Author: Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

Nakama Noodles Unboxing – September 2024 + Coupon Code

Today, I’m unboxing MiauMall’s Nakama Noodles box. You can get their monthly selection of 8-10 varieties – and this box they sent was full of varieties I’ve never reviewed before, plus they include PACKS!!!  I’ll be doing unboxings for them and have a coupon code you can use – THERAMENRATER (of course)! Watch the video below – you’ll see why I’m excited. ...see full post

#4963: Omachi Instant Noodles Beef Flavor – Vietnam

#4963: Omachi Instant Noodles Beef Flavor - Vietnam

It’s Saturday and we hit up some places. I just realized I should’ve grabbed some beefballs. Beefballs? Yeah – they have them at a local Asian grocery. They’re definitely with other Vietnamese items in the cooler. I’m going to use Chinese sausage for this onbe – I’ve been using it lately in beef varieties instead of beef. I dunno – using Chinese sausage is fun I think as it’s so tasty. Anyways, let’s cook this one up. ...see full post

#4962: Myojo Charumera Miso Ramen – Japan

#4962: Myojo Charumera Miso Ramen - Japan

 Here’s a variety that I found in one of MiauMall’s Nakama Noodles subscription boxes! Inside, they have 8-10 different varieties from Japan! If you’d like to get one, don’t forget to use the coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount! Let’s see what they had to say about this one – “We’re staying in Hokkaido for one more entry with a tasty bowl of miso ramen in Sapporo. This miso  ramen is full of umami with its nutty miso soup with a hint of savory scallop dashi. This ramen has a full body that will keep you warm even in Hokkaido’s cold winters!” ...see full post

#4960: Maruchan Yakisoba Teriyaki Chicken Flavor Japanese Home Style Noodles – United States

I realized that to have my complete Definitive Guide I needed this one I hadn’t reviewed. Tried the local store. Nope. Tried a Dollar Tree. Not this one but a different one I wanted to redo. A couple days later, I decided to try the local store again. Found it! So that rounds out the currently available varieties. Completion is good for the soul. Let’s cook it up – I know I really like the teriyaki beef, so let’s give this a try. ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Malaysian Instant Noodles Of All Time 2025 Edition

The Ramen Rater's Top Ten Malaysian Instant Noodles Of All Time 2025 Edition

Time for another top ten! This time, I cast my gaze towards Malaysia; a place where strong flavors and fascinating varieties are born. Curries, seafood variants and more abound. I’m always very interested in new varieties from Malaysia and invite companies to please contact me regarding their new products! Let’s delve into the best of the best – this is The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Malaysian Instant Noodles Of All Time 2025 Edition. ...see full post

#4957: Nissin Bokkeum-myeon Korean Sweet & Spicy Cheese Yakisoba – Japan

#4957: Nissin Bokkeum-myeon Korean Sweet & Spicy Cheese Yakisoba - Japan

Here’s a variety that I found in one of MiauMall’s Nakama Noodles subscription boxes! Inside, they have 8-10 different varieties from Japan! If you’d like to get one, don’t forget to use the coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount! Let’s see what they had to say about this one – “Next, let’s head over to Osaka’s Koreatown for some delicious yakisoba. This yakisoba is a Nissin collab with the Korean Hot Chicken Flavor Ramen. It features a delicious sweet and spicy feel like yangnyeom chicken and a downright addictive cheddar and gouda cheese flavor.” ...see full post

#4956: JML Big Soup! Big Taste! Artificial Stewed Beef Flavor – China

#4956: JML Big Soup! Big Taste! Artificial Stewed Beef Flavor - China

Okay so here’s another really huge multipack. If you want a ton of noodles and soup, this is the ticket for your. I’ve seen these many, many times, but for my birthday, my lovely wife Kit took me to a few Asian grocery stores and told me to go crazy – and I did. I went from having two varieties to having a slew – thank you, Kit! ...see full post

#4954: Maruchan Yakisoba Korean BBQ Flavor Japanese Home Style Noodles – United States

#5102: Maruchan Yakisoba Korean BBQ Flavor Japanese Home Style Noodles - United States

Here’s one I thought I ought to revisit. I got a couple boxes of samples from the kind folks over at Maruchan recently and this was in there. I wasn’t going to review it again, but my daughter Mimi asked to try it the other day. It smelled really nice, so I figured let’s give it a go. I really love Korean BBQ – some of the best meals I’ve had have been at a now gone Korean BBQ place called Secret Garden. The banchan was great, the servers were super kind, and usually in the back at the bar people were doing karaoke. It was fascinating and nice little cultural microcosm. Anyways, let’s cook this up and give it a go.

