Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
After perusing Nongshim America’s website, I saw these noodles I hadn’t heard of before. A quick message to my contact at Nongshim and these magically arrived in a couple days! This is what you would call a Summer variety – the noodles are served cold with a spicy sauce. It’s made in South Korea, but definitely in packaging for the United States. Let’s give it a try!
It’s been a long time since I’ve reviewed anything by Menraku. Alwats bowls and always pretty good stuff. This one’s a yakisoba I got while on vacation in California’s Bay Area! Let’s check it out!
Here’s another one of the newer A-Sha tray designs. This one’s original flavor, which is kind of a soy sauce flavor I believe. Let’s check it out!
Now I’ve tried all the different sauces with one type of noodles – now we’ll go through and see how they work with the other noodle! Today it’s the cyanobacteria noodle once again – good stuff! Instead of the wider lasagna-like gauge, this is the thinner one. Ginger oil sauce too! Let’s check it out!
In the last review of this style of noodle, I really liked its breadth and thinness. Curious to see how it plays with a sesame sauce. Let’s find out!
Not often do I come across a noodle product with the word ‘bacteria’ in the title, but I am definitely not fearful of it. I found this post about cyanobacteria, also known as spirulina/blue green algae. Very interesting! Let’s give it a try!
As there are 2 kinds of noodles and 4 flavors of sauce, I’ll be alternating back and forth between the noodles during this Meet The Manufacturer to keep things lively! This one looks interesting – the noodles are infused with pumpkin and comes with a thick basil sauce. Let’s check it out!
Here’s another one from Javier over at www.BoxFromJapan.com, a subscription service. You can get a box of different Japanese instant noodles (or candy!) from Japan every month! Of all the subscription services for instant noodles I’ve seen thus far, this is the best. Today’s ramen looks really neat – here’s what Javier had to say about it:
A big rice noodle bowl from South Korea graces my desk today. I must say, this is the only one I’ve ever seen mentioning ‘clean room’ on the label. Unsure if this is in reference to where it’s produced or has to do with ‘clean eating.’ Either way, let crack it open and look within.
Here’s the first in the special series I did for Apple Daily of Hong Kong.I have always been a fan of curry, especially spicy curry. However, lately it’s pretty far and few between I get to review ones that are this far east – usually they’ve been from Singapore or Malaysia and not Hong Kong. Sounds good to me! Let’s check it out!
I’m not exactly sure what Hiyoko-Chan is saying on the front here, but I do know that this one’s kimchi flavor. This is a cousin of the one I reviewed for my 2000th review earlier this year. Shall we crack it open and look inside? Let’s do it!
Here’s another new one from Maruchan – Chipotle Chicken. It looks like an interesting one – let’s look inside and find out!
Here’s another one sent by reader Colin – thanks again! Salted beef? This is new to me; it just makes me think of beef jerky, but I know that’s probably way off the mark. Let’s see how this one taste.
CarJEN has come up with something new! This one has not only a dry mee goreng, but a companion soup that you can enjoy alongside it. I’ve seen this before, but never in Malaysian varieties. There’s a popular Taiwanese instant that has a noodle and a soup separate kind of thing going too. Very curious about this one indeed. Let’s see how this all works!
A lot of Meet The Manufacturers lately! Nice to get back to going through my hampers and picking something different every day! This one hails from Japan and was sent to me by Javier of www.BoxFromJapan.com. You can go there and subscribe to a monthly box of instant ramen – really a great deal! I’ve never gotten a repeat or one that I’ve reviewed before – pretty awesome! Here’s what Javier has to say about this one:
As we begin to wind down this Meet The Manufacturer, we again come to the hallmark flavor of Thailand, tom yum. Red. Spicy. Lemongrass. Shrimp. Let’s crack it open and delve within!
This one sounds particularly interesting – from the picture, it looks like a seafood fried noodle. However, holy basil sounds alluring – let’s check this unique variety out!
So far, I’ve tried Oni Hot Pot’s Ghost Pepper, XO Sauce and Seaweed and Pepper varieties. This one is a bit of a departure though – I think the only tun aflavored instant noodles I’ve had in the past were the Skipjack Tuna varieties from Indonesia. Well, let’s check this one out!
Thank you again to cousins Adriana and Mike O. for sending this one to me! As I’ve said in the past, anything south of the United States has been just near impossible for me to get – until somewhat recently. This one’s from Brazil. As for the translation? Well, Google says frango assado simply means roast chicken – let’s give it a try!
Here’s one left over from the Nissin Japan Meet The Manufacturer! Seems like I just did it but that was about 100 reviews ago. time flies! Anyways, this is one of their international flavors varieties – Laksa! Laksa is a popular flavor of Cup Noodles in Singapore, but this one if made in Japan. Let’s check it out!
I don’t remember where or when I picked this one up, but it was towards the bottom of my hamper and peering up at me a little bit ago and so I figure hey – I’d better give it some attention! It’s kimchi, it’s Vegan friendly – plus its microwavable! Let’s check it out!
Here’s another new recipe change for the CarJEN product line. The change they made to the Cheezy Curry was great – I liked the Cheezy Mushroom alot when I tried it – curious how it will do with new changes? Let’s find out!
Here’s one from the Box From Japan box from March! BoxFromJapan.com is a monthly subscription service – you get 4 neat and very unique bowls of ramen sent from Japan along with a few chopsticks and a little letter! Really awesome – I’ve not gotten any that I’ve reviewed before at this point which is really quite amazing! Today it’s a shiny gold ensconced tonkotsu. Let’s have a look!
