The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
So here’s a weird looking one – something my sis brought me back from Canada. Chili Pork flavor sounds good in theory, but very curious how it’ll be in practice. Also, This is the first Knorr brand instant noodle I’ve reviewed; kind of surprising to be honest.
Didn’t think this wasn’t a repeat review but yeah – this is new! So here we go!
So here’s something new from Payless – Paincit Shanghai. I’ve had numerous Pancit Canton varieties in the past. Somebody once commented I should try the Shanghai and alluded to it being hot and spicy. We shall see!
So here’s another one my sister brought me back from Canada! Definitely a flavor you can’t find here in the states.
So here’s something new – a bowl noodle from Hong Kong by Sau Tao (Sun Shun Fuk). Shall we?
So I reviewed this one a really long time ago and thought it really needed to be brought out again. I don’t even remember what score I gave it, but it’s being prepared no doubt a little different this time and so we shall see how it fares. I remember liking it a great deal.
So these instant noodles are very prevalent in this area and I imagine easily procured anywhere in the USA. This is Nongshim Shin Ramyun Gourmet Spicy flavor and it was purchased at a regular grocery store.
Maggi: Chinese Noodles Lemon Chicken Flavor
Stars: *** 1/2
Country of origin: India
Seasoning: 2 Packets, 1 dry 1 oil
Noodles: Wheat flour
I’m a big fan of instant noodles – such a big fan that I started www.ramenrater.com to review different varieties. Of all things ramen, I’ve come up with this homemade noodle recipe, taking ingredients from all over the far east and orient.
Hua Feng Noodle Expert: Favoury Pork Flavor
Stars: *
Notes: Aside from being ‘favoury,’ this wasn’t really all that good. More like ‘pork rancid favoury’ if you ask me.
Hua Feng Noodle Expert: Spicy Instant Noodles – Spicy Seafood Flavor
Stars: ***
Notes: This stuff’s actually quite different – it comes in a round cake of noodles, and fits quite snugly into the cooking pot. After cooking it, it really sucks up water and basically turned into a big bowl of seafood spaghetti! Wasn’t too shabby with some roman peasant bread left over from mother’s day.
Indomie: Chicken Cup
Stars: **
Notes: A little too salty for my taste; was missing some important things like really tasty flavor and seasoning oil. I suppose that’s the trade-off when having a small cup-o-noodles style cup. However, one of the coolest things in the ramen industry is the Indomie Folding Fork, which is included. It just folds and snaps into place! Sturdy too. So yes, it’s worth it for the fork.
Indomie: Chicken Curry Flavor
Stars: ****
Notes: Ah now this stuff is classy. First off yes, it tastes like curried chicken. There’s oil, cabe [chili powder], fried onions, and bumbu sauce [the powdered base]. Another fine Indomie product to be sure. Best with a couple small pieces of BBQ pork on the side, a fried egg on top and some pickled ginger garnish. Get it here.
Indomie: Curly Noodles With Grilled Chicken Flavor
Stars: *****
Notes: This has to be the penultimate achievement in the ramen producing world. First off, these noodles are great; they are flat and curly with an unsurpassed, fine character. The package comes with a myriad of flavorings, including sweet soy, bumbu sauce, seasoned oil, chili powder, and finally, an extra special packet. After boiling the noodles and mixing with the seasonings in a bowl, you add 1/2 a cup of boiling water to this packet and stir – it’s a soup base. This stuff is really good – especially when you put two fried eggs on top of the ramen, then pour it over slowly. Fried shallots on top of that with a bit of shedded pickled ginger makes the scene complete. I can’t recommend any ramen more than this one. This is top! Get it here.
Indomie: Fried Noodles
Stars:****
Notes: Another one of Indomie’s great line of noodles. These are your basic variety of noodles – just plain fried. Best with some form of meat/vegetable garnish. Get it here.
Indomie: Hot Fried Noodles
Stars:****
Notes: Exactly the same as the above fried noodles, only this one has a bit of hot chili with it. It’s quite hot and very good stuff – best with garnish, even better with fried eggs. Get it here.
Indomie: Shrimp Flavor
Stars: ***
Notes: Not a bad bowl of noodles, although a little salty. Of course quite good when made with a bit of fried or scrambled egg on top. Get it here.