Maruchan Yakisoba Korean BBQ Flavor Japanese Home Style Noodles – United States

#5102: Maruchan Yakisoba Korean BBQ Flavor Japanese Home Style Noodles - United States

Detail of the packaging (click to enlarge). Contains beef. To prepare, add room temp water to line and clear sachet contents. Microwave for 4 minutes at 1000W. Add powder base. Finally, stir and enjoy! ...see full post

#4953: Maruchan Yakisoba Chicken Flavor Japanese Home Style Noodles – United States

#5101: Maruchan Yakisoba Chicken Flavor Japanese Home Style Noodles - United States

Wow it sure has been awhile – repackaging and over 14 years! I thought hey – I’m planning on doing a Definitive Guide to these, why not revisit chicken. My last sampling was review #215. There’s something about these trays that drives me nuts. Now, they’re not designed with the thought that there’s a guy somewhere will be scanning the bottom of the tray. Well, this guy here does and it’s horror. They’re shrink wrap, so they dont want to lay flat and fold over, etc. They also get tons of reflective glare. Anyways, yeah. But whaddaya do. Best ya can. Let’s cook it up! ...see full post

#4952: Maruchan Yakisoba Cheddar Cheese Flavor – United States

#5083: Maruchan Yakisoba Cheddar Cheese Flavor - United States

It was 2011. Nobody’d heard of COVID?. Everything was somewhat peaceful as far as I remember. 13 years ago. That was the last time I’d tried this one. There are a ton of these Yakisoba varieties – some are no longer made – the taco one was my 1000th review. Four Cheese, Tomato & Basil, Sweet * Sour – if you want to see them all here you go. But today, it’s cheese! Let’s cook it up. ...see full post

#4950: Mamee Chef Curry Laksa Flavour – Malaysia

#4950: Mamee Chef Curry Laksa Flavour - Malaysia

When I saw this one at HMart I was very enthused. I did review this or a similar version recently, but the packaging has changed so maybe there’s a little different stuff going on. I’m a big fan of curry laksa – and this one generally is quite wonderful. This review is also a marker for something coming up – I’m only 50 reviews away from #5000. I’m still at a point of ‘what the heck will #5000 be? I feel like I should do something wonderful; return to my roots. Well, until then I will continue on my path through the world of instant noodles. Let’s go! ...see full post

#4947: Mi Sedaap Style Of Singapore Spicy Laksa – Indonesia

#4947: Mi Sedaap Style Of Singapore Spicy Laksa - Indonesia

Happy birthday to me! This one looked really neat and what’s crazy is I found it locally at S*Mart. I visit that place once a year usually and find a ton of great stuff I’ve never seen before. I even got some mint for garnish on this one. I wanted to get a mint plant and a basil plant yesterday at the fruit stand, but it’s still too early – they didn’t have any. I mean, it is still winter here. Regardless, let’s cook! ...see full post

#4946: Nissin Demae Ramen Aka Tonkotsu Flavor – Hong Kong

#4946: Nissin Demae Ramen Aka Tonkotsu Flavor - Hong Kong

Back in 2017, I got to try this one. It’s interesting to find here in the states now, and has some differences. I’m guessing it’s still made in Hong Kong, however there are a couple of differences. Back then it was aka tonkotsu flavour – now the ‘u’ is dropped. Sachets look different as well. Today’s my birthday, so I picked three to review that I thought would be fun to do out of my stash. So, the last review, this one, and the next one are ones I’m doing today. Let’s cook it up! ...see full post

