The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
I’ve been working hard on weight-loss and exercise for the last 6 months. Part of that is making sure I’m getting all the right nutrients and vitamins. Well, Tim and Tom Zheng over at Vite Ramen have something really cool – a pack of instant noodles that are very different from what you’re probably used to seeing. These have vitamins, minerals, protein, fiber – even low sodium! Let’s take a look!
Oh yeah – I’m going there. Maruchan Ramen is pretty versatile as are most instant ramen varieties – and now you can live the dream with is recipe for Maruchan Ramen Burritos!
It’s been so long since I’ve seen a Nongshim product that’s been in an individual pack I’ve not tried it’s making my head spin. I used to get samples from them all the time, but not in quite a while. I miss them! I found this at a Fred Meyer store in Lynnwood, Washington last night! This looks like an interesting new concept for them – make it wet or dry. The name was a little confusing to me at first – I thought it was just called Pop then looked a little closer and thought Pot Por Pan? Ahhh – Pot OR Pan.. That makes more sense. I think I’m going to try pot today. Let’s check it out!
If you want to try something a little different, today we have an Unboxing Time With The Ramen Rater for a California-based range that you might not have heard about. These are Mama Pat’s Instant Ramen Noodles from a guy named Chef Ron. It’s been his mission to make lower sodium instant noodles for a while and so without further ado, let’s take a look! By the way you can find them at http://bit.ly/mamapats
I got a message from a fellow with Hakubaku, a company that produces restaurant quality ramen for the home. Very curious about this as that’s a strong claim! Check out Hakubaku on Amazon – https://amzn.to/2BNaf4n ! Let’s crack open this box and have a look!
I was contacted recently by Sapporo Ichiban regarding a new range of products. In collaboration with Iron Chef Masaharu Miromoto and his Momosan Ramen restaurants, here’s the new varieties for the USA! Let’s check them out!
Found this one up in Canada. Nongshim products in Canada are interesting because unlike in the United States where you can find ones made here as well as from South Korea, Canada also has products that come from the Chinese Nongshim factory. That’s a lot of sources for one brand! Let’s check it out!
A lot of people enjoy visiting Trader Joe’s and trying their products. Actually, there aren’t many products if any that I think are actually ‘their’ products – they get companies who make a good product to do a ‘private label,’ often the same product or some with a couple tweaks and then packaged with Trader Joe’s graphics. I believe this one to be actually a cup of Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen. Anyways, let’s check this new cup out!
This is interesting in a couple ways. First off, this variety has been called Original in both the cup and pack versions up til not – in the bowl, however, it’s getting the stamp of Soy Sauce. Not only that, I did see that they also have the Shio version available – not sure about the Miso but I do think I may have seen that. Let’s crack into this one and give it a try!
Amazingly, we were able to get two weekends in a row with some time for us to go out together without the kiddos (thanks, Aunt Cindy!). I said ‘hey you wanna try some more ramen?’ Kit was up for it and so we checked this place out. But it turned out that although they did have ramen, this was clearly a Korean restaurant in the middle of Bellevue. I thought ordering a Japanese dish at a Korean restaurant just seemed a little off, so I went in for something I’ve been wanting to try for a long time – only had it in instant varieties thus far, so time to try the real thing. Let’s go!
In all the years of reviewing I’ve done, I’ve never seen a gluten-free ramen. Sure, I’ve seen rice noodles which generally are gluten free, but this is entirely different. Let’s take a first look at Ramen Z.
So it happened. A date night. These are pretty rare for us and a lot of fun! So we decided to give another ramen joint a try. Tonight, it’s Jinya Ramen Bar in Bellevue, Washington.
Another one sent by way by Robert over at www.dadbert.com – thanks again, man! So like their Cup Noodles Very Veggie range,Nissin USA has gone with a cup that instead of a large amount of vegetables has gone with more meat and seafood. To be honest, I like this new direction Nissin is moving towards. However, I think marrying the two concepts – why not lots of meat and lots of vegetables? Call it something like Cup Noodles Gold Label or Cup Noodles Supreme or Cup Noodles Real Loaded or Cup Noodles Fully Loaded… I dunno – just seems like it would be pretty rad. Let’s check this one out!
So the folks at Exotic Noods (www.exoticnoods.com) sent another box for you to check out! This is the the December 2018 box! By the way, you can use coupon code BOOM for a great discount! Let’s check it out!
