Author: Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Philippines Instant Noodles Of All Time 2018 Edition

The Ramen Rater's Top Ten Philippines Instant Noodles Of All Time 2018 Edition

As I mentioned at the begginning of the Top Ten Japanese list, I have added a little chat option to the site. If I’m available, I can turn it on on my phone and people can ask me questions or comment while they browse the website. Thus far, the most questions and comments are from the Philippines. I thought hey – why isn’t there a top ten Philippines list? I haven’t reviewed many from the Philippines lately and I kind of hope companies in the Philippines that make instant noodles might be interested in having me review their products – if so, please contact me. I would love to do an annual list for the Philippines, however without more reviews, there’s not a whole lot of reason to do so. So let’s have a look! These are my favorite Filipino varieties from the over 2,500 reviews I’ve posted to date. ...see full post

#2711: Acecook Hakodate Shio Shrimp Ramen

#2711: Acecook Hakodate Shio Shrimp Ramen

Found this one at Osaka market up in Richmond, BC. We’ve been going on little day trips to Canada a lot lately and it’s a lot of fun! At this market, we go infrequently enough that they have some neat new stuff every time. They’ve got a special section by the hot food area that has special instant noodles. They’re almost all from Japan and usually on the pricy side. I want to thank Ryuuichirou Arai for helping me with the translation. Here’s a little about shio from Wikipedia – ...see full post

#2709: KOKA Signature Black Pepper Fried Noodles

#2709: KOKA Signature Black Pepper Fried Noodles - Singapore - Tat Hui - The Ramen Rater

Well, I thought I was out of KOKA varieties to review and only had a couple duplicates but nope – nada – still got more! See, there are KOKA Signature and KOKA Delight which both look about the same and often have the same flavors. What’s the difference? Well, KOKA Delight is baked noodles – not fried. So I’ve still got a few varieties left. This one is a black pepper flavor noodle – without broth. Black pepper is an interesting thing – very historic as well. Let’s see if I can find something from Wikipedia – ...see full post

#2705: Ichiran Ramen Curly Noodles including Original Red Dry Sauce【Only in Fukuoka】

#2805: Ichiran Ramen Curly Noodles including Original Red Dry Sauce【Only in Fukuoka】

So a couple months ago I read an article mentioning this high end fancy instant ramen. Having never seen nor heard of it, I thought I’d better investigate. I mean, how can I be The Ramen Rater if I’m not going to hop on board for something like this? I got some eBay gift cards for Christmas and thought I’d seek this one out. ...see full post

#2704: Maggi Cuppa Chilly Chow

#2704: Maggi Cuppa Chilly Chow

Found this one down in Pleasanton, California during our road trip to visit family in August. Boy – that was a journey! We took Miles (almost 2 years old) and Miri (8 months old). I can say that car seats would be comfy I think but if I were that age I sure wouldn’t want to sit in one for that long – I think the way down was 18 hours and we broke the drive back into two chunks – I think altogether that was about 24 hours with all the stops. ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Japanese Instant Noodles Of All Time 2018 Edition

Recently, I added a chat feature to The Ramen Rater, allowing readers to comment and ask me questions directly. It’s been very eye-opening; great to hear about why people are here and what they’re interested in seeing. One thing I have been asked repeatedly is ‘when will there be an update to the Japan list?’ Well, I heard you. The last list came out in 2014. I’ve been reviewing a LOT of Japanese varieties lately, and it looks like there will be an influx of Japanese varieties for the foreseeable future crossing my desk. This most likely will be an annual list from now on. With that being said I should also mention that with the huge amount of varieties that are released annually in Japan, many are discontinued. While this is the ‘of all time list,’ spanning all my reviews, I try to make sure that what is on it is available. This is very hard with Japanese varieties. Finally, I should mention also that if you’re an instant noodle manufacturer from Japan or elsewhere for that matter and you’d like me to review your products, I encourage you to use the contact form and drop me a line. That being said, let’s take a look at this new list, encompassing my favorite and most memorable reviews from the over 2,500 reviews I’ve done to date. ...see full post

Unboxing Time: Kanto Ramen Shop Set From Ippin

Unboxing Time: Kanto Ramen Shop Set From Ippin

Today we have a special set of fancy ramen. I was asked by IIppin to pick five things to check out from their store to show everyone. Ippin is an online retailer of very fancy Japanese things.  Thanks! This set looked like a good bet. The package arrived from Japan yesterday. Busy day yesterday was – this and two other videos to record. Let’s have a look inside! ...see full post

#2702: Chuanbei Sichuan Yibin Style Spicy Noodles

#2702: Chuanbei Sichuan Yibin Style Spicy Noodles 川北凉粉,小新拌面,宜宾燃面味,中华老字号

Firstly, thanks to Bobby Y. with help on this variety’s translation! So I found this one up in Canada at a big Asian supermarket a month or so ago. It was at the height of pre-mid-Autumn festival, and mooncakes were in full force. I mean, this place had the biggest display of mooncake I’ve ever seen – even had special display mooncakes that were at least 2 feet across and! ...see full post

