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First, a big thanks to Scott B. who sent this my way – it arrived a couple days ago and I did the unboxing today and now it’s getting reviewed tomorrow. I’m really stoked! Well, what is it? Hokkien Mee is a strong prawn soup with a great oiliness and noodle. I’ve had it in Penang quite a few times at multiple places – and it’s really great stuff. Go to Penang. You won’t be disappointed. Let’s give it a try!
Here’s another one that came out February 2nd – a big Seafood cup! This and three others arrived in a special media box from Nissin Singapore early February – thanks again! Let’s give it a try!
Here’s an interesting one from Japan found in a Zenpop box – check out zenpop.jp and use the coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount!
This should be pretty easy to be found by just about everyone in the United States. Good ol’ Bowl Noodles. They’ve gone through numerous changes over the years insofar as packaging, and this is the latest I’ve seen. It’s got a plastic wrap around it with the labeling. Thanks guys – makes it more difficult for me to scan when things are shrink-wrapped!
This came out of a special media kit box from Sinigapore’s arm Nissin Foods – thank you! They send some pretty cool stuff from over there and this is no exception. It debuted February 2nd of 2023 as well as their BIG Cup Noodles Seafood Flavour as well. Let’s give this one a try!
This one ame by was of Daniel over at Exotic Noods – thanks again! This one’s a jjajangmyeon style noodle, so it’s got a thick and hearty black bean sauce with it. I’ve seen varieties made for GS Mart (a Korean chain) by Paldo, and everything about this package screams Paldo manufacture. If you look on the back by the barcode, you can see it’s made specifically for Us distribution. Anyways, let’s give it a try!
I am a huge fan of tom yum goong. I’m really curious how this one will be – it comes with some surprises as well – like octopus! Let’s checke it out!
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box – use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount!
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box – use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount!
Oh hey now I’m psyched. I love rabokki. It’s a combination of tteokbokki, a rice cake tube, and ramyeon. Alone, kind of bland, but paired with tteokbokki sauce, it’s absolutely delightful. Now, you might wonder how to pronounce tteokbokki. It’s a soft t or a hard d. I heard multiple times that it was one of the hardest words for westerners to pronounce in Korean. Well, I watch a few videos and figured I had it down. One day, I had a violent toothache. I mean ready to take an ice pick to the ice pick pain I was experiencing. I hate going to the dentist. It was so bad I begged my wife to take me. Well, they took pity on me and took a look on the spot. They said we can fix it or pull it. I said let’s yank that beast. I opted for the nitrous oxide – laughing gas. I swear, I’d love to have a tank of that stuff. Anyways, that gas really got me going. After I was all gassed up, I spoke to the doctor, a young Korean guy. Well, I was pretty happy what with all the gas, so I thought I’d see if my Korean was any good, so I asked if I could try it on him. So, I said tteokbokki. He said it was pretty good. Then he took that thing out of my head. Thanks, man! Let’s make some rabokki – I have some tteokbokki left over to use with it. Let’s cook!
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box – use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount!
A couple of years ago, I got some neat samples from Kung Food of Taiwan – they made the Taiwan top ten and were the #1 newcomer to the list that year. Today, I’m revisiting them, and they’ve got a particularly interesting sticker on their packs! I’m not sure who the other guy is on there, but that’s me on there as well – looks pretty cool! Anyways, this is really great stuff – let’s see if it’s changed.
Quite a few years ago, July 8th, 2013 to be precise, I came out with my first The Ramen Rater’s Bottom Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time. I got the idea from a guy who worked at one of the world’s leading instant noodle companies. He asked ‘you have top tens, why not a bottom ten?’ I weighed the idea carefully. I could really piss off a great deal of people with my list. But what the hell – I do that already with my top tens – people are always disagreeing, and that’s fine. Ten years later, it’s time for my tenth installment of The Ramen Rater’s Bottom Ten Instant Noodles list. These are the worst (in my personal opinion) varieties I’ve ever had – mind you this is out of 4,400 reviews. Definitely not a list anyone wants to be on. What companies like I’m sure is when a product falls off the list and a new one gains my ire. This time it’s a horror show theme, done up with AI. Well, let’s check them all out – and remember, if you like some of these, that’s fine with me – just don’t expect me to eat them with you.
Here’s one I found in an Umai Crate from Japan Crate! They have boxes full of neat Japanese varieties! Check out www.japancrate.com and use the coupon code THERAMENRATER to score a sweet discount and get some neat noodles!
It’s time to unbox a Zenpop.jp box – this is a new one. I usually do unboxing of their ramen boxes – which I will still be doing. However, they’re also sending me their new snack boxes which have a noodle variety, and then a ton of candy and snacks. What’s cool is I’ll be not only doing the unboxing, but inline with it will be a taste test with my daughter Mimi. Great as a gift or to hoard for yourself! Use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount! Let’s check it out!
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box – use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount!
One of these days after a few more packaging designs for this one come out, I may have to do a special Definitive Guide to this stuff. What we have here is a snack noodle. It’s seasoned and simply a snack. I’ve had it a few times – once with a wizard on the pack, one with Santa Claus. The designs are usually whimsical and interesting. They’re mainly for kids, I’m guessing. Well, let’s go ahead and give it a go!
