The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Here’s the poll for the 2017 Reader’s Choice Top Ten Instant Noodles list! 2016 was the first go at this with over 250 votes counted (results here). Let’s make 2017 even better! Remember – if you don’t put the brand AND the variety, your vote will NOT be counted, so make sure to do so. Don’t forget to invite your friends to vote! The results will come out next year (probably May 1st 2017).
I got an email a few weeks back from a reporter at Apple Daily News of Hong Kong asking if I’d like to do an interview. I said sure – and then she asked if I’d also review some Hong Kong varieties – which I agreed to as well. Over 4 days, I tried 11 different packs of noodles! This is the video from the news article and here’s the link to the story! Was a lot of fun! Special thanks to Winnie Wong for contacting me on this unique project! Here’s the unboxing of the samples, and the full reviews of each one will come in the next few weeks.
A couple days after The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2015 Edition came out, I got to thinking. Every year, a lot of people enjoy my list, a lot also complain. They’ll say things like ‘how can this not be on here,’ or ‘you have no clue of what youre talking about’ – you can guess the rest but it sometimes gets downright rude. I usually tell people to go and review as many instant noodles as I have and make their own list and we can compare notes, but nobody’s ever taken me up on that. At the same time I thought of this, I came to the realization that although they might not agree with me, they’re still people who love their varieties of instant noodles. I thought that they (you) should have a voice. So, I started a poll. I didn’t want to make a list of varieties for people to pick from – that would sway things in those varieties’ favor. I told people to just write in the flavor they liked and what brand made them. A week or so ago, I ended up with a difficult task. See, a lot of them were listed as the brand name but no variety (six people put Maggi, but Maggi what? From India, From Malaysia? Which one?). Some got cut, but most got counted. There were almost 300 votes and here are the results. I’m going to start a new poll tomorrow and this will be an annual thing! Let’s begin!
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 heard about this from a post by a colleague in the noodle review crowd (yeah, there are more of us) and thought I’d see if I could give it a review. I got an affirmative, and this is what they sent. First – Washoku Explorer appears to be a website with offerings that aren’t only about being tasty food, but educating you on the foods from Japan. It looks like a really neat thing – click here to check it out.This will be a special upcoming review! For now, let’s have a look at what we have here.
We were out doing grocery shopping and thought ‘hey there’s that Red Robin over there – wonder if they have those Red Ramen Burgers.’ Well, after a quick phone call to make sure they did, we swooped in to give them a try.
It’s been quite a year for The Ramen Rater. I’ve reviewed 357 new instant noodle varieties. I got to visit an instant noodle company in Thailand. I just hit my 2000th review. Since the beginning of this ‘noodle journey,’ I’ve wanted to try flavors from around the world and have been able to do just that. This new list is a compilation of the best of the best; the most memorable and most wonderful of the 2,004 varieties I’ve sampled thus far. If you are an instant noodle company and I haven’t reviewed your products, please contact me – I would love to review them. I decided to include what I added to them this year – however note the products are scored before anything is added. With that, let’s have a look at The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of all Time 2016 Edition.
A couple years ago, I had the opportunity to check out a course taught by Dr. Gary Hou at the Wheat Marketing Center in Portland, OR. It was a short course on making instant noodles and really fascinating. It’s coming up again and as a thank you for letting everyone know about it, Dr. Hou sent me something!
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 SURPRISED TO HEAR HOW MANY OF YOU I FOOLED! HAPPY APRIL FOOL’S DAY – I’LL BE REVIEWING INSTANT NOODLES FOR A LONG TIME COMING!
I was fortunate to be able to check out Dr. Gary Hou’s instant noodle course at the Wheat Marketing Center in Portland, Oregon a couple years ago – turns out he’s doing it again and if you’re interested, you should give it a look!
Reader Colin from Arlington, MA sent me yet another box of noodles – thanks man! He told me he was going to Mexico and offered to get some for me. Let’s have a look inside!
My sister took a trip to Canada and asked if there was anything I wanted while she was up there. Well, I asked for Great Value instant noodles from Canadian Walmart. What’s crazy is you can’t buy them individually – you have to buy a big box of them. She got me every flavor of the packs and cups!
A week or two ago, my friend Paul S. brought over a couple packs of instant noodles (click to enlarge) he got on vacation. He went down to Mexico and picked these up for me! Always been hard to source stuff from Mexico. Why? No clue; it just is. Anyways, thanks Paul, you rock!
Very curious about this – let’s pop it open.
Wow (click to enlarge) – that’s one angry looking pepper!
I knew CarJEN was sending some samples, so I asked if maybe they could send me a box of the ones with my logo on them – I think this is it!
What have we here?
Hmmm – a tablecloth?
Wow (click to enlarge) – a couple big banners! I’ve seen then use these in their promotions before. Pretty cool!
Hmmm – what have we here?
Hey (click to enlarge) – something new! Will have to give this one a try soon! Thank you!
Hey – another box from A-Sha Dry Noodle! Let’s check it out!
Here’s what I saw when I opened the box (click to enlarge).
Usually I ask for companies that have been in the previous year’s top ten to send some samples that I’ll re-review ahead of the new list. MyKuali did this, but there’s a difference. They’ve changed the recipes for their three products that were on the list last year, so I have to cram some new reviews in before it’s too late! Lukcily, I really like this stuff so that shouldn’t be too hard! Let’s see what’s inside.
Got this package in the mail yesterday – let’s look inside!
