Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
The video for this one came out of Christmas Day, 2025 – you can see it at the bottom. I think there’s probably a lot of you that don’t know about my show Instant Noodle Recipe Time – it’s on pretty much every single day at 9am Pacific Time (Vancouver/Los Angeles). I’ve been doing the show for years and I think a lot of YouTube don’t know about me on www.theramenrater.com. Didn’t know I’d find this one over at HMart. I tried the pack version recently… Let’s try the bowl!
Here’s the second of three varieties of Buldak potato chips – Quattro Cheese. Definitely one of the latest and popular varieties where their noodles are concerned. Let’s give em’ a try!
Alas, another new package Otoki variety! It used to be Ottogi, however they changed the brand name here in the United States. I’m in the mood – found it at HMart – let’s do it.
Having deja vu? Well, I made this wrong the first time. It clearly states to fill to the line, however it was a lower line than I saw – so I put in too much water. Prepared in that way, I really enjoyed it – 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. This time, I’m doing it right. Let’s give it a whirl.
Found these at Target – got the other two varieties as well to review. This is weird; I dunno – will they be good? Spicy? Sounds interesting at the least – let’s try ’em.
Another one from James of Lakeside, California – thanks again! Ribs… Hmmm. I guess we will find out. This could go different ways.
Had a nice outing last weekend and found a lot of Buldak I’d not reviewed including this one. Ahh, rose. This is one I did a mukbang video of but before I had the chance to edit it, I had deleted it… Oops. Well, not today but soon as I have the pack version as well. Let’s give it a go – I remember I loved the South Korean local pack version immensely.
The local grocery store keeps providing more stuff all the time it’s really quite interesting. Wasn’t sure of the Korean one but this should be good and last will be the Thai Curry – should I be able to find it. Months later, I still haven’t and would have truly enjoyed finding it, but to no avail everywhere I’ve looked.
Well, here’s the third. The first was buffalo/ranch flavored – 1 star. Lemon pepper next – 2 stars. This is the last chance. Can we get a good one out of the set? Read on.
Say! Here’s a new one – I was contacted by Bias about a new non-fried, Vegan friendly, and low-cal ramyun that’s supposed to be really tasty. Time to find out!
Well, here’s the second of the trifecta of wings variants from Nissin. The ranch one I did previously? No thanks. Let’s give this a try – I see something promising.
Another one I found at Safeway which wasn’t there the day before when I found that Hot Pot Fusion one I reviewed this week. I’ve got strong opinions on this one. If it is indeed rich and savory, that’s what should be concentrated on. I don’t see people looking to instant noodle cups for protein; they’re health conscious. Another point on the whole of the big ‘protein push’ is that chicken is gram for gram protein. You sauté up a small piece of chicken breast – it’s ALL protein. I’ve seen a lot of things come and go in the instant noodle world and I hate to say it, but this looks like it’ll be gone possibly before this posts. But hey – it’s a competitive market and companies have to throw a lot of products at the wall to see which ones stick. Good luck – maybe it will, but I have my doubts.
This is a special limited edition – one of three that I’ll be rushing out over the next few days. So soon is the Super Bowl. American Football. What’s more, local team the Seattle Seahawks will be in it. I couldn’t care less – it gets really silly here when football is going on. We like baseball. But hey, we’ll watch it. Honestly, I’m hoping to go out during the Super Bowl – it’ll be like when we had the COVID lockdowns – I really liked those. Anyways, let’s try an instant noodle that should be a little weird. Sure with they’d do cheese burger, taco, and pizza, but so far they haven’t heard my (and the throngs of other people’s) call. On with it.
Hey Nissin you’ve been holding out! This is a new one I found at my local Safeway supermarket of all places. There are two siblings in this range – a tonkotsu and a coconut curry – both of which I’m all over. Let’s try this one.
