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.
Category: Baijia
#4293: Baijia A-Kuan Instant Vermicelli (Hot & Sour) – China
Here’s the last of the three A-Kuan varieties. A while back they were called ‘Big Boss’ and had this guy on the packaging. This fellow looks to be pretty jovial – let’s give it a try.
#4288: Sichuan Baijia A-Kuan Big Boss – Instant Vermicelli Spicy Hot – China
Here’s another one of these varieties with a cartoon looking boss on the cup. I found this at 99 Ranch Market and while I’ve found quite of this style cup there that I’ve enjoyed, the last one I tried wasn’t my favorite. Let’s give this one a try!
#4270: Sichuan Baijia A-Kuan Big Boss – Instant Vermicelli Spicy And Sesame Flavor – China
A while back I discovered some of this brand’s Big Boss varieties – and it looks like there are more now, so that’s neat. Spicy and sesame sounds good enough – let’s find out.
#4251: Sichuan Baijia Chengdu Sweet & Spicy Noodle – China
Went through my bins and found everything I’d not reviewed. Guess what? Only four things. Yep – I’ve all but caught up! Which is good because more should be here tomorrow with more on the way. I’ve been on a roll lately – really found my groove again. Here’s how my day goes (if anyone cares). Get up, get stuff ready for kids, get stuff ready for reviewing. Review. Get my boy on the bus. Have some oatmeal and peanut butter with my daughter. Edit images and video for the reviews I did. Do some walking back and forth in the apartment. Get my daughter ready. Get her on the bus. Walk ten miles. Get home and get my daughter off the bus. Then my son off the bus. Then start taking pictures of the stuff I’ll review the next day and get those posts ready. Then we get the kids dinner done, put em to bed, have our dinner, try not to fall asleep/wake up on the couch and then start the whole thing over. Today is a little different. Today is a new tradition I started a couple of weeks ago. It’s B-roll Sunday. What’s that you probably don’t ask? Well, I go out walking with my rucksack on my back with my monopod, the phone I use to shoot Instant Noodle Recipe Time, and a battery brick in search of benches that have decent views and shoot ten or more minutes of video to do time lapse videos. Today I walked to Seattle – and should have some good intros and outros in store for this and the next couple of episodes of the show. But enought about me and this behind the scenes look at things you probably aren’t interested in. Let’s try this one from China.
#4141: Sichuan Baijia Lanzhou Artificial Beef Flavor Noodle – China
I think I recently did another version of this a little while back – that’s usually means it’s been months. Anyways, pretty crazy here now what with Omicron – so I’ve gotten two emails from the kiddos school district saying be prepared if things get worse they’ll be back home with their school tablets again. That would be incredibly unfortunate; they get so much out of socializing. Then again I don’t want my kids getting sick. My son’s fully vaccinated and my daughter got her first one a day after her 5th birthday just before Christmas.
#3902: Baijia Chengdu Sweet Noodle – China
Here’s one we found at a fancy market on Highway 99 south of Shoreline. This one sounds pretty good – I suppose we shall see. Let’s check it out!
#3860: Baijia Mian-Yang Rice Noodle Artificial Beef Flavor – China
I don’t I’ve mentioned lately how absolutely wonderful my wife is. I should just do a standalone post every week saying that and extolling the reasons why, but here’s one thing she did that was absolutely wonderful. We had a car accident in mid January (as I write this it’s early March) and we’ve had a loaner as it gets fixed. Yeah – early March. Since mid January, I haven’t been in a car. We’ve got two kids, two car seats, and one just won’t get in there right and so someone has to stay at home and since I don’t drive, that’s me. Well, the local grocery store I walk to had some sad mung bean sprouts and it’s Sunday – a week without mung bean sprouts is a sad ordeal for me. She drove to the 99 Rach Market out of town, got my veggies and then proceeded to send me individual photos of different instant noodles in hopes of finding some I’ve not reviewed. I’m super low on varieties I’ve not tried which is serious no bueno. She did find a few though and this is one of them. So I say thank you to my kind and wonderful wife. Let’s have a look at this rice noodle variety!
#3822: Sichuan Baijia Red Oil Noodle – China
Found this one at 99 Ranch Market in Edmonds, WA. They just keep bringing in these ‘flower pots’ and I couldn’t be happier. It never ends. I like that. This one’s ‘red oil,’ so I’m guessing it’s spicy. Neat artwork on this one – let’s check it out!
#3818: Sichuan Baijia Luosi Rice Noodles – China
Here’s a big noodle cup I found at the 99 Ranch Market in Edmonds, WA. You might wonder – what’s Luosi mean? Here’s something from Wikipedia –
#3815: Sichuan Baijia Hot & Sour Instant Vermicelli – China
Here’s another one that arrived in a box from Exotic Noods. Use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount!
#3697: Sichuan Baijia Big Boss Broad Noodle Chili Oil Flavor (Sour & Hot) – China
I found one of these up in Canada with a pink label – I think it was a narrow noodle that time. This is a broad noodle. Let’s see what the boss has to say…
#3631: Sichuan Baijia Yibin Burning Noodle – China
My initial though was ‘wow – what a good price!’ Found these at 99 Ranch Market for 99 cents! However, I did notice they expire in 4 days and immediately realized why they’re so cheap! Let’s give them a try.
The Ramen Rater’s Bottom Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2020 Edition
Here we go again. It always surprises me that I have to put out a new list of these every year. I guess the redeeming fact is that some varieties get to be pushed out of the list, which I’m sure they’re happy about. Anyways, these are my least favorite instant noodle varieties from over 3500 reviews. This list is current as of review #3545. Let’s check out The Ramen Rater’s Bottom Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2020 Edition.
#3408: Sichuan Baijia Hong You Mian Pi – China
Okay so I’m going to take a wild stab and guess this is a spicy one. Fire, peppers – yeah at least somewhat hot. I don’t remember exactly where this came from – Canada, that’s for sure (Imean it’s Chinese but I picked it up in Canada). Anyways, it’s been a while since I’ve tried one from this brand – let’s give it a try!
#3207: Sichuan Baijia Burning Dry Noodles Chili Oil Flavor – China
Alright so here’s one we found up in Canada at China Worlsd in Richmond, BC. That’s a really fascinating store with lots of products I’ve never seen before. But hey if you go there – bring cash if you’re coming from the US – and make sure it’s Canadian cash! Let’s get started.
The Ramen Rater’s Bottom Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2019 Edition
It’s that time again – time to run down the worst varieties I’ve ever had. That’s no small task either – this list is current as of review #3180. These are the ten worst ones, in my opinion, leaving a lasting negative impression on my taste buds. With that, I again give you what you want.
#3159: Sichuan Baijia Big Boss Hot & Sour Sweet Potato Vermicelli – China
Found this one up in Canada at Foodyworld and it looks really neat! The kids are really interested in this one but I’m sure it’s definitely off the charts spicy for them. I’m always curious when I see a cartoon or comic character on a product. Definitely looks interesting, that’s for sure! Let’s crack it open!
#3093: Sichuan Baijia Green Curry Shrimp Flavor Instant Vermicelli – China
Here’s one I found up in Canada – can’t remember where. Green curry is one of my favorite flavors, however not one that I think I’ve ever seen coming out of China. Sichuan Baijia has been coming out with more and more different varieties – and different little cartoon characters on their packaging. Let’s give this one a try and see how it fares.
#2976: Sichuan Baijia Sichuan Hot & Sour Vermicelli
Here’s one I found up in Canada at China World I believe. The sheer amount of varieties up there is pretty intense – especially ones from this company. Curious how it will be. Let’s find out!