A note on the words: shio ramen is ramen in a salt-seasoned broth rather than a soy sauce or miso one; shungiku is garland chrysanthemum, a leafy green with a clean, faintly bitter edge; yaki-ago is grilled flying fish, dried and used to make stock; chashu is the braised pork that tops a bowl; shime is the closing dish of a night of drinking, usually ramen or rice; aji-hen means changing the flavor partway through a bowl by stirring in a condiment. Honmaru and Akamaru are the shop’s own names for its two main bowls, the Akamaru being the one with spicy meat miso. Prices are as of this writing (August 2026).
More on Yokohama Honmarutei, Shinbashi on Tabelog (English)
I want to eat something good today too. This is Hangover Meshi. Now then: I had been drinking my way around town well into the small hours, and felt like ramen for the first time in a while. Which is how I ended up at Yokohama Honmarutei, Shinbashi. Yokohama Honmarutei is the name you hear for shio ramen. I had no idea there was a branch in Shinbashi. Inside, the counter had room, so I bought a ticket from the machine and went in.
Honmaru shio ra-men 1,100 yen
Akamaru shio ra-men 1,200 yen
Shio tama ra-men 1,200 yen
Ume-dori shio ra-men 1,450 yen
The Akamaru, obviously! After a night of drinking you find yourself wanting a bit of heat.
Right — since this is the shime, the bowl that closes the night (?), a beer ^^
Super Dry!
The snack alongside is steamed chicken dressed with cucumber. This is a good one.
The ramen arrives! Oooh — that looks good.
A mouthful of the broth. Yes, good. A light, clear broth built on chicken bones and yaki-ago. Gentle but deep; after a night of drinking, savor that soaks right in and salt with a defined edge, and above all how easily the broth goes down. Among the toppings it is the shungiku that stands out. That agreeable faint bitterness of shungiku mixes into the broth and gives the flavor its accent — so that is what turns this into a bowl that does not stop at merely gentle. I happen to like shungiku a good deal as a vegetable in the first place, so this is very much my sort of ramen. The chashu is the thick-cut pork belly kind, and its melting fat and toasty savor suit the salt broth well. Mixing it with the wonton and the shungiku is startlingly good.
The noodles are house-made, hand-crimped, medium-thick and wavy.
Springy and chewy, with a firm core here and there, and — house-made as they are — the odd strand of a different thickness slips in, and that variation in texture is part of the fun. And then: it was a shio ramen, and I went and had it with the spicy meat miso in it. This is the point of the thing — the aji-hen, the change of flavor partway through. Stir the spicy meat miso in and the hot red spreads through the broth, and in an instant the gentle salt turns into a savory, spicy punch. You get both faces of it, so it never palls. Perfect company for a can of beer.
That was good!
Ramen in the middle of the night — how long has it been? Thinking about it now I feel thoroughly guilty, but once in a while it must be all right. All told, I thought it a bowl in which gentleness and the attack of the shungiku and the meat miso live side by side. The way the gentle part soaks in and then the miso’s kick comes on in the second half is exactly right for a shime. I can see why it is popular. Recommended!
Yokohama Honmarutei, Shinbashi (Ramen / Shimbashi Station, Shiodome Station, Uchisaiwaicho 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?