I’m very excited about this one – so first off, it is looking like you can only get it from Albertson’s chain store like Safeway, Von’s, Jewel Osco, etc. Second, my son Miles spotted it in our local Safeway. He’s been really keen on doing mukbang lately and trying these variants. What’s a surprise is that he’s autistic and always been very particular about what he eats – never eating hot food, nothing squishy and chewy… That all changed – he’s actually eating this stuff – he even voiced interest in Cheetos mac and cheese. While not the most healthy stuff out there, he’s exploring new foods and that’s a big deal. Anyways, this is new and so I’m rushing it out. It should be noted that birria is primarily beef, goat, or sheep meat and the idea of chicken birria tends to be pretty unheard of in research I’ve done. Let’s go! There will be a cooking video below as well as a mukbang with Miles.
Found this at 99 Ranch Market and really stoked. I am not a huge fan of the flavor of the ol’ Volcano Curry, and expecting great things from this one. Let’s give it a try!
I really should try and wrangle a count of how many boxes James has sent over the years – it’d be a lot, that’s for sure. I’ve dubbed him ‘the noodle whisperer’ as he always tends to find stuff I don’t get here and 9 out of 10 are ones I’ve never reviewed! Amazing! Let’s crack this box open and look at what’s inside!
I was recently contacted by my friend The Fat Hipster about an incoming package he was sending. You should check out his channel – he reviews a lot of really interesting stuff on there. In this one is a lot of interesting and rad stuff as well – let’s take a look at everything; some you’ll see reviewed very, very soon.
This one came by way of James from Lakeside, California – thanks again! I must admit that this range seems to be pretty good stuff. Maybe this is a kind of aglio olio thing? Let’s find out.
Here’s another form factor of the Jin range – cups. I’ve reviewed the mild as well. Let hit the spicy!
Another neat one from James of Lakeside, California. This is an export for the US market from Vietnam. The first one I tried was chicken and it was pretty good. In comes beef. Let’s give it a whirl.
Big thanks to James from Lakeside, California for this one! Never seen this before. I don’t know who makes it, however its distributed in New Jersey. Neat packaging… Let’s try it!
Found this one at a Grocery Outlet bargain market here in town over the weekend. $2.99 for a 4-pack is pretty good I figure. Last time I tried this it had different packaging – back in 2017. This one took a long time to edit as the pictures had the expiration date over the words ‘That’s Crazy Hot.’ But it came out nice. Let’s cook it up!
A big thank you to Aimee J. for sending this one! This is the first time I’ve gotten a Nissin product for the corrections industry. This is prison ramen. The packaging is clear in order to make it difficult to hide things. I’ve never had a reason to hide things in a pack of noodles so I find that fascinating. I wonder what other flavors there are out there? Would like to review them all, so if you’ve got any, please contact me! Well, let’s give it a try!
I dedicate this one to my late friend Jamie. These were the kinds of noodle things we generally poked fun at a lot. I must say though that the absence of the words inspired, authentic, and fusion seem to be missing where something like this may even have all three. Those are generally the opposite of what is found. Let’s give this one, found at Grocery Outlet Bargain Market.
Here’s another one from James of Lakeside, California. This an interesting one – he sent a bunch by this brand. These are made in Vietnam for the US market and say ‘made with Korea technology.’ Curious how they are. Let’s find out.
Okay I’m really fascinated by this. Ramen-Aid is a ramen supplement, containing vitamins and minerals. There’s this version and an energy version – with caffeine! I’m thinking the best way to review this will be to add it to a standard instant and see if it modifies the flavor. I don’t think it will.
Just over 2 years ago, I reviewed the local Korean version of this one. Found this at HMart which was a bit of a shock; their single pack selection has been abyssmal recently… I wish we had the RT Mart that was in Taiwan I got to visit – holy crap that place had the mother of all noodle aisles – singles and multipacks of everything – both sides, long as a Costco aisle – no joke. Anyways, enough thinking about that – let’s give it a try.
Here’s another Otoki variety for the United States and another packaging redesign. I don’t recall doing a tempura udon bowl before though… Yeah, no – I haven’t. Let’s give it a whirl!
We end the year on an interesting note today! My son Miles is very interested in trying out Buldak. Now, he’s very food sensitive – he generally only like non warm, crunchy things (Cheez-Its, chips, apples) , pudding, chocolate milk, soda… It’s kind of an uphill battle introducing new things for him to try that he’ll go for, Noodles are definitely not going to be an easy go except for the fact he really wants to do Buldak. We saw this at 7-Eleven and he was all over it, so we got it. I’m going to cook it up, add nothing, and let it cool. I can’t think of any time he’s eaten anything hot temperature wise in years. He used to eat oatmeal and peanut butter with me, and he did used to eat noodles – but at a certain point he stopped. Is this the turning point? There will be a mukbang below – so watch and see.
