Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Hello fellow instant noodle enthusiasts! Whether for lunch or a snack, instant noodle cups are popular the world over for their convenience and ease of preparation. I’ve samples over 2,800 different instant noodle varieties, and a great deal of them are cups. Out of those, here are my absolute favorite varieties – updated for 2018! As always, if you’re an instant noodle cup (or otherwise) company, please contact me if you’d like to have your products reviewed! Hope you enjoy!
A big thanks to Daniel down in Brazil for sending this along! It’s been really hard to find varieties from South America over the years. So Daniel told me to be wary of the labelling that this is HOT as Brazilians don’t tend to eat a lot of spicy foods. This kind of surprised me; I would have thought they would have. Learn something new every day! Let’s take a look at this Mexican themed variety from Brazil.
Okay so this one was found up in Canada at China World. It was apart from the instant noodles and looked really odd where it was sitting to be honest. So let’s crack it open and give it a try.
Hey look at this! This came by way of Hobby Link Japan, a great site that has all sorts of amazing Japanese things including instant noodles! Thank you very much! Here’s what they had to say about this unique variety on their website –
Many you probably no and many of you probably don’t – Tapatio, the popular hot sauce – now has their own range of spicy instant noodle products called Tapatio Ramen Noodle Soup! Want a chance to be the envy of your friends at lunch with some of these bowls? Read on to find out how – it’s really easy to enter to win!
So this one is made in Indonesia and I got it from Nissin Singapore – thanks! The last one of these I tried was ‘Japanese Sauce’ flavor – and definitely was very Indonesian in flavor and quite amazing. Very curious about this one – let’s take a look.
Here’s one that came by way of Japan Crate’s Umai Crate – thanks! You can get nice boxes of instant noodles all the way from Japan to your door every month – check em out! Here’s what they had to say about these in the pamphlet that comes with the box:
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Today we’ve got the last of the four varieties sent by Three Meters Noodles. It’s been a tasty ride! Let’s give this final variety, a sesame paste noodle a try.
Shallots are one thing I have always enjoyed. Kind of like an onion, really oily and strong flavor. This one says it’s got shallot flavor to it – and I’ve had a lot of shallot flavored Taiwanese varieties to date. Let’s see how it is!
It seems like every dry noodle company has a spicy one. Usually these are Sichuan peppercorn-infused, logical and tasty. Let’s have a look in this brown bag and see what is within!
Sesame oil flavor is one I’ve had before when it come to dry noodles. This ios a really fancy package – thick paper and a yarn handle – wow! Hopefully what’s inside is high end like the packaging – let’s find out!
Can’t do a spotlight reviews series wuthout samples, right? I like to do these Unboxing Time With The Ramen Rater videos – it’s a way for you to find out what’s in a box at the same time I do! So let’s open this box up!
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Today we’ve got one from Sarawak! I’ve reviewed only one other by this brand before. I found this at China World up in Richmond, BC. I tell ya, if you’re a noodle fan, Richmond is the place to go. Let’s crack this one open and see what we have.
This is one that’s been in the Top Ten Spiciest Instant Noodles Of All Time lists for quite some time. It’s also now in the Gourmet Ramen Club Spicy Pack – a box that I’ve selected the varieties for! I thought it was time for a Re-Review as I’m going to be rolling out the new spicy list in early August! Let’s check out this hot one!
Here’s a new one from Taiwan! Taihodien Restaurant is known as a hot pot place that has some of t he spiciest stuff out there. Here’s a bit about the restaurant from their website:
Today, we part ways with Miandom and their Tasty Asia range. I have a feeling green curry and black pepper crab might not be the only products we see from this new company. This is the green curry cup version. Let’s take a look!
Here we have a black pepper crab noodle cup from Miandom’s Tasty Asia range. Black Pepper Crab is another very popular flavor in Singapore – let’s see how it stacks up!
Miandom’s Tasty Asia range currently has three options: a green curry shrimp pack and cup and a black pepper crab cup. Today I’ll be reviewing the pack version. You get 4 packs in this large bag. Green curry is good stuff! Let’s see how it does!
This is kind of embarassing. So I Wasn’t exactly sure what this box was when I was opening it up, and so I started recording the Unboxing Time With The Ramen Rater video thinking it was from a different company! Well, it was open! I had to restart the video and pretend to open it! But it all worked out deliciously. Let’s havbe a look!
Hey look at this! This is most definitely the largest yakisoba I’ve seen to date! This came by way of Hobby Link Japan, a great site that has all sorts of amazing Japanese things including instant noodles! Thank you very much! Here’s what they had to say about this unique variety on their website –
When I first noticed these on Samyang Foods’ Instagram feed, I was really curious. I’ve had the hot Samyang Ramen in the past and liked it. But I thought I should give it a look, especially with the new red look to it.
