The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Okay I know – I don’t usually review restaurant food but I thought I would this time. After our trip to Nongshim and learning about Korean food and culture, we were curious about this local restaurant. I looked through the menu and decided I should give their noodles a try! I found Naengmyeon combo and thought that might be good. I had no idea what it would be about, except that noodles were involved and that it was ‘good in the Summer.’ Here’s what Wikipedia says about Naengmyeon:
Been busy lately so decided it’s time to do this one up! If you’re new to The Ramen Rater’s Show Your Noodles, every week you can email me a picture of some noodles you’ve made. include your name and location and I’ll post it on the weekly roundup! Fancy or functional, it doesn’t matter. I mean, you could do literally anything you want with some instant noodles – use your imagination! Want to be part of next week’s Show Your Noodles? Just email me at hans@theramenrater.com. Let me know you first name, last initial, and city/state or country!
Here’s the last of the Spoon it’s that I received from the folks at Nissin Foods, USA. Sounded like something good for lunch. Anyways, let’s get to it!
Welcome to the 12th installment of The Ramen Rater Noodle News!
Here’s a slew of stories I found online in the past week or two – enjoy!
Here’s another one of the big JML bowls sent by Michelle L. of Tarrytown, New York. Mushroom chicken eh? Alright, let’s give this a try.
I’ve got to just say it – wow! They sent us a huge box of neat noodle knick knacks and other Ningshim niceties! This is pretty epic – check it out! By the way – I think this has to be the coolest packing tape in existence!
Here’s something really new and very different from a lot of the instant noodles I’ve reviewed before. Jinjja Jinjja translates to “Really Really” (Spicy Spicy) – and I suppose in this review we’re going to find out how really really spicy Jinjja is! I should say that I sampled this one at Nongshim America while I was down there, so I have tried it before – but not a while bowl of it. I found out that the flavor comes from boiling pork bones for a long time, black beans and peanuts! It also turns out that the wheat flour used to make these has some red pepper powder added to them – heat in the noodle as well as from the dry seasonings! Let’s give this a try!
I got two shipments today – one from Nongshim America, which I visited last week (there’ll be a lot of stuff all about the visit, the plant tour and the people very soon!). Here’s the first one from Nongshim America!
I was digging in the bottom of the noodle hamper and pulled this one out – pretty old and needs ingested ASAP! It’s one my sister picked up for me in Canada last year. Very small pack too! Let’s give it a try.
Here’s one my sis got me in the Vancouver, BC area. Tom Yum’s usually something I like – let’s see!
Here’s another one sent to me by Carter B. of Lancaster PA! This is another one he got in Mali (a country in west Africa), and this brand hails from Dubai! Let’s check it out!
Well, we’re back from outr trip to Nongshim USA! It was absolutely amazing! The people were so nice, seeing how noodles were made amazing, and the new flavors I tasted were great! I’ll be posting a bit about the trip very soon! For now, I’d like to thank Ray Adams for introducing my wife and I to the world of Nongshim USA! His boss Ray Kim made us feel very welcome and it was so much fun talking with them and everyone else there about noodles and the Nongshim culture. We are so lucky to have been afforded this opportunity and really appreciated it! Can’t wait to do Meet The Manufacturer: Nongshim week! Until then, I’ll be posting a bit of info about the tour and what happened while I was there. Keep your eyes peeled!
Here’s another one from Michelle L. of Tarrytown, New York. I think this is the third and final flavor of the Good Good Eats – at least insofar as I’ve not seen any more anywhere. Let’s give it a try!
Tomorrow, my wife and I are headed to the airport to fly down to the Nongshim USA plant in Rancho Cucamonga, California! There, we’re going to do a plant tour, a noodle tasting, and a videotaped interview for the next Meet The Manufacturer, which (you guessed it) will feature Nongshim. We’ll return on Saturday with stories and pictures – I might do a post while we’re down there from my phone possibly. I want to say thank you to the wonderful folks at Nongshim USA for this opportunity to learn more about their company and instant noodles! We’re really looking forward to this! Next stop, southern California.
Here’s a good one – this is the Indnesian local version of the first Indomie I ever tried – Satay. Curious if it’s any different.
This one is a donation from Courtnay N. of Surrey, BC! She brought some back from a trip to Japan! Thanks! So this looks really interesting – let’s give it a try!
Yep – yet another one of these. So far I’ve enjoyed them as lot! They’re part of the box of samples that Nissin Foods USA sent for Meet The Manufacturer week. Anyways, check it out!
3/19/2013 – UPDATE – Check this new article out – I was published on consumeraffairs.com
Here’s another one of the samples Nissin Foods USA were kind enough to send me. Thanks! Spicy chicken today huh? sounds good to me.
