Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
They had a sale at HMart of this variety and it was $4. I’ve had it many times and love this stuff – but this is a little different. It’s got a little yellow triangle, mentioning ‘non-soggy noodles.’ Generally, ramyeon that is cooked isn’t soggy or spongy. Is the noodle different from previous versions? The sale kind of seems to me that it might be. This is an export version for the US market. Let’s cook it up.
Okay, so I don’t live under a rock so I know about these things. In fact, I saw an advert for this awhile back and thought ‘oh – the kids might like this.’ So, I let them check it out and I watched a bit of the movie. I hated it. More than I hate slicing a bagel incorrectly. Well, maybe not that much, but I’m really annoyed by this film. I know that a lot of people really like it and that’s fine. However, I do not. It’s K-Pop’s version of Frozen. I went through that Frozen crap when the kids were really little, so another take on it really isn’t something I can embrace. Plus, the animation is awful. The music is catchy, but not the catchy K-Pop I really like; this is so… Commercial. But I do enjoy a tie-in product and this one’s pretty cool. I should mention that the Korean local version of this (yes, this is made in the United States in a great factory in Rancho Cucamonga, California) came with stickers, and I did hear chatter that people over there were buying tons of Shin, taking out the stickers, then selling sets of those stickers on eBay or their equivalent.
Found this one that demands refrigeration at HMarr recently. Rapokki! Well, tteokbokki and chewy noodle… A troublesome thing happened though – the sticker on the side was very stuck and since refrigerated, the paper wasn’t compliant. Got that sticker halfway off and then r-r-rip! So apologies for that on the pic of the side panels. Anyways, let’s give it a try!
So as I type this, it’s Cinco De Mayo. My eyes are watery and I’m sneezing. Really allergied out. This variety was chatted about with friends in the Section 42 mod group – the admins for Ramen Junkies. I decided I’d re-review it; new package, over ten years… Last time, it made my bottom ten. Oh wow – more than ten years – it was review 161! So that’s 15 years ago. Sheesh! This one’s made in South Korea and packaged for US sale. Let’s give it another try – maybe I’ll like it now?
I’ve been looking forward to this one! Rapokki is a combo of ramyun and tteokbokki – tubes of chewy rice flour. That rose flavor though is something else – a combo of sweet and savory and creamy and wow. This should be great stuff – let’s hit it.
Thanks to James from Lakeside, California for sending this one! Never heard of this brand or range before. What’s interesting too is it’s squid as well – I like squid. Let’s try it out!
Big thank you to Pher Engi for sending this along! Recently, I reviewed a tom yum flavored dry noodle from this range. This one has soup. Sounds good – curious how it will be, so let’s cook it up and find out.
Big thanks to Pher Engi for this one! So too warm in the bedroom at night so open the window. Writing this during allergy season so pollen invades room. Misery. That’s how I start my day. Let’s cook.
A big thanks to Noodle Journey for sending this one. So this cold noodle usually has apple I believe but this time it’s strawberry. Very curious about this, so lett’s cook!
I actually ordered this off of YamiBuy which is something I never do but I wanted to give this a go. I’m guessing it won’t be incredibly spicy and I don’t know if or what to pair with it. Dessert ramen? I mean, there’s candy references all over it… Maybe a little chicken though. Let’s cook!
I was recently contacted by Good Seoul – makers of some really great rice cake topokki and rapokki! Topokki (tteokbokki) is rice flour cylinders that have a soft and chewy texture. Alone, they’re really not tasty, but paired with sauce they’re quite addictive. Rapokki is when you have these and introduce wheat noodles as well, making for a dual-textured experience. You can find their facebook here. I’ve done a few reviews so there’s some images in the video – check it out!
Thanks again to Noodle Journey for sending these! This Toowoomba version I reviewed recently from this range really reminded me of their Tangle versions here in the US as far as the noodle is concerned. Let’s give this a try!
