Author: Hans "The Ramen Rater" Lienesch

#3638: Hi-Lai Foods Lai Noodle – Taiwan

Hi-Lai Foods Lai Noodle - Taiwan

I was contacted in July 2020 about a new variety of noodle hailing from Taiwan. I was very interested in trying and gave the company the go ahead. Fast forward to mid September and I’m going to give it a try – they arrived last week. These sound interesting; they’re Vegan friendly and have a minced pork sachet which is made with so  protein, mushrooms, white fungus, celery and other vegetables. A chewy noodle and a ‘secret sauce’ with Sichuan pepper is mentioned in the promotional sheet that accompanied these. Let’s give it a try! ...see full post

#3637: Samyang Foods Buldak 3x Spicy HOT Chicken Flavor Ramen – South Korea

#3676: Samyang Foods Buldak 3x Spicy HOT Chicken Flavor Ramen - South Korea

Well, well, well. Here we are yet again. Just not hot enough for you, eh? Well, maybe this will do it for you. I mean look – Hochi (the Buldak mascot) is right there, tears streaming, breathing fire… 3x Spicy – so what it 1x spicy? Well, 4,400 SHU (scoville heat units). 3x would be 13,200 SHU – I guess we’ll have to see if that’s spicy. I know it will be. Time to burn! ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Cup Noodles Of All Time 2021 Edition

Last year, I decided I’d bow to some readers who thought maybe like cars, lists should have the following year in the title. This caused some confusion; but I really can’t just undo this. So, going forward, lists that come out in the latter half of the year, August and beyond, will have the next year’s name in the title. We’ll see how that goes. These are my favorite cup varieties of all reviews up to number 3,545. Now, let’s look at The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Cup Noodles Of All Time, 2021 Edition. ...see full post

#3633: Sau Tao Laksa Flavour Ramen – Hong Kong

#3632: Sau Tao Laksa Flavour Ramen - Hong Kong

I had this one a while back but the packaging was a little different, so this one gets a new review. I’ve been incredibly impressed with the laksa and ton yum kung flavor profiles coming from Sau Tao – so much that they’ve been on the Top Ten for 2 years now. What’s more is they pair them with a myriad of noodle varieties. Let’s do up some laksa! ...see full post

#3628: LMF Hong Kong Chow Mein Sichuan Hot Spicy Flavor – China

#3628: LMF Hong Kong Chow Mein Sichuan Hot Spicy Flavor - China

As promised yesterday, here’s another one we found up in Canada at Smart’n’Save at the Lansdowne Centre mall. My daughter Mimi asks every once in a while these days ‘can we go to the Hello Kitty store, Papa’ and Miles immediately says ‘no Mimi, Canada is closed.’ Pretty sad. Man, I hope they come up with a vaccine for COVID-19 soon! I miss the wonders of the land to the north… ...see full post

Another Donation From James In Lakeside, California!

Another Donation From James In Lakeside, California!

A while back I got a few boxes of donations from a reader in Lakeside, California named James. Well, he’s struck again and sent another box – thanks! I’m always surprised that even though we’re both on the west caoast, the varieties he’s finding as opposed to the ones here and very different. Let’s have a look inside! ...see full post

Newgate Express Instant Noodles Sent By A Viewer From Ireland!

Newgate Express Instant Noodles Sent By A Viewer From IReland!

I was contacted recently by a fellow names Cian from Dublin about trying out some store brand instant noodles he found over there. He said they weren’t the greatest, but I am always interested in store brand varieties – so of course I accepted the offer – thank you! First varieties from Ireland to cross my desk! Let’s check ’em out! ...see full post

#3615: Baixiang Artificial Crawfish Flavored Stir Fried Noodle – China

#3615: Baixiang Artificial Crawfish Flavored Stir Fried Noodle - China

I found this at a large Asian grocery in Bellevue, Washington recently. It was the last one – I’m guessing part of a special promo for Lunar New Year. My guess is that this is going to be in the vein of the hot spicy stir fried noodles of South Korea, but in a Chinese way? I don’t know for sure, but it sounds interesting. Let’s give it a try! ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Rice Noodles Of All Time 2020 Edition

This yeah has just been rough – for everyone I know. After the hardest part of it for me – the passing of my mother – I took a week off from walking after doing 1,000,000 steps on my Fitbit in June and dove in  to working on top ten lists. I did four of them, all current as of review 3545. This list hasn’t been updated since 2017. I’ll be rolling out lists here and there for the next couple of months and maybe do this again a little ways down the road. Here’s The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Rice Noodles Of All Time 2020 Edition. ...see full post