Last evening, my wife and I both started really getting attacked by an insidious enemy. One that doesn’t show itself but just occurs without warning. Allergies. Eyes, nose throat; everything just seemed to be very busy making us miserable. At this point, I would usually turn to an old standby my mother used to make for me when my face’s innards went awry like this – Mrs. Grass Chicken Soup Mix. Wonderful stuff – it has a little rubbery golden egg shaped thing called (I’m totally not kidding about this) ‘The Golden Flavor Nugget.’ Lots and lots of noodles and chickenny goodness. Well, we don’t have any, so I thought I’d go ahead and hit up this one. Creamy chicken flavor is one of my favorites – and Nissin doesn’t make creamy chicken Top Ramen anymore so I wonder how this stuff is. So off we go intgo noodle land!
Here’s another Nissin – had to make something quick today – it’s my wife’s birthday! Happy birthday, Kitten!
Well folks, this is the last one I’ll be reviewing for Meet The Manufacturer: Nissin week. There will be more Nissin reviews coming of course so don’t worry. The ramen hamper runneth over with new varieties to try! So this is a very old one – old as in I reviewed it was back at number #85 – over 600 reviews ago. I think it’s due.
Here’s another chow mein – this time Chinese Chicken Vegetable!
Here’s the bottom of the package (click image to enlarge)
Here’s another of the new Spoon it line of noodle soups from Nissin! Beef stew sounds tasty…
My lovely wife got me this for my birthday! Ooh black garlic oil tonkotsu? I can’t wait to try this! Sounds awesome!
Here’s another one from Nissin! Lime Shrimp eh? Sounds decent – let’s try!
Last time I had a bowl of Beef Top Ramen was way back at review #221! That seems like forever ago! Well, it’s Meet The Manufacturer: Nissin week and I couldn’t go without reviewing some Top Ramen, right? Decided I’d go with beef. Here we go!
Here we go – this is the original instant noodle. This is what Momofuku Ando first sold in Japan! This is the real deal. Here’s a link to my post on Momofuku Ando Day!
Here’s a new flavor of Cup Noodles!
Back of the cardboard packaging (click image to enlarge).
Here’s a new flavor of chow mein to check out! Sounds pretty good – I like orange chicken.
Whoa check this out – Spoon it? This is something brand new from Nissin. Apparently, it’s been released on the east coast. I was told that noodles like this do better in colder climates (funny how the weather worked this year!). A box of noodles… Let’s check this out!
Here’s a new one from Nissin – Spicy Chicken Big Cup Noodles. Let’s give it a try!
Welcome to the second installment in the ‘Meet The Manufacturer’ series! This one’s with Nissin, makers of the ever-popular Top Ramen, Cup Noodles and the like. They sent a nice package of different instant varieties to sample – most of them new to me. The following interview is with Senior Marketing Manager, Linda Chung, facilitated by Senior Marketing Coordinator Scott Akazaki.
This big box was at the office today for me to pick up after work – it’s samples from Nissin USA! I’ve been talking with one of the people in their marketing department lately and we’re going to do a Meet The Manufacturer week pretty soon – just waiting for the answers to the interview questions to come back from the Sr. Marketing guy! Well, let’s open it up and see what’s inside!
Here’s another that my sister brought me back from Canada! XO Sauce Seafood flavor sounds good – I think I’ll drop a couple discs of naruto in it too!
I’ve seen many times mentions of Kamaboko and Naruto in ramen dishes and looked all over for them. This last Saturday we went to Uwajimaya and I found both! Hah! First, let’s check out Kamaboko. It’s surimi, which comes in many ways – for example, imitation crab is one form of surimi.
You may have been wondering, “why so few reviews this week?” Well, to put it mildly, I’m sick. Had this horrible nagging cough for three weeks. Didn’t make it to work two weeks ago, made it this week and then the whole thing kicked into ultra overdrive. We’re talking about staying in bed all day people. Mucus flowing like the Mississippi. I’m starting the slow path to recovery thanks in no small part to my wife and my sister’s kindness. Today I decided that after being upo for quite a while I’d better make myself eat something. I decided to go with some chicken Top Ramen.
Today, my Top Ten List has made news in Japan (Google Translate here) and so I thought it would only be proper to try a nice Japanese bowl of noodles by Nissin. This one’s packing some tempura!
Today seemed like a good day to have some Kimchi noodle bowl action. Here we are and here we go!
Here it is – the new Ramen Rater Top Ten List! It was originally released on Foodiggity.com on January 9th, 2011 as an exclusive guest post I did. Now, here it is on The Ramen Rater for your perusal with links to all of the corresponding reviews! Enjoy!
