The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Well I’d first like to say Happy Holidays to everyone who reads the blog and follows it. Second, this will be the last post for a couple days. Why? Because we’re off to the hospital to have our baby girl today! It’ll be a day or two for new posts to start up, – don’t worry there will be picture 🙂
I like to collect posters and advertising stuff dealing with instant noodles and really wanted one of the new CarJEN posters featuring their new Hot Curry – so they were kind enough to send some! Thanks! Let’s check them out among the other neat stuff they sent!
Just wanted to let everyone know – when you go to Amazon and do any shopping during the holidays (actually, any time of year) and use this link, The Ramen Rater gets a referral bonus! When you click the link, it brings you straight to Amazon – but if you look, the link will have a little mention in it of ‘theramrat’ (short for The Ramen Rater). It helps a lot and I appreciate those who already do – thanks! Bookmark the link now!
Woke up at the Silks Place hotel and had some breakfast. Then we were off to the Tainan rail station. We said goodbye to Darren there and then goodbye to Perry who had to head back to Taipei as he was off to travel on business the next day. The rail stations were really fascinating; almost like a mall to themselves! Tons of people, but everything seems to work very logically. We took the train from Tainan to Taichung where three more noodle factories were to explore! Met Jason, Erickk and Paul and went out for lunch at a hot pot restaurant. Got to try plum drink – kind of tasted like American barbecue sauce to be honest, but went very well with the Taiwanese beef. Was an enjoyable meal for all and then we were off to visit three noodle factories. These factories are all part of a company called Hung Guang.
A couple of months ago, I was invited by Kyle Kao of Mom’s Dry Noodle – a company in Taiwan – to visit and check out their operation. Just like last time I traveled (last May to Thailand), my wife is pregnant and the trip would happen when she was too far along. Again, just like last time, she said it was alright to go and I was accompanied by my sister Sue. Like many of you know, I can’t see very well so I need a little help when travelling. In the following posts, I will chronicle everything we saw and did while there. Thank you so much to Kyle for extending this invitation, as well as to Perry, James and everyone else we met there – You made us feel welcome and we had an amazing time! I hope you all enjoy the posts!
A reader named Colin has again sent another big box of instant noodles – thank you so much! He’s sent two others that have been absolutely awesome – lots of kinds I’ve never seen! Let’s see what’s in here!
I got an email last week from a company that sells all sorts of neat Japanese stuff – Ippin! A marketer named Lee contacted me! There’s Ippin for the United States and Ippin for Singapore. Let’s see what Lee put in this neat package from Japan!
Okay so I live in a small town in between a lot of bigger ones called Kenmore. We get a LOT of power outages here, and it looks like we’re probably going to have one tonight! Remnants of typhoon Songda shot out of the south pacific and made a beeline right for western Washington state. This neat box of samples arrived about an hour ago – I asked for more of these since I really like them a lot and they were kind enough to send some! Let’s crack this box open!
I usually wake up at 5 in the morning, take a ton of pictures, edit them, get a post ready and then around lunchtime do the actual pictures and cooking and review. I’ve done it this way for a while and it’s a pretty good schedule for me, especially with a one year old in the house with his own schedule. Today I thought I’d take a day off and maybe have something different for lunch.
This is a box I’ve been really excited about – and I think a lot of you will be excited as well. People have been asking me about Tseng/Zeng noodles and where to get them since they were #9 on my annual The Ramen Rater’s top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2016 Edition. They just made #1 on my Taiwan Top Ten list2 days ago. Well, I have it on good authority that they will be available in the United States at 99 Ranch Market in California around Christmas time – that’s all I know for now but if I hear more, I’ll let you all know!
Nissin Foods USA recently changed their instant Cup Noodles recipe for the first time in decades. Why? To lower sodium, MSG and artificial flavorings. Here are the samples they kindly send – they got new clothes as well!
Nissin Foods USA recently changed their instant Cup Noodles recipe for the first time in decades. Why? To lower sodium, MSG and artificial flavorings. Here are the samples they kindly send – they got new clothes as well!
Thank you Steve C. for sending these along! Curious to see what’s inside!
Two bags of noodle (click to enlarge). Steve wasn’t sure how they translate – anyone want to give it a shot?
First, I want to send a special thank you to Yongmin Park for sending me product samples! See, every year I do the Top Ten South Korean Instant Noodles list and each year it’s starting to seem like I get fewer and fewer products to try from South Korea. People have been getting grumpy about the list too – see, it’s only for products made IN South Korea, not elsewhere. Let’s have a look inside and see what awaits!
It’s so awesome! Every month, I get a box of instant noodles from Javier over at www.BoxFromJapan.com. There’s always 4 bowls and cups (he also has boxes of unique Japanese candies as well!), 4 pairs of chopsticks and a note about the box. To date, I’ve NEVER RECEIVED ONE I’VE REVIEWED BEFORE. This is truly amazing to me! Shall we look inside the September box?
This is the fourth year of The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of All Time lists. The list definitely has had a lot of movement every year – a good sign as those who produce instant noodles in Taiwan are innovating and producing new styles and flavors all the time! Here are my pick of the tastiest and most memorable Taiwanese varieties from my over 2,000 reviews to date.
Today started well, then got a little crazy then got better – I started at 5am with reviewing some noodles. Then the power went out around 7am for over two hours! A bit later, the mailman knocked on the door with a big package of Taiwanese noodles! Tseng was in The Ramen Rater’s top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2016 list this year – and they have some new products! Let check them out!
Walked to get the mail today and the mailman gave me this box. Wasn’t sure what it was and then remembered! Nissin Thailand has a line of Winnie The Pooh themed noodles I saw a few times on instagram. I asked my contact Ms. Janenate about getting some samples and here they are! You might remember her name from the Nissin Thailand Meet The Manufacturer (check it out here). The neat little cups have little Winnie The Pooh fishcake in them! Let’s look inside!
