Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
I was recently contacted by Good Seoul – makers of some really great rice cake topokki and rapokki! Topokki (tteokbokki) is rice flour cylinders that have a soft and chewy texture. Alone, they’re really not tasty, but paired with sauce they’re quite addictive. Rapokki is when you have these and introduce wheat noodles as well, making for a dual-textured experience. You can find their facebook here. I’ve done a few reviews so there’s some images in the video – check it out!
Big thanks to Noodle Journey for this one! My God – what a past few weeks. We’ve gone through some seasonal colds, holidays, ice, snow, snow days… I have been stuck at home, so I’ve been reviewing – a LOT! Just want to go outside and walk around but it’s been hell getting to be able to. Yesterday was a snow day and it melted a lot – this morning it got into the mid 20s – so all that melt has turned into ice. Bah. It’s not permanent – it’s not like, forever, though…
Thanks again to Noodle Journey for sending these! This Toowoomba version I reviewed recently from this range really reminded me of their Tangle versions here in the US as far as the noodle is concerned. Let’s give this a try!
This comes by way of Noodle Journey – thanks! The other day I reviewed one with the same kind of flavor profile from another company. Let’s try this one!
Big thanks to James from Lakeside, California for sending this one along! Well, this is the third review I’m doing today- a day full of so much ‘ugh’ that I would’ve expected it was Friday the 13th… First, I lost a sachet for a variety I was reviewing. Next, I decided to review this one while my kids are home sick – they like to chide eachother repeatedly and get ridiculous which isn’t helpful to my train of thought. Third, once this was done as I was making the kids their lunch, a jar of toothpicks fell and went everywhere. Hopefully this gets everything out of the universe’s system. Anyways, let’s cook up this massive tray of noodles!
Big thanks to Noodle Journey for this one! This is a new variety and it’s all in Korean. What might confuse people here is that they may have thought this would be the flavor of it the whole time. This is not. The flavor of Buldak is the flavor of the sauce that goes on Korean Fried Chicken. Original Buldak doesn’t taste like chicken. I have fought with people over this misconception. ‘But there’s chicken seasoning in it!’ Yes, perhaps in some, however in another Korean variety – a beef flavor, there’s pollock (fish) and no beef. Is it fish flavor? In Pumpkin Spice cup noodle, there’s garlic. Is it garlic flavored? No. These different ingredients are part of the arsenal of food scientist ingredients used to approximate different flavors. Anyways, let’s give this a try!
Here’s the first of many that will be from Noodle Journey – a fellow reviewer – thanks! Kalguksu is a knife-cut noodle soup – during the unboxing I mention I thought it referenced clams but I was mistaken. I know, but it happens. Let’s give it a try!
I’ve noticed over the years that some people are all about bowls vs packs. Why? I’m not exactly sure. I would reckon that steeped noodle consistency might be more their thing, although many are microwavable these days. To be honest, my take is that I don’t really care what it’s in, I just want to review it. These are my favorite ten bowls, picked from reviews I’ve done up to number 5,150. There’s a few neat changes to the list this year, so I invite you to check out The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2025 Edition and hopefully you find a few you want to try!
The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2025 Edition is an annual list of my favorite instant noodles that I’ve reviewed. This last year, I’ve kit some milestones I’m rather proud of, Toward the end of last year, I published by 5000th review. That’s a lot of instant noodle to try throughout the years! With my 500th review, I did a documentary as well as a behind the scenes – check those out to find out about me and what I do here. This list is based of reviews up to #5160. If you are a manufacturer or simply want to see me try a variety I’ve not, please reach out – always happy to try something new. I would also like to mention this list is dedicated to my friend Jamie Burridge, who passed earlier this year. With that, let us look at The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodles Of All Time 2025 Edition.
This is an interesting one from James of Lakeside – thanks agaiun! So it’s made by a Korean company in Vietnam for export but not just for the US but all over the place. Really excited as I get to use a new chili crisp with it. Let’s give it a try!
Well, this is the last of all the big trays I have currently, and this gets drained off. A massive jjahangmyeon! Spicy jjajangmyeon isn’t usually my cup of tea, but we shall see. Let’s cook up a monster.
A big thank you to James from Lakeside, California for surprising me a while back with this extra huge instant noodle tray. It’s like four full sized packs of noodles. Will I eat the whole thing? Yeah, I don’t think so. Anything that requires almost a liter and half or water to steep it is going to be pretty crazy. This one was going to me a contender for review #5000. Let’s gie it a try!
Thanks to James from Lakeside California for this one. My guess is this will be spicy; maybe Sichuan peppercorn spicy. This is a cold noodle, so it should be interesting. Well, let’s do this.