Found this one at the Hi-Life store at the Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei, Taiwan. Notice on the image it says ‘improved taste’. Making this claim always gives me a bit of a laugh. You could also call it ‘different taste,’ right? Was it too watery before so the amount of liquid added recommendation changed? more of one ingredient? Less of another? Well, we shall never know because all it says is ‘improved taste.’ Also – improved for whom? Person on the left likes it, person on the right wishes it were like it used to be. Anyways, there’s no person A or B here – there’s just me and my tongue. Let’s give it a try!
So another month, another great box from Zenpop.jp, purveyors of Japanese neat things. They have ramen boxes, they have candy boxes, they have ramen and candy boxes, they have stationery boxes too! Lots of neat stuff to check out over there. Check ’em out and use coupon code RAMENRATER at checkout for a discount! Let’s crack this box open and see what’s inside!
Here’s one I picked up while waiting to go to Din Tai Fung at the Taipei 101 – this was at the Jason’s Market there. First off, it’s curry – a flavor I always gravitate towards. Second, the graphics on this one just kind of dragged me to it. Never seen this brand or anything before so I guess the only thing to do now is crack it open and give it a try!
Well this is very nice to see. This is a popular variety in Japan. Cup Noodle Seafood has been around for some time. Well, Nissin USA has brought it here to the United States in a microwave form with no added MSG and no artificial flavors. Here’s a little tidbit from Wikipedia about Cup Noodle –
Reader Artur was kind enough again to send some more goodies from the Ukraine! Very kind – great to be able to try some new things! Let’s open up the package and see what’s inside!
I’ll be first to say that I enjoy almonds, usually the smokehouse ones. You know the ones I’m talking about. I’m pretty partial to chocolate ones too although I don’t usually have them. I’ve had ones with crunchy candy coating too. I also tasted almond milk the other day – tasty but just seemed so weird – but I liked it.
Here’s a box that came last week – been a lot of videos lately! In the past week aside from the new Live Cooking videos, I’ve recorded over ten new vids! Recording is quick, editing takes a lot of time! Let’s open this neat box from Thailand and have a look at what’s within!
It seems like almost everything that comes from South Korea is spicy, doesn’t it? Well, let’s break that concept right here. Gomtang isn’t spicy at all – it’s milky and beefy! Herte’s a little about it from Wikipedia –
Hey it’s a self heating hot pot! I got this one at China World on St. Patrick’s Day this year. The weekend before, we drove up to Canada and checked out China World in Richmond, BC. It was amazing – awesome! Got two baskets of noodles. Went tot he front and boom – cash and Canadian debit only. That sucked. So we came back the next weekend! I found about eight different varieties of these hot pots and so here’s the first. I’ve reviewed two others in the past. Let’s open this thing up and see what makes it tick – yeah – it cooks itself!
Here’s one sent to me by Ippin, a purveyor of lots of different Japanese products. This is definitely a fancy variety from a set of Kanto region varieties based on popular ramen shops. Not a lot of boxes come across my desk so this should be interesting! Here’s what the Ippin website had to say about this variety:
Every month, the folks at www.exoticnoods.com send me over a box so I can show you what they’ve got going on. There’s some really great stuff in this month’s box and I’ve alkso got a coupon code for you – it’s BOOM! Use it to get a discount! Let’s see what’s in here!
I received this as a gift from a representative of the Little Cook brand in Taipei, Taiwan at the Taiwan International Food Expo! Thank you very much! She also accepted the third place award from The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Taiwanese Instant Noodles Of All Time 2017 Edition – Little Cook Green Curry – at the awards show. I’ve been waiting for the right time to have this one! Let’s take a look!
Well, it’s that time again! Every year, I come out with an update to my Bottom Ten list. I’ve got a lot of top ten lists of course, but only one that’s comprised of my least favorite varieties. Many of these will be enjoyed by people – and that’s fine. Just most definitely not by me. Let’s take a look!
Another month, another box! We have a new Umai Crate to unbox! Japan Crate curates these and there’s always something interesting going on in these boxes – usually quite a few somethings! Coupon code below – check it out!
Alright so when I found this up at China World in Richmond, BC, I was curious. ‘What’s this torpid all about, anyway?’ Well, Thanks to my friend Kyle, that’s been cleared up. It’s a really bad translation. This really should be Sichuan Spicy Flavor. As far as torpid goes, here’s the definition –
Here’s one sent to me by Ippin, a purveyor of lots of different Japanese products. This is definitely a fancy variety from a set of Kanto region varieties based on popular ramen shops. Not a lot of boxes come across my desk so this should be interesting! Here’s what the Ippin website had to say about this variety:
I received some varieties from a woman who was working on her master’s thesis in Taiwan a few weeks ago. Well, I prepared one of them incorrectly. I asked for another and she sent me a bunch of new ones! Thank you! Let’s take a look at this box and what’s inside!