Indomie: Jumbo BBQ Chicken
Stars: ****
Notes: It’s pretty good – a big bowl of noodles that don’t really taste like barbecued chicken. However, it’s flavor is quite good and reminiscent of the Satay variety. Get it here.
Indomie: Jumbo Meat Ball
Stars:***
Notes: Strangely enough, this did have a slight hamburger-like flavor to it. It’s best quality is that it’s a jumbo pack – can’t get enough of this stuff! Basically very much like the regular fried noodles. Get it here in the regular size.
Indomie: Satay Fried Noodles
Stars: *****
Notes: This is the stuff that really got me into ramen. First off, five seasoning packets.
Second, by displaying sunny side up eggs on the packaging, I of course had to
try it for breakfast and quite enjoyed it. This is truly the alpha and omega of
the ramen hunter’s holy grail. The first ramen I found that required the noodles
be drained, then added to the dry bowl with the seasonings/oils and stirred. An
extremely spiritual experience. Get it here.
NOTE – there is an updated re-review of this pack – much better! 12/09/2011
Indomie: Special Chicken
Stars:****
Notes: Beats the living hell out of the domesticated ‘Top Ramen Chicken’ flavor. Although it does lack a soup base as do all of Indomie’s products but the special curlies, it’s very chickeny and great with eggs and even better with a bit of chicken. Get it here.
Kim Ve Wong Brand Jaopai Series: Vegetarian Instant Noodles Mixed Flavor Bowl Stars: ZERO
Notes: Never thought it possible to give a zero star rating to noodles, but this one gets it for sure. Sometimes, the noodles I try are almost too hot to eat, but I eat them anyways. However, these noodles weren’t at all palatable; they were horrid. A bowl with a retort pouch and a sesame oil packet and base. Very nasty, due to the low quality retort pouch innards. I wouldn’t wish this stuff on my worst enemy. Perhaps tasting the food they make prior to allowing it to leave the factory might be a good tip.
Kung Fu: Chicken Flavor Stars: *
Notes: Well, as far as this stuff goes, I can truthfully say NOTHING SPECIAL GPING ON HERE. I really was hoping I would be able to beat up bad guys and work it like Jackie Chan after eating it, but this was not even remotely the case. Basically a bowl of chicken flavor noodles. Very much like your standard Americanized noodles you’d find in a big supermarket.
Little Cook: Pork & Mustard Stem Bowl Stars: 1/2
Notes: This stuff is bad – very bad. Boasting great flavor because of fresh meat and
vegetables [retort pouch], the freshness wasn’t there. As with many bowl noodles,
the ramen’s quality is overlooked and the retort pouch is added. The pok was
spongy, like wet pork rinds and had a bitter, almost sour coffee taste.
Lucky Me: Pancit Canton Chili Mansi Flavor
Stars: ***
Notes: This is like the Kalamansi [Lime] flavor, but with a little kick. Perfect noodle to
go with gin and tonics. Get it here.
Lucky Me: Supreme Bulalo Flavor Bowl [Beef Marrow]
Stars: ***
Notes: This stuff was really decent – tasted like good beef broth and the noodles stood
firm and potent. What this bowl needed was perhaps a packet of dried onions
with it – would have probably earned it another star.
Lucky Me: Pancit Canton Citrus Flavor
Stars: ***
Notes: This was something new for sure – citrus ramen? Well, it didn’t taste all that
extremely fruity. I ate it without any adulterants [veggies, chicken, eggs etc]
and found it to be quite good – was like the way lemon juice highlights a good
salmon dish. Was definitely lime juice doing all the marketing here.
Lucky Me: Pancit Canton Hot Chili Flavor
Stars: ***
Notes: I was quite ill with horrible seasonal allergies when I tried this flavor, but
it was about perfect. What I found odd was that since ramen packs that
say hot chili usually live up to the name – not this one – not hot at all. I
suppose it could be due to the fact that I was sick and couldn’t taste much…
Lucky Me: Itnok
Stars: ***
Notes: This is some really decent stuff. A very tasty chicken broth and very curious noodles round out this small bag. It seems this may be a children’s style of ramen also. I wonder what Itnok means – could it be the sound of the chicken emoting sheer joy being told it will be ground into a flavorful spice sack and packaged with a smiling likeness of itself? I’m hoping so, as if it were an unhappy chicken, Bock Bagok would be the name,
MAMA: Oriental Style Instant (Chand Clear Soup) Stars: ***
Notes: This stuff ain’t too bad. Definitely rice noodles. The broth was extremely good – a little spicy, but clear as it purports. Tasted like a celery soup. Did just fine with it even
though I have a severe unrelated gut-ache.
