clear golden color. It is built on a dashi taken from yakiago — that is, flying fish — carefully grilled first. It is faintly sweet at the start, and then the salt comes through with a slow edge. The scent of the sea drifts up through your nose and yet it is not the least bit cloying. It feels more like a clear broth that somehow has body, and the layers of savor open up the more of it you drink.
The noodles are medium-thin and straight, the sort that snap cleanly and carry the broth up well. The fragrance of the grilled flying fish and the smell of the wheat mix with every bite, and the balance is perfect. The chashu is pork shoulder loin, of the moist kind. There is no heaviness of fat to it, so it does not get in the way of a delicate dashi. The menma and the shredded white scallion have good texture too, and the whole thing holds together elegantly.
I ordered extra scallion, and extra scallion is good.
Yes — with a broth like this, finishing as ochazuke would surely be superb. A very complete bowl of ramen.
A closing bowl of ramen is the best. The calories I have taken on can be burned off somehow later. So: ago dashi shio ramen, a bowl that competes on stock rather than on flash, and just the thing after drinking. Do stop in after a night out in Kabukicho.
Yakiago Shio Ramen Takahashi Kabukichou ten (Ramen / Seibu Shinjuku Station, Shinjuku Nishiguchi Station, Higashi Shinjuku Station)
Tabelog dinner rating ★★★☆☆ 3.5
I ate here and paid for it myself. Nothing on this site is a comped meal.
One more for the road?