Got this one sent to me by the folks at Nissin Singapore – thanks! I got it right as I started the last Meet The Manufacturer and so I’ve been waiting patiently to give it a try. Laksa is one of my favorite things – very curious to see what we have here. With that, let’s open the bag and take a look and a taste!
There’s been a lot of hub bub coming out of South Korea lately – all the big companies have brand new Jjajang and Jjamppong varieties it seems. They’re all going a little more premium than their old offerings. This is awesome for me, well – as long as I can get my hands on them. I finally was able to score this one at the local South Korean grocery. Let’s crack it open and see what we’ve got here.
The third and final of the cups I received from MyKuali – thanks again! The Hokkien Prawn (aka Spicy Prawn Noodle) was #2 on this year’s The Ramen Rater’s top Ten Instant Noodles Of all Time 2016 Edition. I recently read a little about these cups – the noodle they are using is referred to as ‘shabu noodle.’ Just a little something you might be curious about. Anyways, let’s see how the sweetness of Hokkien Prawn translates with this new noodle! Let’s crack it open!
Well folks, today’s the last day of this Meet The Manufacturer. It’s been a lot of fun – been great to try some new products I’ve never had the chance to before! This will be the 15th review, however Nissin Hong Kong sent me 47 different varieties, so rest assured you’ll be seeing a lot more in the future. I thought I’d go out with something really interesting. I don’t think I’ve seen a salmon instant noodle before. The Nupasta Carbonara cup I had a week or so ago was really quite good and so I’m curious about this pack version. Let’s have a look and bid a fond farewell to Nissin Hong Kong’s Meet The Manufacturer!
As we meander our way towards the end of this Meet The Manufacturer, we find this little gem. I’m pretty sure it’s smaller sibling was on the Top Ten Cups list a while back. This looks awesome – let’s check out this huge cup!
Here one of the more unique varieties Nissin Hong Kong sent. Mie goreng is definitely an Indonesian dish – not something that jumps at me as something from Hong Kong. However, it tastes quite nice anywhere you are, and so I imagine that’s why they’ve added it to their lineup. Let’s have a look at this one from Nissin Hong Kong!
Here’s an interesting one – probably the most recognizable Demae Ramen. When I first tried it, I was around 18 years old and I couldn’t get past the sesame oil smell – didn’t like it back then. It’s funny since I really like sesame oil scent and flavor now… I guess years change the palate! Let’s have a look at this iconic noodle – Hong Kong style!
A long time ago, I tried the package version of this one. It was really great and I am quite pleased to be able to try the bowl. Nissin HK sent quite a few different varieties – always hear people saying things about Fuku – nice things. Let’s check it out!
Hadn’t seen this straight noodle ramen style before from Nissin. I’ve had quite a few now by different brand though, and they usually are quite nice! Let’s see how this tonkotsu fare. Tonkotsu is a pork bone broth soup served with straight noodles. It’s usually got a milky colored broth with a rich taste.
Last night, we went to a little Taiwanese restaurant nearby and I brought home some leftovers. I got some Hakka style fried tofu, squid and pork belly with vegetables; not covered in sauce but nicely seasoned. I immediately though ‘what noodles night this go well with for Meet The Manufacturer?’ This one sounds like a good bet! Let’s check it out!
Well this looks interesting – Italian inspired pasta in a take out box style package. Reminds me of the Cup Noodles Pasta Style from Japan a reviewed before – at least in color scheme and design on the package. It looks like it stops there though! Let’s see what we’ve got here!
Time for some mi goreng! So this is another one I found at the Uwajimaya in Renton, WA by where my son goes to Pokemon League. Today’s a weird day; the local power company has been going from apartment building to apartment building and repairing these big green power boxes outside. I’m guessing that the power could go out at any minute! I guess We’ll see – let’s get started!
Hey look at this! So every two weeks, my wife and I bring my son Andy down to Renton, Washington to go to Pokemon League. Yeah – there’s such a thing! Kids (and some adults) play the Pokemon card game. Well, my wife and I don’t play Pokemon so we have time to look around and stroll. As it happens, there’s a Uwajimaya nearby which is awesome. The first time we went I found two big bagfulls of noodles! What was a surprise was finding a LOT of Maruchan products I’d not seen before. There are a couple new Instant Lunch cups (sriracha which I reviewed previously as well as a cihpotle chicken) and these Taste of Asia products in the Bowl line. Let’s check out this sukiyaki variety!
Here’s something from Taiwan today. A-Sha makes quite a few different sauces and styles of noodles and this is one I don’t see very often. They’re very thin as you’ll see, and they come with the original sauce which has a nice soy sauce component. Let’s check it out!
First off, I must thank Jen from Australia for sending this real gem of an instant noodle. I mean come on – I think anyone reading the name of this variety definitely should thank her. Ow… Ow… Spicy Cow – I mean that’s awesome. This one is made in Malaysia, however it’s for the Australia/New Zealand market. Without further ado, let’s crack it open and get punished by the spicy cow.
There have been some jjajangmyun varieties sweeping sout Korea lately – very very popular. Here’s one of them! Jjajang is a black bean sauce and myun means noodle in Korean. Got it? Good! Let’s check it out!
Okay so a few weeks ago I got a neat box in the mail. It contained the Washoku Explorer Tonkotsu Ramen kit. The idea is that you can get a nice kit with all the things you need to experience a great bowl of Japanese ramen at home – even the bowl! You can visit Washoku Explorer here. They have all sorts of other Japanese kits – really fascinating and a neat idea! The Tonkotsu Ramen kit includes this Marutai Hakata Tonkotsu ramen (2 packs with 2 servings each) and well as some special garnishes/add-ons I’ll show you below. Let’s check it out and give it a try!