MyOri’s new packaging (click to enlarge) – looks really snazzy!
When I asked for people to send donations recently, Prima Taste offered to pool their resources around the world and help me out! Here’s some sent from Hong Kong- a second box of the same samples. Two of each helps with reviewing – makes things a lot easier – plus a better chance of making it through customs!
When I asked for people to send donations recently, Prima Taste offered to pool their resources around the world and help me out! Here’s some sent from Hong Kong!
Got another box from Javier over at BoxFromJapan.com today! You can subscribe and get a neat box like this every month! Not only that, he also has Japanese snack boxes – lots of neat candies that I don’t think you can find here. For sure, these bowls of ramen aren’t available here in the states. Let’s look inside!
Prima Taste saw my call for donations/samples and asked if they could help – and I said absolutely!
I got a knock at the door – I was expecting a couple boxes today, but they’re either held up in costoms or still travelling. then I got handed this by the postman! This is a box from reader Jen of Australia! I posted an urgent call to readers of my need for varieties to review (the hampers have been getting very low). Well, she answered that call and sent a nice box of new stuff to check out! Let’s look inside!
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Thai Instant Noodles Of All Time 2016 Edition really has been a long time coming. After trying over 150 different Thai instant noodles throughout the years, I thought it was about time for a Top Ten Thailand list. If there is one thing that is ubiquitous when Thailand is mentioned, it’s tom yum – whose flavors figure strongly in this list. So print out a copy and run to your local Asian grocery and get some tasty Thai noodles! Hopefully there will be a 2017 edition of Top Ten Thai Instant Noodles as well – if you are an instant noodle manufacturer in Thailand, please contact me about doing a spotlight of your products! Also, I’ve decided that I will be sharing the add-ons I use in each variety here – note that all tasting/reviewing is done PRIOR to anything being added out of fairness. Hope you enjoy the first ever The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Thai Instant Noodles Of All Time 2016 Edition.
Got a package yesterday! I was recently in California and saw my cousin Mike O. I asked him if the next time he visited Brazil if he could possibly look for some noodles I’ve wanted to review. As it turned out, his wife Adriana O. was currently down there and he’d let her know. Well, turns out she found some and he sent them to me once she returned!
A couple of weeks ago, I posted an urgent call for instant noodle varieties. I’ve gotten a great response and this is one of them. A guy in Arlington, MA named Colin contacted me and offered some varieties! Let’s see what he sent!
Today I heard a beep and then a knock at our door. The beep usually is the postman about to knock and then ask for my signature. Today, I received a package from Wesley of Japan! This is something he shipped back on December 18th, 2015 (it’s February 11th, 2016 today) and we weren’t sure it would ever make it here. But it did! Let’s have a look!
So every time I do a Top Ten list, I try to let the companies that make that list know. I usually post directly on their Facebook page a congratulatory message. Well, CarJEN’s J.J. Snek Mi Perisa BBQ made the new Top Ten Instant Noodle Snacks list, and I saw something neat on their page!
Dear Readers,
I took a look in my noodle hamper to find a horrifying scene: I’m low. Really low. On instant noodles I haven’t reviewed. Without new varieties to review, this site will grind to a screeching halt.
Instant noodle… snacks? Yeah! Snacks of all kinds have come from instant noodles – candy, crunchy bits, you name it. They’re popular all over Asia and also the United States; have you ever taken a pack of instant noodles, crushed them and added in the seasoning and shaken the bag up and eaten them like potato chips or popcorn? Well, this is popular elsewhere as well! Let’s check out my favorite instant noodle snacks from over 1,900 reviews. Enjoy!
South Korea has the highest per person consumption of instant noodles in the world. It’s not a surprise that their instant noodle are quite good – usually the noodles (known as ramyun) are thicker and accompanied by a spicy broth. These are my very favorite varieties of South Korean instant noodles – hope you enjoy!
Every January 19th for the past 5 years, I’ve done a special post in homage of Momofuku Ando. Who was he? Just the guy who invented instant noodles in 1958. If it weren’t for him, my world would be a whole lot different – and many other people’s as well. Actually, I should thank Mr. Ando’s wife as well – the story is that he was attempting to make an easily prepared, shelf stable instant noodle, but couldn’t figure out how. He tried many different techniques, but it was when he saw his wife making tempura in the kitchen one night that it dawned on him – fry the cooked noodles. This leaves holes in the noodles and extrudes the water. Not only that, the oil keeps the noodles shelf stable for a long time. His vision of a way to create and easy way to feed the masses has been a huge success and considered one of the great innovations of the 20th century. I think he deserves a day in his honor, and that day is today, January 19th.
I found out about Box From Japan on Reddit last year and sent the guy who runs the service an email. Javier sent me a sample box and I reviewed the included varieties and they were really great! He was nice enough to send me yet another one – every box has had some seriously great selections unavailable in the United States inside! Let’s take a look!
Looking forward to sharing new reviews with everyone in 2016!
Two days ago, I got a big box full of really nice gifts and product samples from Prima Taste of Singapore. Well, yet another box showed up today. I had an idea of the product samples that might be in the first, but not sure on this one – let’s open it!
A big box came today! I was expecting one from Prima Taste of Singapore – they have a couple new varieties I’ve been curious to try – let’s see what’s inside!
I rarely mention anything to do with the operation of The Ramen Rater blog, but I figured today would be a good time to do so and could help a lot of folks. I noticed that none of the videos on the blog were working after I upgraded to the newest WordPress 4.4. I used to do this:
