The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Today, we come to the end of this Meet The Manufacturer series of Thien Huong products. I want to thank John and C&T Produce Wholesale for sending over the samples and participating in this, the first ever Vietnamese spotlight series. Now, let’s give this beef variety a try and wrap things up.
I thought it fitting to start things off with probably the variety most familiar to people – pho, and in particular, pho bo. There are a ton of pho restaurants nearby me – haven’t been in a while and as I type this in after reviewing this one, I’m thinking I need to visit one. It’s been too long! Unfortunately, no restaurants open at this point – luckily, I’ve got a series of Vietnamese varieties to review! Let’s check this one out!
This sounds really good – and spicy! It mentions using different amount of spice sachets to increase or decrease the heat. I’m hoping this is a real barn burner! Let’s find out.
I first tried Baixiang noodles a few years ago when I found the little elephant’s brand up in Richmond, BC on one of our early visits before it became a regular thing to do.
Tis time for beef on the trolley! I never found out anything really as per why these are called trolley noodles, but hopefully will at some point. Let’s give them a try.
Here’s the second of the Boys & Girls varieties I’ve found up in Canada. The first was a tomato and egg one which was truly excellent. Let’s see is a spicy beef will follow suit.
This one is the first I’m reviewing from a ship that Nongshim America was kind enough to send – thank you! I should mention that James from Lakeside California sent one of these – thanks everyone! So from the little word-cloud above the name Soo, I’m guessing perhaps that the word Soo means excellent? I looked it up and it can (as a family name) mean water or shore/riverbank. I’m going to guess water will be the logical one here since these are air-dried noodles and not fried. That has a nice little logic to it, at least in my head. Let’s give them a try.
So Canada… It had been a while since we headed up to Canada. But finally, we had the chance to go! Went and got some groceries and hit an Asian market and found these and a couple other ones. I’ve never seen a variety claiming to be ‘slightly spicy.’ The noodles are in a clear container. It looks really fascinating!
Ah ha! I knew I had more of these bowls! I walk by this every time I go to 99 Ranch Market but I don’t buy more because I swore I already bought all of them. Well, here’s another one. Bowl is a little dented (okay, a lot dented) but it’s fine. Let’s give it a try!
Well, here we go!I did a Meet The Manufacturer with Mr Lee’s a couple of years ago, and now they’re going to be producing in the USA! Sounds like starting May 2020 their products will be available (and also made) here as well as in the UK. They’ll be available on Amazon and I’ll do reviews of the Us made versions when they become available. This one’s only 218 calories! Not only that, this is one of the few manufacturers that use freeze dried rather than dehydrated bits. Let’s check it out!
Good morning! I’m getting this post ready at 2am. I actually shot the pictures around 1am. Did 18 miles of walking yesterday and so when my buddy Matt decided to play with his Google Nest device and call me at 11:50pm and wake me up and alerted me to a bad leg cramp about o catch fire I ended up staying up. I’ll sleep tonight… Anyways, yeah – been a while since some pho – fingers crossed. Let’s give it a go!
These are made in Hong Kong for the US market. I found a myriad of cup varieties at 99 Ranch Market recently. These also are complimented by a full line of pack versions, but I’ve reviewed most of those over time from varieties sent by a reader back east.
Okay so yes – these are mad ein South Korea. They’re made for the French market though. I recently reviewed the spicy flavor variety and made this one in the past and shared with daughter Miriam and really liked it as well. Let’s crack it open and give it a go!
Here’s another one of these bowls I picked up at 99 Ranch Market. There’s still a couple more to go too! Let’s give it a go.
Okay so this one should be interesting. The last one I had from this company was alright. Taiwanese beef noodle is kind of a big deal over in Taiwan. Curious how this one will be. Let’s find out.
It’s like a parallel universe! Where am I?! WHO CAN EXPLAIN THIS??
Okay so what’s the problem? This is from Hong Kong. It says flavor not flavour. I don’t understand.
So this is an export variety from the company that brought you the fire noodle. I’m not exactly sure why the Hawaiian theme, but that’s kind of cool. Let’s give it a try!
Today, tomorrow, and the next day, I’m going to be reviewing three varieties brought to me from Israel by my brother Moshe. I didn’t know I had a brother until I took an Ancestry DNA kit my wife got for me (I was kind of hoping I might be 1% Asian descent, but that was most certainly not the case). Well, I got to see him for the second time in person yesterday, and this visit, our mother came and visited with him as well – something we never had expected. He was adopted in 1955 and my sister and I didn’t know anything about it – so this is a big deal for us!
Here’s another one of these bowls found at 99 Ranch Market. I like how they’re bringing new varieties in – I go to this store almost weekly.
I’ve honestl been hoping to find this one for a long time – and I finally did up in Richmond, BC at the HMart in Aberdeen Centre. I was getting the stuff to do the Shin Ramen Prison Burrito! Anyways, Gomtang is a horse of a different color in the realm of Korean instant noodle soups. It’s never spicy (although a spicy Gomtang sounds kind of neat). It’s a kind of creamy beef soup – stick to your ribsy and comforty. Good stuff! Let’s give Nongshim’s offering a try!
We has the other new spicy one the other day – the Fire Bowl. Looks like it’s going to be another mukbang! Let’s check this yakisoba out!
Here’s another one the folks at Maruchan were kind enough to send over – thanks! This is a late comer to the ultra spicy category – at least it looks like that. I’m very curious as to how spicy it is exactly though; I’m guessing it won’t throw me down and kick me, but I could be wrong – time to find out.