Well, it’s Tuesday and Kamala Harris just announced Tim Walz as her running mate. I’m guessing you know how it pans out for them at this point, but for me it is August 6th. This one sounds good – tteokbokki is a rich cake in tube form. When prepared, they’re chewy and usually paired with a spicy and sweet sauce. This one is also including noodle, so this is ‘rabokki.’ Let’s cook this huge pack.
Big thanks to James from Lakeside, CA for sending this along. I have to say, I don’t understand what jjajang has to do with Italian influence. Chapagetti, Chacharoni – and this guy. Jjajangmyeon (black bean sauce noodle) is a fusion of Chinese and South Korean cuisine. I will say the chef is kinda funny insofar that if his moustache was larger, he could be dastardly twisting it like a bad guy in an old cartoon. Nothing bad about topokki though – let’s give it a try!
Another one sent by James of Lakeside, CA – thanks again! Nope – no noodles here, but definitely something you’ll find on shelves next to instant ramyun bowls, that’s for sure. tteokbokki are tubes of rice cake which are soft and chewy – and in this one they’re in a spicy, sweet sauce. Let’s check it out and give it a try!
Lately, South Korea has been pumping out a new breed of instant ramyeon – the MMV (Massive Mukbang Variety) as I have come to call them. These are generally trays with enormous servings, made for a single person to challenge and consume. It seems to me that the need for attention overrides the need for self preservation at this point. I’ll outline why I really don’t think these are really safe for one to eat on their own, and although I will do a mukbang of something spicy, I will never attempt one of these.
It’s kind of funny; I think of ‘top o’ the day to you’ or bits o’ beef’ when I see this company name. Anyways, found this at QFC supermarket in Edmonds, Washington when I was looking for curry simmer sauce. Weird. It’s was only $1.49, which isn’t bad!
The fiery instant noodle beast is awakened and it’s time for another scorching hot spicy top ten. The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Spiciest Instant Noodles Of All Time 2025 Edition includes the spiciest stuff you can get. I outline a couple at the bottom that are no longer on the list but were violently spicy as well. Know something I should try? Make sure to contact me about it! Even if it’s not spicy, I definitely want to try it. Want to help support what I do? It’s appreciated This list is current as of review 4881. With that, here’s The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Spiciest Instant Noodles Of All Time 2025 Edition.
This is massive. I usually do an enormous variety for my ‘thousands’ reviews – at least that’s what I did for 3000 & 4000. Well, here’s a huge 5001/ 4000+ calories of naengmyeon. It’s a cold noodle and comes in it’s own huge metal bowl. Dang. Found it at HMart and it was around $25. It was pricey, but I just couldn’t pass it up. It was the only one they had and I figured it was a set of bowls and then realized this was a real thing. Well, let’s cook it up.
Hey it’s time for some Korean seafood noodles! This one comes with some sea tangle (kelp) that helps season the soup! I’m kind of excited about this one. Let’s hit it up.
Well, well – another spicy challenge! This one was sent to me by Pher Engi from Australia – thank you very much! Is it me or does it seem like Samyang has a thing for Mexican flavors? Habanero Lime, Quattro – now this. I mean, it lends itself well insofar as spicy variants go. Samyang has done a lot of spicy flavors, so I think they’re having trouble finding new ideas? Maybe… I will say jalapeno cheese is definitely a flavor I enjoy a lot. Let’s give it a try – mukbang below.
This one comes by way of Exotic Noods – you can get great subscription boxes from them full of interesting varieties. Try using THERAMENRATER coupon code for a discount. Cheese and South Korean noodles go great – let’s give it a go.
I think I’ve mentioned recently being almost out of instant noodle varieties to review. Well, I went to HMart today. It’s a Monday. That doesn’t usually happen as it’s probably a two hour or more walk each way. Anyways, I went with my wife, the lovely Kit. See, she got a tooth pulled that was giving her trouble on Friday. Then she had to go back because they missed a couple bits on Saturday. It’s been pure hell for her. Today, we went back to the dentist to look – was worried about dry socket (nope) and infection (nope) – but they gave her more meds and other stuff so hoping that helps. Anyways, got to spend the day with her as she works in a call center and talking on the phone all day when you have trouble opening your mouth as it hurts… This is one that should hurt pretty good – I’ve been wanting to do this spicy one for quite a long time. Well, let’s give it a go!
This one was found at HMart. So let’s delve into jjolmyeon – here’s Wikipedia’s info –
Instant noodle cups are pretty easy to find, take up a small amount of room, and – especially for camping folks – is easily dealt with when done. I’ve had people come to me with tears in their eyes exclaiming ‘Sir! It says 2025 – but it’s 2024!’ Well, it’s the second half of 2024, so this list will be active more of 2025 than 2024. Honestly, I adopted this way of doing things when a couple of people made very good points about it. Unfortunately, once I let the genie out of the bottle on this way of doing things, rolling it back was quite impossible. So, there you go.