Found this at HMart – it was this or a jjajangmyeon and I went straight to this one. I don’t know anything about the gentleman on the front – his name is Paik Jong Won. Here’s a little about him from Wikipedia –
This comes by way of Noodle Journey – thanks! The other day I reviewed one with the same kind of flavor profile from another company. Let’s try this one!
Big thanks to James from Lakeside, California for sending this one along! Well, this is the third review I’m doing today- a day full of so much ‘ugh’ that I would’ve expected it was Friday the 13th… First, I lost a sachet for a variety I was reviewing. Next, I decided to review this one while my kids are home sick – they like to chide eachother repeatedly and get ridiculous which isn’t helpful to my train of thought. Third, once this was done as I was making the kids their lunch, a jar of toothpicks fell and went everywhere. Hopefully this gets everything out of the universe’s system. Anyways, let’s cook up this massive tray of noodles!
This one came by way of James from Lakeside, CA – thanks again! So I haven’t had Japchae in years – it’s a dry sauce vermicelli! Let’s try it out.
Here’s the first of many that will be from Noodle Journey – a fellow reviewer – thanks! Kalguksu is a knife-cut noodle soup – during the unboxing I mention I thought it referenced clams but I was mistaken. I know, but it happens. Let’s give it a try!
Thank you to James from Lakeside, California for sending this along! He also sent a bulgogi sauce version but my wife absconded with it – and I let her. I generally don’t get anything noodle related that she’s all over so I figured that’s fair. Tteokbokki and rice cakes in a tubular shape, usually with a lot of tasty sauce and other toppings. It’s freaking wonderful. This one comes with two servings. Let’s give it a try!
A big thank you to James from Lakeside, California for surprising me a while back with this extra huge instant noodle tray. It’s like four full sized packs of noodles. Will I eat the whole thing? Yeah, I don’t think so. Anything that requires almost a liter and half or water to steep it is going to be pretty crazy. This one was going to me a contender for review #5000. Let’s gie it a try!
Thanks to James from Lakeside California for this one. My guess is this will be spicy; maybe Sichuan peppercorn spicy. This is a cold noodle, so it should be interesting. Well, let’s do this.
Well, it’s Tuesday and Kamala Harris just announced Tim Walz as her running mate. I’m guessing you know how it pans out for them at this point, but for me it is August 6th. This one sounds good – tteokbokki is a rich cake in tube form. When prepared, they’re chewy and usually paired with a spicy and sweet sauce. This one is also including noodle, so this is ‘rabokki.’ Let’s cook this huge pack.
Big thanks to James from Lakeside, CA for sending this along. I have to say, I don’t understand what jjajang has to do with Italian influence. Chapagetti, Chacharoni – and this guy. Jjajangmyeon (black bean sauce noodle) is a fusion of Chinese and South Korean cuisine. I will say the chef is kinda funny insofar that if his moustache was larger, he could be dastardly twisting it like a bad guy in an old cartoon. Nothing bad about topokki though – let’s give it a try!
It’s kind of funny; I think of ‘top o’ the day to you’ or bits o’ beef’ when I see this company name. Anyways, found this at QFC supermarket in Edmonds, Washington when I was looking for curry simmer sauce. Weird. It’s was only $1.49, which isn’t bad!
Hey it’s time for some Korean seafood noodles! This one comes with some sea tangle (kelp) that helps season the soup! I’m kind of excited about this one. Let’s hit it up.
Well, well – another spicy challenge! This one was sent to me by Pher Engi from Australia – thank you very much! Is it me or does it seem like Samyang has a thing for Mexican flavors? Habanero Lime, Quattro – now this. I mean, it lends itself well insofar as spicy variants go. Samyang has done a lot of spicy flavors, so I think they’re having trouble finding new ideas? Maybe… I will say jalapeno cheese is definitely a flavor I enjoy a lot. Let’s give it a try – mukbang below.
This sounds really good – I’ve had rose Buldak before but this is something very different. I’ve had the pack version of Tangle which is more of a creamy thing without a kimchi aspect. Looking forward to trying this – the last one I’m reviewing this week.