The Top Ten Taiwan list is coming late September and a few Taiwanese companies are sending me their latest products ! Let’s see what A-Sha Dry Noodle has to offer!
Today I got this box in the mail from Marvin in Fort Worth, Texas! What’s inside?
We’re greeted by tasty packing peanuts, coffee treats and a card (click to enlarge). Marvin has a coffee and grill business! Check it out if you’re in Fort Worth or online at www.rodakscoffeeandgrills.com
A package from Malaysia! Let’s look within!
Hmmm what do we have here?
Penang White Cuury in regular and vegetarian! Seems like for a while I was reviewing so much white curry… Really excited to try some again!!
I asked CarJEN abouyt their snacks recently – I’ve tried so many of their noodles and noodle snacks, but I was curious about their other snacks – and so they sent me some!
A coompany called Choumama recently reached out to me and asked if I’d try their product. Here’s the box today!
For a while now, Javier over at BoxFromJapan.com has been sending me sample boxes and they’ve been really out of this world. Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a new box every month to your door – it’s reasonably priced I think since you can’t find any of these in the USA, plus I’ve NEVER gotten a single instant ramen from him that I’ve ever reviewed before – and that’s definitely saying something. Not only that, he also has a candy box – all sorts of neat treats from Japan as well! Let’s look inside!
I was on KOMO TV, an ABC affiliate recently! How did this come to pass? Well, I posted a pocture that was sent to me by Samyu Group, a noodle company over in Malaysia. They have a wall of clocks for important timezones like London, Tokyo, New York, etc. Well, They’d done one for Kenmore, WA for where I live! The PR person contacted their PR agency who contacted KOMO TV and in a few weeks, I had a few people over and a big light pointed at me and a huge video camera in here! I want to thank Leslie Harris from the City Of Kenmore, Eric Schudiske from Gallatin Public Affairs, and Leslie Cohen and Eric Jensen from KOMO TV Seattle! Here are some videos and the story on their website.
Every year, I review a ton of instant noodles – and every year I come out with quite a few lists. This list tends to change the least of all my lists – I’ve had a lot of spicy instant noodles in my time and just seems like nobody’s getting any spicier products to market. Could be that they don’t want to melt people’s faces off perhaps. Anyways, here’s this year’s list – the spiciest varieties out of over 2,100 reviews. Enjoy – if you dare!
This is the fourth Top Ten Instant Noodle Cups list I’ve done since 2013 and I just looked at the first one – none of them are still on this list! I will say one thing though – the ones on the 2013 list are all really good too. It’s hard picking a list to be honest; maybe a top fifty? Naw – ten is enough. Maybe when I’ve done 5000 reviews a top fifty might be in order. But for now, here’s the best of the best – my absolute favorite cup varieties from the 2,100+ reviews I’ve done.
Seems like it wasn’t that long ago I came out with the first Top Ten Rice Noodles list – was thinking I might not do an update since I hadn’t reviewed a ton of new ones in the last year but since a couple were definitely worthy, here it is. Here’s The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Rice Noodles Of All Time 2016 Edition!
I was checking out Nongshim America’s website a few days ago and noticed a new product I’d not seen before. I sent my friend Ray a message and he sent me a package!
Looks like I’ll be doing some interview here in the USA soon! Those are always a lot of fun. I asked Prima Taste over in Singapore if they could send some samples along of the products they have that are in the Top Ten this year – and they did!
I saw a picture of something new on CarJEN’s facebook page and asked if I could get some samples – and they arrived recently!
A while back, somebody asked me if since I have top ten lists, what about a ‘bottom ten’ list? Well, when I was asked that, I was a little leery at first and then figured hey – why not. That’s what we have here. In it’s fourth iteration since 2013, here are my very least favorite varieties I’ve samples out over over 2,000 reviews. I should note that I see these often and so I’m sure many of you will disagree with me. It’s kind of crazy – some people get really offended at my picks. But these are my PERSONAL least favorite instant noodles; don’t take it personally… Geez… Without further ado, let’s dig in to The Ramen Rater’s Bottom Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2016 Edition!
Instant noodles sold in bowls are very popular as they provide a certain convenience to those ‘on the go.’ They’re great to pack in a bag for a trip or for the office at lunch. These are the best of the best that I’ve tried out of my over 2,060+ reviews to date. With that, open lid halfway, pour in some boiling water, stir – and enjoy!
So if you like the reviews lately, many of them can be attributed to a guy named Colin from Massachusetts. He has sent three boxes in the past few months, full of varieties I’ve not reviewed. What’s amazing is that he’s in the USA – just on the opposite coast! Thanks, man! Let’s take a loo inside this one.
For a while now, Javier over at BoxFromJapan.com has been sending me sample boxes and they’ve been really out of this world. Box From Japan is a subscription service – you can get a new box every month to your door – it’s reasonably priced I think since you can’t find any of these in the USA, plus I’ve NEVER gotten a single instant ramen from him that I’ve ever reviewed before – and that’s definitely saying something. Not only that, he also has a candy box – all sorts of neat treats from Japan as well! Let’s look inside!
I’ve been getting a LOT of boxes lately! Here’s one I wasn’t expecting!
Two new varieties (click to enlarge)! I’ve reviewed the two on the top, their ghost pepper and xo sauce flavors. On the botton are the new tuna and seaweed flavors! Thank you – looking forward to checking these out!
The DHL guy is my new pal – I hook him up with extra instant noodles I’ve got. He’ll probably end up with a couple from this box too! Kind of neat – he bring me noodles and I share some of the ones he brought! Well, let’s have a look inside!