Continuing the reviews of this new range from Nissin USA, we have the Teriyaki Beef variety of the Stir Fry range. Sounds good to me; Nissin’s take on teriyaki beef has been enjoyable in the past. I saw a comment a day or two ago from someone hoping that they’d be good (specifically this one). So, I figured if someone wants to get my take on it, I’ll expedite it, and here we are. Let’s give ‘er a go!
Hey awesome! New domestic product!!! It’s not every day that a new product that’s instant noodle related comes out here in the United States, and when it does I’m always very keen to give them a try. I’m very curious about this one, which is part of a range of three new varieties under the Cup Noodles hood.
I’m so curious how this is going to go. Most of the Nissin Mexico varieties tend to have a local spin as far as flavor goes. Will this one? I don’t know.
I was visiting a prominent spot in the local Safeway supermarket which I walk to almost daily. That area would be the endcap where the mung bean sprouts are located. I noticed this and another bowl I hadn’t really noticed before sitting there and though what the heck I’ll give it a try.
Hey look – another one found at the Real Canadian Superstore up in Richmond, BC! It’s been over a month since we visited our wonderful northern neighbors. I really like Canada. It’s like a totally different country! Hoping next time we go we leave early enough to go to some shopping then head over to Stanley park. That place is neat – a beautiful park in Vancouver. Anyways, yeah – I like Canada! Let’s give this beefy beff a try.
After years of searching, here we are. Where are we and what is this? This is a pack of instant noodles that is only for inmates in correctional facilities – prisons. I found them on eBay and asked fans on the Facebook page if they would be interested in purchasing them (it was a pack of 24 and I only needed a couple) and send me a couple. A fellow named Nick Bizarro was kind enough to take up the task, and thanks to him, here we are.
Almost 3000 reviews ago I gave this one a try. It looks as though I really liked it. It’s been such a long time it’s getting a new number- mainly because I’m going to guess that sourcing has changed at least soewhat and also the cup is different; it used to be a foam bowl.
This is a big and somewhat heavy bowl from Taiwan. I’ve reviewed the version not made for export (this one usually goes to Hong Kong). What was funny about this one is that I found it up in Canada at a store in Aberdeen Centre – defintely not where this belongs. It’s full of beef and import restrictions would bar it from Canada. What a nice surprise! Let’s check out this one with Australian and New Zealand beef!
A huge thanks to MLats for shooting this over! Love it when readers come through with varieties I’ve never gotten the chance to try and really want to.
Found this at Dollarama, a dollar store up in Canada. A cup of beef. See the little microwave icon on the lower right? We don’t have a microwave currently. Our old one was 20 years old, give or take a year and I though ‘hey – we should get a new one.’ It seemed to be cooking things inconsistently so we went and ordered a new one. It was all screwed up so we returned it last night. Found another one which was really neat! Got it home, lugged it in, opened it up to see this –
Another one from my trips to Chin World up in Richmond, BC. Remember kids, if you’re coming from the states, bring your Canadian cash because they’re not going to take your cards or exchange your greenbacks for ya! Really interested in how this one’s going to be – last one I tried wasn’t too shabby from this brand so let’s take a look!
I reviewed the red boxed version previously – and it blew my mind. This one has ultra fancy Australian Wagyu beef in the mix! Yeah! One thing you should note though, you’re going to pay for it. This is super premium stuff and goes for 499$NTD (that’s $15USD). On top of that, this is only out during the holiday season, so Lunar New Year. Maybe Mid Autumn Festival too? I’ll say one thing, if it’s that much better than the other version, it’s going to be existential. Let’s check it out!
So here’s the second of the POP varieties I’ve seen. This one however is one I found at HMart up in Richmond, BC. Why’s it called Pot Or Pan? Well, you can make it as a broth version and a dry noodle version. Interesting! Let’s check it out!
This one’s very interesting. This is from Taiwan but for the Hong Kong Market. Found it up in Canada at Aberdeen Centre at a little gift shop full of Hello Kitty and other stuffed animals in the back – it’s near the food court.
I’ve reviewed this in the past, but this one has new packaging and so gets a new number. I dunno – could have a new recipe too. Many companies are making subtle below the radar changes on their domestic product lines including lowering sodium. It’s kind of funny; people complain about the amount of sodium in instant noodles, but when presented a lower sodium product that exclaims the feature, they’ll shy away with thoughts of blandness. It just goes to show people are kind of conflicted. Okay, not kind of.
This one was found up in Richmond, BC at the SuperStore. What’s funny about this one? Well, it shows chopsticks on the cup and has a fork inside. I’ve been given a ration of insults and criticism for using a fork. I really don’t understand why; I mean, here’s an Asian variety with a fork. I think it’s common for Westerners to immediately go to ‘Asian people use chopsticks and if you use them wrong you suck’ kind of thing. My logic is that if I’m in Asia, I’ll use a pair of chopsticks. In Thailamd they use a fork to push food onto a spoon and then eat it, so I did that while there. It really doesn’t matter what tool you decide to use, it’s about eating a meal, right?
Here’s one I found up in Canada at Aberdeen Centre in a shop that was rife with Hello Kitty plushies and exotic candies and snacks next to the food court – I want to say it was called something like Paint Box or Art Box. This one was a nice surprise as it’s been tough to find Doll Brand varieties other than their export pack versions around here. I reall would love to do a Meet The Manufacturer series with Doll, so if you’re listening, please contact me! Let’s check out this Beef & Satay variety from Hong Kong!
Here’s one of the last ones sent by a Taiwanese university student who has probably graduated by now – thanks again and good luck! This is a really big box – let’s check it out!