Here’s another one from my recent visit to HMart. In English, this is Instant Noodle with Seaweed-Sesame Flavor. Makes sense now, eh? This is part of a new range I saw at the store. Let’s check it out!
Had a great day yesterday – went and walked all the way to my wife’s work for the first time which was fun, going through forest, construction areas galore and under/over passes. Then we hit Costco and then HMart! Found this at HMart which was very cool. Haven’t heard of doenjang jjigae – a regular popular stew from South Korea before. Let’s give it a try!
This is a list I come out with every year – what’s different this year is now there’s a new rule: only one product per company. Seems fair to me – and also a way for more things to be seen. I don’t think it’s a bad idea and honestly, I think insofar as this list goes, it won’t be very hard to pull off. Anyways, here we go with The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Instant Noodle Bowls Of All Time 2024 Edition!
Top Ten Spiciest 2024 * Definitive Guide To Buldak
I thought instead of making people search the site I’d put the three in question in a single, easy to swallow post. This has been an interesting past few days in the instant noodle world; confounded folks who love the stuff don’t get it. Hochi is sequestered in the West Wing. Anyways, here’s all three in their glory. I’ve also included my odd recipes I’ve made at the bottom – enjoy!
Looks like we have a Korean boy band with a ton of dudes. Yep. There’s a lot of these tie-ins in Korean varieties. There used to be one that was called DJ Doc which was a tteokbokki and ramyeon variant that was really great – that was the first one I’d seen. Anyways, can’t complain about tteokbokki, that’s for sure. Let’s give it a try!
Ah, tteokbokki. I really wish I knew about this stuff when I was a kid. Wondrous tubes of rice flour – like big Beefaroni, slathered in a nice sauce. Better yet, with cheese. If you’ve not tried it, you’re really in for a treat once you do, trust me on this. No, not ramen, but definitely something you’ll find on the instant noodle aisle at a Korean market.
Found this neat one at Boo Han Market on Highway 99 in Edmonds, WA. Rapokki is a combination of noodle and rice cake – a great combo of textures and usually really quite good. Hopefully it works out well – seen a few microwavable varieties not go so well – hopefully this is one that gets a good score as rapokki is a favorite.
Well, damn. I thought that this was a rapokki but I was wrong. So, time to review a bowl of tteokbokki. Not quite a noodle, but found where the noodles live. Let’s cook it up.
Well, look at this! Thanks to The Fat Hipster for sending this over! It’s kind of funny – this is the first of three varieties sent and I’ve been kind of slow to get to them as they’re not instant noodles, they’re curry sauces. However, lately I’ve been making curries constantly lately. I’ve learned the way of black cardamom too. But here we have one by a company also known for their spicy instant noodle. I actually made butter chicken last night too. Let’s see how this one goes.
Well, look at this! Thanks to The Fat Hipster for sending this over! It’s kind of funny – this is the first of three varieties sent and I’ve been kind of slow to get to them as they’re not instant noodles, they’re curry sauces. However, lately I’ve been making curries constantly lately. I’ve learned the way of black cardamom too. But here we have one by a company also known for their spicy instant noodle. I actually made butter chicken last night too. Let’s see how this one goes.
Well, look at this! Thanks to The Fat Hipster for sending this over! It’s kind of funny – this is the first of three varieties sent and I’ve been kind of slow to get to them as they’re not instant noodles, they’re curry sauces. However, lately I’ve been making curries constantly lately. I’ve learned the way of black cardamom too. But here we have one by a company also known for their spicy instant noodle. I actually made butter chicken last night too. Let’s see how this one goes.
This is the third one of these. They’ve all been kind of Buldak copycats but definitely not the same heat level by any means – the extra spicy was spicy indeed, but not as spicy as 2x, yada yada yada. I really dislike comparing any individual variety to another, however this is such an obvious copy of a well known product that I’m going slightly rogue. I’m curious though – since this looke to be about the same style as the original Buldak, will it be as hot? Will it taste good? Well, let’s find out.
A friend of mine shared a link with a great article today about a guy who I haven’t heard from in a while. Ramen Conqueror Piki! He saw what I was doing and decided he needed to do the same over in South Korea! Below is an interview I did with him in 2017 – he was kind enough to include pictures of me and my family in the book . This is from six years ago. Hope he’s doing well!
This one is definitely a trip – so it’s made in Vietnam for the South Korean market. Found it of course at the famed S*Mart – that’s right kids – shop SMart – shop S*Mart! I really don’t think any people in that Korean store have seen Army Of Darkness, but honestly I think they’d get a kick out of it. Anyways, let’s commence.