James of Lakeside, California has been a real booster to my reviewing – lots of varieties I’ve not reviewed before – check out what’s in this one! Something big!
I think I’ve mentioned recently being almost out of instant noodle varieties to review. Well, I went to HMart today. It’s a Monday. That doesn’t usually happen as it’s probably a two hour or more walk each way. Anyways, I went with my wife, the lovely Kit. See, she got a tooth pulled that was giving her trouble on Friday. Then she had to go back because they missed a couple bits on Saturday. It’s been pure hell for her. Today, we went back to the dentist to look – was worried about dry socket (nope) and infection (nope) – but they gave her more meds and other stuff so hoping that helps. Anyways, got to spend the day with her as she works in a call center and talking on the phone all day when you have trouble opening your mouth as it hurts… This is one that should hurt pretty good – I’ve been wanting to do this spicy one for quite a long time. Well, let’s give it a go!
This one was found at HMart. So let’s delve into jjolmyeon – here’s Wikipedia’s info –
Okay so I found this at HMart and I believe (could be wrong) it’s from the same people that make Bulramen. It’s certainly made in South Korea, but for sale in the United States and packaged for that reason. Anyways, let’s try some beef flavor noodle.
Another find at HMart. Found the pack versions there as well. The packs were certainly underwhelming; both insofar as flavor and heat, however the noodle was pretty good. Let’s give this one a shot.
Here’s another one from my recent visit to HMart. In English, this is Instant Noodle with Seaweed-Sesame Flavor. Makes sense now, eh? This is part of a new range I saw at the store. Let’s check it out!
Looks like we have a Korean boy band with a ton of dudes. Yep. There’s a lot of these tie-ins in Korean varieties. There used to be one that was called DJ Doc which was a tteokbokki and ramyeon variant that was really great – that was the first one I’d seen. Anyways, can’t complain about tteokbokki, that’s for sure. Let’s give it a try!
This one came by way of James from Lakeside, California – thank you again, sir! So, this is a combination of gomtang, a creamy beef soup, and instead of being a soup, this is a dry version, so there’s your paghetti part of the name. It sounds good, and apparently milk can used instead of water which I intend to try. Let hit it up – I’m expecting good things.
Ah, tteokbokki. I really wish I knew about this stuff when I was a kid. Wondrous tubes of rice flour – like big Beefaroni, slathered in a nice sauce. Better yet, with cheese. If you’ve not tried it, you’re really in for a treat once you do, trust me on this. No, not ramen, but definitely something you’ll find on the instant noodle aisle at a Korean market.
This is one I tried when it debuted way back. There were a couple of versions as well. This one is made in South Korea and packaged for sale in the US market. Jjambbong is like a spicy seafood stew. This on the other hand is the same but with a more milky broth. This is a really great one when I’ve had it in the past – let’s visit it again!
Found this neat one at Boo Han Market on Highway 99 in Edmonds, WA. Rapokki is a combination of noodle and rice cake – a great combo of textures and usually really quite good. Hopefully it works out well – seen a few microwavable varieties not go so well – hopefully this is one that gets a good score as rapokki is a favorite.
Well, damn. I thought that this was a rapokki but I was wrong. So, time to review a bowl of tteokbokki. Not quite a noodle, but found where the noodles live. Let’s cook it up.
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box. Here’s what they had to say about it – ‘An offshoot from the Nissin Famous stores series! This special cup was inspired by young Japanese people’s interest in Korean food. It stands out by actually having tiny pieces of Japanese Chili baked into the noodles themselves! But the spiciness is balanced out with cheese, ginning it a sweet n’ sour touch.’
Well, look at this! Thanks to The Fat Hipster for sending this over! It’s kind of funny – this is the first of three varieties sent and I’ve been kind of slow to get to them as they’re not instant noodles, they’re curry sauces. However, lately I’ve been making curries constantly lately. I’ve learned the way of black cardamom too. But here we have one by a company also known for their spicy instant noodle. I actually made butter chicken last night too. Let’s see how this one goes.