Maruchan Ramen x Funyuns Onion Flavored Rings Collaboration Snacks

Maruchan Ramen x Funyuns Onion Flavored Rings Collaboration Snacks

If you’ve thought ‘hey I wonder what a Funyuns and Maruchan Instant Lunch had a baby, what would it taste like?’ then you’re a very strange individual. But that’s what we have here. Granted, these aren’t the product of some strange snack mating ritual, but hey it’s a snack nonetheless. I’ve seen them just about everywhere lately. I’ve also seen people’s thoughts on them, ranging from dislike to completely evangelism. Well, here’s an unboxing time of the product accompanied by a taste test. Thank you to @officialfunyuns and Maruchan  for scooting this my way! ...see full post

#4935: Vifon Asian Style Instant Rice Noodles “Phnom Penh” Style – Vietnam

#4935: Vifon Asian Style Instant Rice Noodles "Phnom Penh" Style - Vietnam

Found this one at Evergreen Asian Market in Everett, Washington. I found quite a few Vietnamese varieties there I looked up in my archives, found a bowl version of this which was my fifth review. Those early early reviews are definitely out of order, but it was definitely one of the first 30 I tried back in 2002-2003. Well, let’s give this one a try. ...see full post

Nakama Noodles Unboxing – August 2024 + Coupon Code

Today, I’m unboxing MiauMall’s Nakama Noodles box. You can get their monthly selection of 8-10 varieties – and this box they sent was full of varieties I’ve never reviewed before, plus they include PACKS!!!  I’ll be doing unboxings for them and have a coupon code you can use – THERAMENRATER (of course)! Watch the video below – you’ll see why I’m excited. ...see full post

#4932: Omachi Instant Noodles With Tomato Sauce – Vietnam

#4932: Omachi Instant Noodles With Tomato Sauce - Vietnam

Here’s one I found over at Evergreen Asian Market in Everett, WA! I’ve had this many years ago and never simply found it in the ‘wild.’ My buddy Stumpy, who now resides in North Little Rock, AR found it for me while living in Everett in 2012.  Here’s that review. Twelve years ago – not The Beforetime, but quite a while ago. Let’s check it out – by the way I found plenty more from this brand today and that was really exciting – been wanting to find stuff from these folks for awhile. ...see full post

#4931: MAMA Oriental Style Instant Noodles Chand Clear Soup – Thailand

#4931: MAMA Oriental Style Instant Noodles Chand Clear Soup - Thailand

Found this one at S*Mart yesterday. I remember a very short time ago a person asked me if I’d review this one again. It’d been a great while, So I just thought I’d look and see how long it had been. The last time I reviewed this is when it was review #35! The date on it is June of 2009! My God! I haven’t reviewed this since The Beforetime. The Beforetime was the time before I met my wife Kit; when the universe was darkness. As I remember, I made the decision that IO wanted to move my website from being like this and transcribing the posts to the blogger platform. Then, I decided to migrate the site over to WordPress.com. I think that this is when I did that – back in 2009. This review could have been done between 2002 and 2009, most likely around 2004 is my guess. But today I’ll try this one again – definitely with much more experience. Let’s give it a try. ...see full post

Mom’s Dry Noodle / Surfmama – Taiwanese Laksa With Fishball!

Mom's Dry Noodle / Surfmama - Taiwanese Laksa With Fishball!

I’ve tried quite a few different varieties from Taiwan and other points around the world. What’s interesting about this one is that it’s a Southeast Asian variety (Malaysia, Singapore) coming from Taiwan. Sounds interesting, especially t  me as a fan of curries and fish ball. Let’s take a look! Big thanks to Kyle over at Mom’s Dry Noodle / Surfmama for sending it my way! ...see full post

#4930: Ottogi Yeul Ramen – South Korea

#4930: Ottogi Yeul Ramen - South Korea

I think I’ve mentioned recently being almost out of instant noodle varieties to review. Well, I went to HMart today. It’s a Monday. That doesn’t usually happen as it’s probably a two hour or more walk each way. Anyways, I went with my wife, the lovely Kit. See, she got a tooth pulled that was giving her trouble on Friday. Then she had to go back because they missed a couple bits on Saturday. It’s been pure hell for her. Today, we went back to the dentist to look – was worried about dry socket (nope) and infection (nope) – but they gave her more meds and other stuff so hoping that helps. Anyways, got to spend the day with her as she works in a call center and talking on the phone all day when you have trouble opening your mouth as it hurts… This is one that should hurt pretty good – I’ve been wanting to do this spicy one for quite a long time. Well, let’s give it a go! ...see full post