I and my family got the flu – well, unsure if it was the flu but it was definitely a pretty mean cold. Yeah – I got it then my wife, then out kids – and two small children with the sick while you have it is a daunting situation. But we needed to get some things at the store so we all went and I ran in. I got the sick first so was getting to the point of starting to get over it while everyone else was knee deep in it. I thought hey – I’ll look at the noodle aisle. I always look at the noodle aisle. Lo and behold, they had this at Safeway. What?! Yep! something new to review at Safeway. Not the norm! So let’s see what the heck we have here and how it pans out.
I think the following post came out in 2011 or 2012 – either way, it was something I made before turkey was in the oven and done, and I think I ended up cheezing out on working the turkey magic – all the guts and skin pulling and funky just kind of nauseated me… So here’s what I made for breakfast that day. Cheers and Happy Thanksgiving!
I know a lot of people are really into Trader Joe’s. What I’ve seen is that they find brands and products they think would be good with their packaging and then get the company that makes it to do a private label for them and sells it under their name. I think that’s what it looks like here. In fact, maybe these should be known not as Trader Joe’s but Trader Mike’s – as everything looks about the same as this one. Yup – I’m pretty sure these are made by Mike’s Mighty Good. Anyways, let’s have a look and give it a try!
I was in Bellevue the other day and hit Uwajimaya for a couple things. I thought hey – I’ll make yakisoba for dinner! I just got a big huge frying wok and so that should be fun. So I go to the aisle with the cold cases and find the yakisoba. The one I usually pick up was frozen hard as a rock – not cool. I looked for another and most of those were brick-hard. Then I found this one and was happy. Well, I get it home and I’m pissed. It’s curry. Now, everyone knows I love curry; it’s almost a religious thing for me. But not everyone in my place likes curry for dinner. So that was that – no yakisoba for dinner. It’s my fault for not noticing it was curry, but then again I wish the one I wanted wasn’t akin to a cinder block in its solidness. But personally, I know this should be pretty good stuff – let’s give it a try!
So the folks at Exotic Noods (www.exoticnoods.com) sent another box for you to check out! This is the October box and I’ll also be sharing with you the December 2018 box when it arrives! By the way, you can use coupon code BOOM for a great discount! Let’s check it out!
Today I review the last of the three Vite Ramen varieties. The first two were quite good and actually quite fascinating! Definitely something different – and good different. Let’s check out the third variety from Vite Ramen – Soy Sauce Chicken.
Two things I really enjoy are pork and garlic. Two more are curry and bacon. But hey – today it’s garlic and pork and I’m pretty happy about that. Now the question is: can a product made to have lots of protein and vitamins and be made to be healthy taste good. I’m really hoping so! Every once in a while there are game changing products in the instant noodle world and this could very well be one of those. But no way to find out until it gets a taste. Well, let’s hit it!
Today we kick things off on this interesting Meet The Manufacturer series with Vite Ramen’s Vegan option. If you didn’t know, there are three varieties from Vite Ramen – at least initially. Also, just so you know at the outset of this and the following reviews, these are prototypes. From what I’ve been told, this is what you’ll be getting, however the sachets in the final iteration will look different. So let’s give this first one a try!
As a company who got a lot of backing from Kickstarter, they had to come up with a perk for folks who contributed. This special bowl is a really neat perk that has really cool proprties! What are they? Watch and find out!
In order to do reviews, we need some samples. This was really exciting – prototypes! I don’t often get prototypes, so it was a great honor to be one of the very first to try these new products during the development process. Let’s take a look!
This one was sent by Robert Z. over at www.dadbert.com – he’s a good friend of mine who has just entered the blogging world with his really technical and awesome cooking recipes – be sure to check out his site! Anyways, he found this one in Kentucky, and I suspect this is a test market for these. They’re not mentioned anywhere to speak of, and so I wanted to give these a try as soon as possible. This new line looks to have a LOT of meat in there! Let’s crack it open and take a look.
So the folks at Exotic Noods (www.exoticnoods.com) sent another box for you to check out! This is the October box and I’ll also be sharing with you the November and December 2018 boxes! By theway, you can use coupon code BOOM for a great discount! Let’s check it out!
Hey look! Tapatio flavor instant noodles? Yeah! I know many of you have loved Tapatio on your noodles for years and they heard that as well, so here we are. Here’s a little about Tapatio from Wikipedia –
Hey what’s this? An interesting box from Nissin Foods USA?! Hmmm… I’m very curious about this – this is kind of out of the ordinary to see from an American instant noodle company – maybe it’ll start a trend among them? Let’s check it out!