Well, look here! It’s been a while – actually I reviewed this over 7 years ago, a couple weeks after my son Miles was born. I remember I liked it quite a bit. Since then I tried the Ghost Pepper Lontong that Mamee made and that was violently spicy. This one is significantly less spicy – and I’m really looking forward to trying it again. Brand new packaging as well.
There’s a few varieties in this Daebak range – and I’ll be trying them all, starting with this one! These are developed and coceived in South Korea by Shinsegae Food and produced by Mamee Doubledecker. I’ve had some of the Daebak pack version in the past, but it looks like the packaging and varieties have almost all changed – new stuff to try! Really excited about this. Let’s give seaweed soup noodle a try!
Here’s an interesting one from Japan found in a Zenpop box – check out zenpop.jp and use the coupon code RAMENRATER for a discount!
It’s tough. I got a bunch of great new varieties from Mamee Doubledecker and Mamee Shinsegae recently. I’ve loved this one for a very long time and I’m really quite excited to mave it – thank you! It’s tough though as I want to make this look as lovely and perfect as it deserves. Malaysian varieties are among the finest in the world.
Here’s one I found in an Umai Crate from Japan Crate! They have boxes full of neat Japanese varieties! Check out www.japancrate.com and use the coupon code THERAMENRATER to score a sweet discount and get some neat noodles!
Today, I’m trying the second variety of the samples that Ramen Talk sent recently. I should mention that I’ve made an error here. This image above is the back of the package… My mistake… It sounds really quite good – let’s check it out!
I’ve been playing with ChatGPT for the last couple of days and have found it absolutely fascinating. I don’t know where I got this bowl, likely from a subscription box. It definitely looks like a shoyu. I wonder what it is…
Back in March of 2017, I reviewed this one for the first time. In November, I ended up going to Taiwan for the second time and it was really quite amazing. The first day there I think, I got to visit a little restaurant called ‘Love Instant Noodles.’
I think this is the last of the varieties that Maruchan sent for the Meet The Manufacturer series. Haven’t had this since it’s initial launch many years ago. These look very much like Maruchan Seimen, a range which is very popular in Japan. So, what’s the different? No pork. Let’s give it a go!
Another one found at Asian Family Market on 130th & Aurora . I’ve had Lan Zhou noodles before – and a few Shoo Loong Kan varieties (those were good). During my research on this variety, I’m bombarded by images of lovely beef and coriander aplenty, in really great bowls I wish I had. It makes me really want to go to China; definitely want to try Lan Zhou, the food of Henan, the food of Chongqing… Pretty much every province has their delicacies. Someday I hope. But today, I have this interesting box with a taste of China in it. Let’s give it a try.
Been lagging on doing top ten list editing – my apologies. The weather’s been really good for walking, and in May I did over 500 miles. I included a special post at the bottom about it. I also included something of a change from how I’ve been doing things as well involving AI. Anyways, this is the annual The Ramen Rater’s Global Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls – these are my favorite varieties out of review up to #4440 which are in the bowl style. Hope you enjoy! Top Ten Cups and Bottom Ten lists should be coming soon!
Here’s another one I found at Asian Family Market the other day. This is a brand I’ve never seen before and thought ‘let’s give it a try.’ It was anice afternoon – brought our new Lab puppy Pepper with us to get her fitted for a choke chain, got some dog food and then of course to the Asian grocery. It was hopping in that area, that’s for sure.
First off, thanks to Daniel over at Exotic Noods for sending this and a few others over recently – check out his website!
A week. Last week I mean. Feeling crummy. Started Sunday and went on until Thursday. Then Friday happened and it was like I was pretty much at 100% again, which was really nice. Went out for a nice walk, then went out shopping. I definitely wanted to see what was up at Asian Family Market – the next day would be Lunar New Year. Got a few things, this being one of them. Looks interesting; let’s check it out!
Behold! I was contacted by a fellow on instagram who follows my reviews and asked if I’d tried these as he has, loved them, but couldn’t source them. I looked around and found ramentalk.us and let him know he could get them there, so he was really happy. I also contacted Ramen Talk to hopefully arrange for some samples. I’m certainly glad I did! These look really quite fascinating – they have a few varieties that I’ll be reviewing in short order as well, but this tonkotsu style sounds great – comes with lots of garnish – including a 7cm slice of chashu. On with the show!
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box – use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount!
Back in mid 2018, I reviewed this right after their ‘new recipe’ change for review #2910. Around that time, it seemed that US manufacturers decided to change the product names of economy pillow packs that were initially known as ‘Oriental’ flavor to Soy Sauce. The term ‘Oriental’ has come under fire in recent years, hence the change. What does Oriental mean? Basically it derives from Latin, meaning ‘of the east’ – the opposite being Occidental being ‘of the west.’ From what I’ve gathered from running the Ramen Junkie facebook group for a while as this has come up from time to time is that many things and businesses will use the term; ‘insert city name here’ Oriental Market for example, however it isn’t a term to be used for people, at least that’s what I found. I read an L.A. Times article about this very subject that I thought was very interesting – you can read it here. One particular quote from the author I found fascinating was ‘A funny thing I noticed is that my Caucasian colleagues, not my Asian colleagues, are most eager to remove Oriental from public discourse.’
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box – use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount!
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box – use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount!
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box – use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount!
The other day I did the competitor’s tray noodle – that was teriyaki beef as well. Been years and years since I’d reviewed either of them. They’re both economy tray varieties and they both dwell on the soup aisle. Let’s give this one a try.
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box – use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount!
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box – use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount!