Note – I prepared this incorrectly, however in an upcoming review it is prepared correctly.
I’m slowly finding more of the cup, bowl, and pack versions of Jin Ramen lately – tried both of the bowls, trying this pack, and got two of the cups, so just need to find the spicy pack. Honestly. I think these are among the best of Korean ramyun. The noodles have been great, flavors as well. Let’s give it a go!
Another find at GMart in Lynnwood, WA. Out of Rancho Cucamonga comes an old standard in the Korean ramyun world. I believe the classic bowl noodle hot they made was a yukgaejang but this one seems more premium at the outset. Sounds good – let’s cook it up!
Update 12/26/2025 – Now that Christmas is over, back to the standard daily posts. This was done July 7th, 2025, so that should tell you how far ahead I’ve been. I’m going to attempt to let things catch up a wee bit and work on top ten lists for you in the interim, so you should be seeing one sometime soon – I’ll come out with a post regarding them as usual before the day they post. Some regular annual lists haven’t come out as firstly, I’ve not been able to source enough varieties for a logical update and secondly, the top tens are a lot of work and honestly not always that much fun to work on – a lot of video editing and keeping from reviewing. So, since I’m nearly six months ahead, I’ll be working on them in a more mellow way instead of trying to last minute slam them out. Hope all that enjoy holidays enjoyed the previous and upcoming ones and those that don’t avoided the ridiculousness they can entail. For now, that is all. I should note my ten year old son Miles is really amped about trying Buldak. He is a very picky eater though; he won’t eat anything hot temperature wise and he doesn’t like certain textures. I can let it cool down, but I’m curious to see if he is up to the texture of it. So we shall see. I might release that for NYE. Anyways, we continue and thank you so much for your continued support of what I do!
*unless you don’t like Christmas and then just plain merriness to you
Found this at GMart in Lynnwood, WA. This is a mung bean/sweet potato thread noodle with a low calorie amount of 120. It claims that K-pop stars will stay fit and skinny by eating this. I dunno about that, but it does sound interesting, so I got it. Let’s give it a try.
Well, happy Halloween for this one. Does that make sense? The episode of Instant Noodle Recipe Time debuted on October 31, 2025. So, there you go. I think that means this post came out in, what… Christmas 2025? Pretty crazy as I type this in early July 2025… Let’s see – this is review 5404 and I posted 5244 today – 160 days from today which is July 8th will be… I was close – December 15th. The video for Instant Noodle Recipe Time comes out around 45 days before the post does… Yeah, I guess it’s kind of a nightmare… Either way, wow you’re close to Christmas. Here’s an early gift. Mac’n Cheese (not macaroni but rotini) and its ranch flavor which is highly disturbing. Let’s cook.
Found this at HMart during my big early summer noodle drought of 2025… I don’t see a lot of boxed varieties, let along ones for the US. This used to be in a bowl – although maybe it still is. Anyways, sounds like a good one to try out – let’s give it a whirl!
Big thanks to The Fat Hipster for sending this along. This is an instant noodle for hikers and campers. So if you’re neither, think of carrying tons of stuff for a multi day outdoor trip. You will need food. Do you want to carry something heavy or light? When you’re done, do you want big trash to lug around? Well, this is a solution. These packs aren’t huge, they’re light, and unlike a foam bowl, this is also the cooking vessel and folds up for disposal away from the trail. The expiration date said 2029 as well, so if the universe hasn’t blown up yet, you’ll have noodles, and if it has blown up, it’ll be right there for you in your secret noodle bunker! Plus, it’s curry. Sold! Let’s give it a shot.
Found this at HMart during the great noodle drought around here… This is a newer logo for their Tangle range… I liked the old white and orange logo a lot… Well, let’s try what comes in the bowl.
Well, this is about it as far as noodles I have on hand. What a revoltin’ development! Found this one at S*Mart in Bellevue, Washington. The rest of these have been excellent – let’s check it out!