Here’s one that was sent by Exotic Noods – a company that sells subscription noodle boxes. Thanks! This one is a spicy take on Zha Wang, a popular product from Nongshim – this one’s their spicy version. Zha Wang might sound a lot like Jjajang – that’s no accident. Zha Wang is basically jjajang but with a different name. Let’s give it a go!
It’s been awhile! I did a Meet The Manufacturer series with Blount a while back. Well, they’ve got something new – pho! You can find it in the fresh (not frozen) section – more info at www.blountbowls.com. Very curious as to how it will be. Let’s find out!
It kind of confuses me on this one – I mean, yeah, it says ‘the original’ and doesn’t really say that there’s been a recipe change. But there has – now there’s no MSG and no artificial flavors., plus a reduction in sodium. These aren’t bad things at all of course, but I’m just kind of left wondering – so shouldn’t it say new and improved instead of ‘the original?’ Anyways, let’s see what’s in this, one of the Vegetarian varieties in the Top Ramen range.
Got an email from Blount Fine Foods the other day about a new product they’ve got – Beef Pho! It was packed on ice and sent overnight – so I had to open it as quickly as possible. Let’s check it out!
I thought it would be cool since I got a set of those Egglettes things to make soft boiled eggs and I also have chashu and all my veg to make something from the cold case. I’ve been eyeballing these Myojo refrigerated varieties for quite some time now and thought hey – let’s get one and cook it up! So, that’s what I’m doing and here we go!
Hey look at this! A Tapatio instant noodle! I’ve seen people douse their instant noodles in this stuff for years on Instagram. Here’s a little about it from Wikipedia –
Yesterday, I needed a new pair of pants. I’m not into ultra fashionable stuff – like paying $100 for jeans, so we went to Walmart. Walmart is an interesting place – you’ll see some interesting people there – especially at the one in Lynnwood, Washington. When we got out of the car, there was the sound of some guy at the other side of the parking lot screaming obscenities at someone or some thing – unsure. But that was entertaining. In the store, we g ot to see a lady with a very small dog barking at everyone and every thing ( apparently, if you have an ’emotional support’ dog you can bring it with you, but this dog needed emotional support and was definitely not providing it for anyone). I did get some new pants, and they were extremely cheap. $16 for pants. It’s been a while since we’ve been to Walmart so I thought a trip down the domestic instant noodle aisle might be in order. Surprisingly, they had a very small amount of them, however they did have this pack. Creamy Chicken has been one of my absolute favorites for a very, very long time. I am curious to see whether or not they’ve changed the recipe as that seems to be a popular thing to do in the US instant noodle market right now. Let’s crack open this new package design and give it a try!
Well would you look at that! Top Ramen. An American original. You might be thinking ‘aww that’s Japanese,’ but this stuff is as American as it gets. The flavor is made to appeal to the local market. What bums me out is when I say ‘an American original’ all I can think about is my favorite political show which is no more. My dad used to watch The McLaughlin Group for years and I finally hit an age after he was gone that I checked it out and got hooked on it. I’d torture poor Andy and make him watch it all the time. But Dr. McLaughlin died a couple years ago, and they ended the series long run. I would be curious how it would have been if he would have stayed alive longer – how the show would be these days. Anyways, I’ve gone way off track. So soy sauce is known as Shoyu in Japan. This is a kind of Shoyu ramen. Let’s check i tout!
When the Very Veggie line came out, my first thought was that it would just be varieties for Vegans and Vegetarians. Surprisingly, there was no option for this crowd. Well, it seems that that has changed! This one was sent to me by Robert Z. from Kentucky – thanks man – go check out his cooking blog www.dadbert.com! He found this at a local grocery store – nothing about this and the other new Cup Noodles he found and sent on their site or mentioned on Instagram. This has led me to think that perhaps he’s in what’s called a ‘test market.’ In some areas, a product will be introduced to meter how it’s received by the public – if it sells really well, it’ll go nationwide. If not, it might be pulled. Let’s pop the lid and look under the hood.
Hello fellow instant noodle enthusiasts! Whether for lunch or a snack, instant noodle cups are popular the world over for their convenience and ease of preparation. I’ve samples over 2,800 different instant noodle varieties, and a great deal of them are cups. Out of those, here are my absolute favorite varieties – updated for 2018! As always, if you’re an instant noodle cup (or otherwise) company, please contact me if you’d like to have your products reviewed! Hope you enjoy!
Many you probably no and many of you probably don’t – Tapatio, the popular hot sauce – now has their own range of spicy instant noodle products called Tapatio Ramen Noodle Soup! Want a chance to be the envy of your friends at lunch with some of these bowls? Read on to find out how – it’s really easy to enter to win!