Maruchan: Noodle Soup – Shrimp Flavor
Stars: **
Notes: I don’t know why, but the ramen companies that cater to the U.S. customer really dropped the ball here – there’s only one packet and the noodles are of very poor quality. However, this type of ramen’s saving grace is it’s ability to be used to make a bastardized version of ‘Spaetzel,” a Scandinavian dish. Get it here.
Mi Hai: Crab Flavor and Prawn Flavor Stars: *** 1/2
Notes: This is some really decent stuff – not a whole lot to it, but definitely tastes like crab and prawn.
The noodles are better than expected too. One note though, it does tend to give me extremely bad
heartburn. I don’t like that.
Myojo: Ippeichan Yakisoba Japanese Style Noodles
Stars: ****
Notes: This stuff was way cool – it comes in a box with four seasoning packets. So ya take em’ out and fill it up to the line with boiling water for 3 minutes. Then, you drain it [the lid has very keen drain spouts] and mix in the flavors. There’s vegetables, nori, soba sauce and this very odd packet of mustard mayonnaise. Wish that Dijonnaise tasted half as good. So yeah – very good box of ramen, and lives up to it’s claim of being Japanese style. [AMAZONPRODUCTS asin=”B0028PDFQG”]
Myojo: Special Duck Flavor Stars: *
Notes: This stuff is nasty. It does live up to being duck flavored, as it’s VERY gamey and really stinks. Will NEVER eat this again. Get it here.
Namchow: Tom Yum Shrimp Bowl Stars: *** 1/2
Notes: Just polished it off a minute ago. Not extremely complicated but a very satisfying bowl.
Upon opening the packaging, the consumer is greeted by two small but very clear pouches
of which one contains a mix of chili oil/seasoning oil, and the other a base with
dehydrated meat ad vegetables. After leaving it to steep with some boiling water, the
end product is a bowl full of bright red broth and some really greasy noodles. Wasn’t a
really hot bowl; on the contrary, it was very citrussy flavored. But very very greasy. I
can’t begin to describe how greasy it is! A worthy bowl of noodles on it’s own.
Nissin: ORIGINAL – 1958
Stars: *****
Notes: This is where ramen noodles all began. In fact, this is what
really got me into noodles. A long long time ago, I was able to get
Nissin brand ‘Roasted Ramen’ noodles at the normal supermarket.
For ages I tried to find it again, but finally found it at the local
oriental grocery. This stuff is awesome – it’s got the seasoning in the
noodles. You can also eat this stuff uncooked – like potato chips,
or sprinkle it on salad etc. This is a score – try it!
Nissin: Curry Demae
Stars: ****
Notes: Oh sweet elixir of life that brings exquisitely painful heartburn, curry be thy name. This stuff was excellent – very good curry flavor! The ‘demae’ variety is what we call Top Ramen in the United States. The character depicted on this pack is called ‘Ching Chai,’ and there’s a big following for this little guy in Japan. Really good with some sliced hard boiled egg on top of fried egg with runny yolk makes the broth richer. Get it here.
Nissin: Soba Noodles w/Mustard/Mayo Squirt
Stars: ****
Notes: A very decent box noodle – lots of the squirty mayo/mustard goop and the noodles tasted very much like Sapporo’s chow mein style. The best part is squirting the magical mayonnaise-mustard packet all over the place! It’s very difficult to have the control needed to make the beautiful latticework as shown in the serving suggestion, so a picture of myself eating noodles was what I went for. Worth a try for sure.
Nissin: Spicy Flavor
Stars:***
Notes: This is the variety of noodles you see when you enter this site
and in the background. It lives up to its’ name as it is quite spicy. My only
issue with it is that the noodles are of the rice-vermicelli variety. Way too thin for me. Get it here.
Nissin: Spicy Seafood Flavor w/Chili Pepper
Stars: **
This wasn’t too bad at all, just not much really
special about it. As far as spiciness, nothing to sweat.
