The Definitive Source For Instant Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Today, we have one that was part of Japan Crate’s Umai Crate. So Japan Crate is a subscription service which has all sorts of different options for you. pretty neat stuff from Japan! There’s a coupon code for you too – just use THERAMENRATER to get a special discount at check out.
Here’s one of the many varieties I still have from Rooster, a range made in China for Canada’s Loblaw’s company. Loblaw’s owns The Real Canadian SuperStore, and that’s where I found these. Just think of Walmart, but slightly different and Canadian owned – not American. Let’s check this one out – the others in this range have been surprisingly good despite the very plain look to them.
Here we have another variety with the hua diao cooking wine. Curious what the pickled vegetables are – guessing mustard stem would be one of them. Time to check out another unique variety from Taiwan!
As a company who got a lot of backing from Kickstarter, they had to come up with a perk for folks who contributed. This special bowl is a really neat perk that has really cool proprties! What are they? Watch and find out!
We found this one up at Foodyworld in Richmond, BC. They were on a great sale – 2 for $3CAD! Not bad at all! I have to say I love this packaging’s graphic. The food is all sharp and colorful and contrasts so well with the background. Very old school Chinese! Sorry about the lack of pictures of what’s inside the sachets – woke up late and so rushing to get just this one done! Let’s have a look!
We found this one up at Foodyworld in Richmond, BC. They were on a great sale – 2 for $3CAD! Not bad at all! I have to say I love this packaging’s graphic. The food is all sharp and colorful and contrasts so well with the background. Very old school Chinese! Let’s have a look!
Found this one recently up in Canada at a T&T Supermarket. There’s a few of them in Richmond, BC – they’re all pretty big. The one we went to was connected to an Olympic skating oval which was kind of interesting. What was kind of hard at this as is with many stores I’ve been to is that I would’ve been able to get more varieties, however they were in multi-packs instead of singles. I’m only going to review one item, so not into spending ten bucks on a multi-pack of noodles. Anyhoo, let’s check this one from China out!
Here’s the last of the three new Big Bowl varieties Samyang Foods sent me. As you can see, they are big bowls. Also, you might be thinking ‘hey – this doesn’t look like a very South Korean variety!’ Well, this is what is called an export variety. Let’s take a look!
Here’s one I found up in Canada at FoodyWorld – a huge grocery store which has something from everywhere in Asia. Thai curry eh? I’m game! Never have I seen this brand before – excellent! Let’s give it a look!
Here’s one of the very last varieties I found in Taiwan during my last visit in November, 2017. Big thanks to Kyle K. for help translating this one! So braised meats from Taiwan are some of the most amazing flavors – anywhere. I’m telling you – find a Taiwanese restaurant and get some braised pork – it’ll blow your freaking mind. Alright – let’s crack this bowl open and get this going.
Well this is something different. I haven’t had a lobster flavor variety in quite a while – definitely well over a year – at least I think so. Let’s give it a try!
Found this one among others up at FoodyWorld in Richmond, B. I just can’t get enough of Canada – it’s such a nice place with nice people and nice everything. This one looked fascinating – let’s check it out.
Got an email from Blount Fine Foods the other day about a new product they’ve got – Beef Pho! It was packed on ice and sent overnight – so I had to open it as quickly as possible. Let’s check it out!
Here’s another neat one from Zenpop.JP. Thank you! So Zenpop has all sorts of monthly boxes including ramen boxes. Nine instant ramen in one box for a good price – check ’em out and use coupon code RAMENRATER at checkout for a discount! Here’s what they had to say about this one –
Today, we have one that was part of Japan Crate’s Umai Crate. So Japan Crate is a subscription service which has all sorts of different options for you. pretty neat stuff from Japan! There’s a coupon code for you too – just use THERAMENRATER to get a special discount at check out.
Here’s another neat one from Zenpop.JP. Thank you! So Zenpop has all sorts of monthly boxes including ramen boxes. Nine instant ramen in one box for a good price – check ’em out! Here’s what they had to say about this one – ‘Simple, classic shouyu ramen will never be boring. Flavorful vegetables, roasted garlic, and black pepper boost the savory taste of shouyu based chicken soup. The toppings include chopped roasted pork, shrimps, scrambled eggs and green onions.’
Another big meaty bowl I lugged back from Taiwan in November 2017. A reader on the Facebook page for The Ramen Rater requested I pick this one up and I found it I believe at FamilyMart.
This one’s got horns and flying saucers on the packaging – something that denotes… Well, horns and flying saucers I suppose. I guess it more likely denotes ‘hey look at me – I’m on the store shelf!’ The double bang is for the two noodle blocks. The other variety I reviewed in this series had two in it as well and called for (like this one) 700ml boiling water. Guess we will see how this one goes as well! I remember seeing these on store shelves – I think I got all but one of the varieties (sniff) but hey – got some pretty fascinating ones. Taiwanese beef noodles, it is your time to shine.
I looked around a bit and read that these big things in here are burdock tempura. Should be interesting – if you don’t know about burdock, here’s some info from Wikipedia –
Here’s a special one! Got contacted by a company about some fancy new bowls with a familiar flavor. See, I’ve been reviewing instant noodles for a long time, but there was a gap of about 5 years in the middle where I reviewed hot sauces. Tapatio is a popular hot sauce here in the United States – so I’m sure you’ll be excited to see this one!