Unboxing Time: Isoyama Shoiji ’18 Prohibited’ At Hobby Link Japan

Unboxing Time: Isoyama Shoiji '18 Prohibited' At Hobby Link Japan

Many of you will remember the rematch video I did. I tried the ultra spicy Isoyama Shoji 18 Prohibited instant ramen from Japan. It’s one I haven’t been able to conquer and just seriously spicy. I mean, this stuff just throws down and takes no prisoners! Let’s open this box and look within – not only at the instant noodles, but some other products by Isoyama Shoji. ...see full post

#2700: Vedan Jhen Mian Tang Spicy Hot Noodle

#2700: Vedan Jhen Mian Tang Spicy Hot Noodle - Taiwan - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles

NOTE: At the bottom, there is a kind of documentary about how I review instant noodles – from picking the variety to photography, editing, research, cooking and reviewing. Hope you enjoy it!

So here’s one I found while coming back from our big family drive to California this summer. I found it in the Beaverton Uwajimaya actually. I got about 10 varieties or so there during our pit stop on the way home. ...see full post

#2698: Nissin Cup Noodles Chilli Crab Flavour (More Crabtastic)

#2698: Nissin Cup Noodles Chilli Crab Flavour (More Crabtastic)

Today it’s a new reformulation Cup Noodles from Singapore. Nissin Singapore looks to have done newly formulated versions of pretty much all their Cup Noodles over there and they sound really good. I mean, more crabtastic chilli crab – can’t shrug that off.  For those of you who haven’t tried Chilli Crab – here’s a little from Wikipedia – ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten South Korean Instant Noodles Of All Time 2018 Edition

UPDATE: Here’s the new 2019 List!

Top Ten South Korean Instant Noodles

Kicking off Top Ten List season, I bring you the South Korean Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time for 2018. I looked at how many varieties from South Korea I’ve reviewed to date and got 326 so far. South Korean varieties continue to evolve and innovate in different ways in order to satisfy the changing needs and tastes of the consumer – definitely keeps things interesting. As always, I ask any companies, whether in South Korea or elsewhere – that would like me to review their products to send me an email! I am happy to talk to you!  Without further delay, let’s have a look at the Top Ten South Korean Instant Noodles list for 2018 – the best South Korean varieties available out of the over 360 South Korean varieties from the over 2,500 varieties of instant noodles I’ve reviewed thus far. ...see full post

#2697: Maruchan Bowl Taste Of Asia Hot & Spicy Kimchi Ramen Ramen Noodle Soup

#2697: Maruchan Taste Of Asia Hot & Spicy Kimchi Ramen Ramen Noodle Soup

So this is one that the company sent to me – thanks! So this is one of the new Taste Of Asia series, a range that has some really great varieties. I really liked the Sukiyaki Beef from their first three kinds and then they came out with this one and also a Tom Yum which I would say is my favorite so far. ...see full post

#2695: GGE Ramen Snack BBQ Cube

#2695: GGE Ramen Snack BBQ Cube

It’s snack time! So today we have a ramen snack from Taiwan. There a whole slew of different flavors and varieties – and shapes for that matter of these products. The first thing I do notice about these is that they’re called cubes, however, they look more like short cylinders to me. This being the case, it begs the question ‘doesn’t a crunchy cylinder sound good?’ I think they went with the right name, to be honest; BBQ Cubes sounds better than BBQ Cylinders. Let’s have a look. ...see full post

#2694: Nissin Cup Noodles Batchoy Flavor

#2694: Nissin Cup Noodles Batchoy Flavor

Found these while up in Canada. So my wife found a show a while back called 90 Day Fiancee where two people either meet online or when one is on vacation in a foreign country and think they want to be married. It then follows their process of getting a visa to spend 90 days in the United States and then whether they indeed are married or not. There’s a new show called Before The 90 Days before a proposal has been made. So on this show, we were watching and they follow a man who goes to the Philippines and meets a girl he’s been talking to online. Well, she picks him up at the airport and the next day brings him to her family’s home and they put on a big spread and cook up Lechon. Lechon is a roast pig, turned over a fire pit for hours and hours that’s been stuffed with chicken and vegetables like spring onion.  Long story short, her family is far from wealthy and they came together to make this big feast and he turns his nose up at it. ...see full post

#2689: Maruchan Instant Lunch Udon Style Soy Sauce Flavor Ramen Noodle Soup

#2689: Maruchan Instant Lunch Udon Style Soy Sauce Flavor Ramen Noodle Soup

Well, this is something completely different. Definitely a departure from their usual line . Maruchan’s Instant Lunch range is very popular in the United States. The flavors are generally in the domestic flavor profiles ranging from your standard chicken to California Vegetable to Cheddar Cheese. ...see full post

#2688: KOKA Silk Laksa Singapura Instant Rice Fettuccine

#2688: KOKA Silk Laksa Singapura Instant Rice Fettuccine - The Ramen Rater - Singapore

Yet another leftover from the KOKA Meet The Manufacturer series. I’ve still got a bunch more! Wow! So this one should be really great – I love KOKA’s Laksa Singapura every time I try a different version. They make it in quite a few – rice, wheat, fried, non-fried. Let’s crack into this bowl and see what’s within. ...see full post