Here’s another instant ramen bowl from Zenpop. Zenpop offers boxes of ramen among other things from Japan – pretty good stuff and definitely worth checking out! Here’s what they have to say about this variety –
Here’s one I brought back from Taiwan in November 2017. There are four different ones with different illustrations of different expressions – they’re pretty interesting. Now,m there’s scant few characters on this bowl I can read, so I’d like to thank everyone on Facebook for the help in translation! Much appreciated! So double bang – why double bang? Well, there’s two noodle blocks. Bang! Noodles! Bang! Noodles! Makes sense to me. Really excited as this isn’t the first one I brought back from Taiwan I’ve reviewed, but this is the first Taiwanese variety I’ve brought back from Taiwan I’m reviewing – let’s have a look!
Well, here we are. This is one I found at Walmart up in Richmond, BC Canada. I’ve never had a lot of luck finding enjoyment of this brand but always gotten a lot of mail/questions about it. People have asked me many times how they can complain to the company that makes thes. I don’t know exactly why – I think a lot of the time people will store instant noodles and they’ll get banged up or the packs will get opened and after a long time will go bad. But my complaint usually has been that they’ve usually not had very strong flavors and the noodles come out funny when you follow the directions.
Today, we have one that was part of Japan Crate’s Umai Crate. So Japan Crate is a subscription service which has all sorts of different options for you. pretty neat stuff from Japan! There’s a coupon code for you too – just use THERAMENRATER to get a special discount at check out.
Here’s another one sent by Zenpop. Zenpop is a subscription box service where you can get many varieties of Japanese products sent to your door monthly. Here’s what they had to say about this variety –
So this is one that the company sent to me – thanks! So this is one of the new Taste Of Asia series, a range that has some really great varieties. I really liked the Sukiyaki Beef from their first three kinds and then they came out with this one and also a Tom Yum which I would say is my favorite so far.
When I saw this one I was extremely interested. I’ve had tom yum soup many times in Thailand and in Malaysia as well. I’ve reviewed tom yum instant noodle varieties from throughout Southeast Asia – tons of them. I’ve NEVER had one however from the United States. Not only that, this one is a microwavable tom yum. I must admit these are definitely uncharted waters. I’m really hoping this is good. With an open mind and palate, I delve into this bowl.
Here’s another one from Zenpop.JP. Zenpop offers a lot of diverse Japanese boxes – lots of assorted things like ramen and also stationary among other things. Here’s what they have to say about this variety –
I’ve tried the pack version of this and it was some of the best I’ve had. I really like that the South Korean companies have now adopted the wider thick noodle in a lot of products. These have a little extra character and are very good. So Jjajang usually begins the word jjajangmyeon – basically a noodle with black bean sauce. Let’s see how the bowl version of this product fares.
Here’s another one from ZenPop. Zenpop offers a wide variety of Japanese product boxes to your door – lots of stationary and ramen as well – check em out! Here’s what they had to say about this curry udon –
Here’s one I found at PriceSmart Foods up in Richmond, BC in July 2017. They had a ton of these and they sounded interesting. These are from Hong Kong – not a place I would think of when it comes to laksa. Here’s a little about laksa from Wikipedia –
Here’s yet another great one from Javier over at Box From Japan. Box From Japan offers subscription instant ramen bowls – you can get a box every month! Thank you! So what’s this wakame? Here’s a little from Wikipedia –
I’ve reviewed many fresh varieties in the past and this is a new variety from a brand I’ve never reviewed any products from before! What’s more, it’s a company in the United States. I must say that the packaging is rather striking; it’s thick cardboard and the little cut out of the bowl and steam coming out above it is really neat.
Here’s one sent by Javier over at Box From Japan. At Box From Japan, you can receive boxes of instant ramen from Japan as well as different subscription boxes like Japanese candy! Sounds interesting, doesn’t it? What’s more, in the two years I’ve been reviewing these, I’ve not ever received one that I’d reviewed before! This one has a unique flavor – let’s see a little more from Wikipedia –
Today we have Song Song Kimchi Ramen. Kimchi varieties out of South Korea are among my favorites. I really like the tangy as well as bright, spicy flavors. Kimchi is interesting; it’s cabbage as well as many other ingredients that is allowed to ferment for an amount of time.
Here’s another one, sent by Javier over at Box From Japan. So boxfromjapan.com is a subscription service where you can get a box with four different instant ramen bowls sent to you directly from Japan every month! Rarely have I found a box from them with varieties I’ve reviewed before, and never have I seen varieties available here in the USA. Definitely worth a look if you’re a big fan of Japanese varieties.
I’ve tried Sichuan Guangyou noodles once before. Today, it’s a spicy and hot variety with a lot of 9’s. Found this one at Asian Food Center on Aurora in Seattle, WA a few months ago. It’s one of a whole slew of Chongqing noodle varieties that kind of leaped into the Chinese export market and headed to the west. Here’s some info about Chongqing from Wikipedia –
So Zenpop.jp has sent me another box and I thought I ought to do a video. They asked about this last time and so I figured I’d go ahead and do it. I think if, at all possible, I’m going to do this whenever I get a box from now on – kind of fun to crack these boxes open and see what’s inside! These will be called ‘Unboxing Time With The Ramen Rater.’So let’s check out this box from the noodle box purveyor! I should note that they also do other boxes – stationary for example among other things.
Here’s one from Javier over at www.BoxFromJapan.com, a service where you can get a monthly box of interesting ramen from Japan! So this one is a chanpon variety – here’s something from Wikipedia about chanpon –
Here’s one Samyang Foods sent a little while back – thanks again! So this is a jjamppong bowl – a spicy seafood concoction from South Korea. Here’s some more info from Wikipedia about it –
