Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Yep – it’s a bag of potato chips withj Cup Noodles Spicy Seafood seasoning from Hong Kong. I really like these kinds of things – really funny to see this – they did it once in the United States with Chicken Top Ramen Pringles (you didn’t think I missed reviewing that one, did you?) – they also have Cup Noodles chips in Singapore (like these). Anyways, let’s dig in to this bag and have a looksie.
Here’s another one I picked up at Osaka Market up in Richmond, BC in Canada. I’d seen this variety on Instagram plenty of times and was pretty stoked to see it available. First, here’s some info from reader Sara Adam de Souza about it – thank you!
You may recall I reviewed some Nissin Cup Noodles Tom Yum chips a while back – those were from Singapore while these are from Hong Kong. Here’s a little about tom yum from Wikipedia –
Okay so I’ve reviewed this one in the past, however they’ve changed the recipe. Nissin Singapore sent me samples for review (thank you!) and so I’ve been going through many of these new version cups.
Another one I picked up at Osaka in the Yaohan Centre up in Richmond, BC. This should prove to be a boatload of yakisoba! So, what’s yakisoba? Here’s what wikipedia has to say on the matter –
Here’s one that came my way from Nissin Hong Kong – thank you! This looks interesting – a Korean variety from Hong Kong. It seems like Korean varieties are popular throughout southeast Asia – saw quite a few in November 2017 in Taiwan. Anyways, let’s have a look inside and give this Korean spicy one a try!
Found this one at Uwajimaya a few months back. We decided to go down to a dim sum restaurant nearby called Ocean Star. It used to be Sun Ya – a place I went to growing up and I hadn’t been back since they changed hands a couple years back.
These came by way of Snackoo – a company that supplies you with great snack boxes, containing all sorts of fascinating things as well as ramen noodles. Why not check them out?
Recently, I added a chat feature to The Ramen Rater, allowing readers to comment and ask me questions directly. It’s been very eye-opening; great to hear about why people are here and what they’re interested in seeing. One thing I have been asked repeatedly is ‘when will there be an update to the Japan list?’ Well, I heard you. The last list came out in 2014. I’ve been reviewing a LOT of Japanese varieties lately, and it looks like there will be an influx of Japanese varieties for the foreseeable future crossing my desk. This most likely will be an annual list from now on. With that being said I should also mention that with the huge amount of varieties that are released annually in Japan, many are discontinued. While this is the ‘of all time list,’ spanning all my reviews, I try to make sure that what is on it is available. This is very hard with Japanese varieties. Finally, I should mention also that if you’re an instant noodle manufacturer from Japan or elsewhere for that matter and you’d like me to review your products, I encourage you to use the contact form and drop me a line. That being said, let’s take a look at this new list, encompassing my favorite and most memorable reviews from the over 2,500 reviews I’ve done to date.
Today it’s a new reformulation Cup Noodles from Singapore. Nissin Singapore looks to have done newly formulated versions of pretty much all their Cup Noodles over there and they sound really good. I mean, more crabtastic chilli crab – can’t shrug that off. For those of you who haven’t tried Chilli Crab – here’s a little from Wikipedia –
Seven years ago I first heard about Momofuku Ando Day. I was curious about it and very happy it existed – so much so that I decided that since I devote so much time to instant noodles and reviewing them, I ought to pay homage to their creator.
Found these while up in Canada. So my wife found a show a while back called 90 Day Fiancee where two people either meet online or when one is on vacation in a foreign country and think they want to be married. It then follows their process of getting a visa to spend 90 days in the United States and then whether they indeed are married or not. There’s a new show called Before The 90 Days before a proposal has been made. So on this show, we were watching and they follow a man who goes to the Philippines and meets a girl he’s been talking to online. Well, she picks him up at the airport and the next day brings him to her family’s home and they put on a big spread and cook up Lechon. Lechon is a roast pig, turned over a fire pit for hours and hours that’s been stuffed with chicken and vegetables like spring onion. Long story short, her family is far from wealthy and they came together to make this big feast and he turns his nose up at it.
I believe this is the last of the new Straight Noodle/Bar Noodle Demae Ramen range from Nissin Hong Kong – really sad that I’ve tried them all! So let’s look at shoyu and then tonkotsu – Wikipedia if you please –
Alright – bring on the confusion, the shock and the WTF’s. Yes, mayonnaise is very popular as a topping in Japan. Why? Well, it’s freaking awesome – it’s tasty and works very well. Yakisoba without it is just not as good.
This is one we found at an Indian grocery in Pleasanton, California this Summer. I really like the fact that India has so many different instant noodle varieties and that I’ve not tried so many of them – like every one that I find is a little precious gem. Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Manchow –
So here’s one I got up in Canada in July. So Nissin Japan does regional varieties – there are tons of Nissin branches all over the world – Nissin Germany is one of them. This is one for the Japanese market and looks a lot like the German Cup Noodles varieties.
Sp here’s one I haven’t tried before from a nice premium series by Nissin Singapore. They have a Kyushu Black and a Tokyo Shoyu as well. A couple days ago I tried a different one – Nissin Hong Kong’s Bar Noodle Hokkaido Miso Tonkotsu. A little further west we have this one! So here’s a little refresher on miso ramen from Wikipedia –
Here’s a pretty well known variety from Japan but actually made in Indonesia for Singapore and Malaysia. This one was sent to me by Nissin Singapore (thank you!) and has some big differences when you compare to it’s Japanese cousin – spicy mayonnaise to start with. Let’s unwrap this yakisoba and have a look inside U.F.O.!
Here’s yet another of the Demae Ramen Bar Noodle series. These have not failed to impress since the first Straight Noodle Demae Ramen varieties I tried last year. This sounds really good and I like seeing the corn in the above image. One might be surprised, but butter and sweetcorn really go incredibly well with miso ramen. This promises to be bumped up by being a tonkotsu miso – wow I’m definitely curious about this one. Here’s a little about miso as well as tonkotsu from Wikipedia –
This is another one from Zenpop.jp. Zenpop is pretty cool – they have different boxes you can get – Japanese stationery, snacks, ramen… It’s quite a variety. They’re pretty cheap, too. Here’s what they had to say about this variety:
Here’s one of the new straight noodle varieties from Nissin – miso. So miso is one of the main varieties of ramen – here’s some info on it from Wikipedia –
Yet another from Javier over at Box From Japan. Box From Japan is a purveyor of monthly subscription boxes – ramen bowls and candy are at the forefront among other neat things – check ’em out! Today it’s a miso ramen – here’s a little something from Wikipedia –
Found this one at New India Bazar while in Pleasanton, California this summer. Probably the biggest Indian grocery I’ve been in which was pretty cool. I spent a little time searching for mazedaar but really didn’t find anything, so if you know what makes this ‘mazdaar masala,’ let me know – that would be great. Anyways, let’s check out this mazedaar masala!
So yesterday, I reviewed the Cup Noodles Tom Yam Seafood. Today, it’s the potato chip with the same flavor! Sounds good to me – I like seafood and seafood potato chips are among those things never seen in the United States. Let’s give ’em a try!
Ahh, Laksa – nothing like it. In fact, there are lots of kinds of laksa; sweet, creamy, curry, fish – every area has their own take on the dish. Let’s see what Wikipedia has to say about laksa –
Today it’s tonkotsu from Hong Kong. This is part of the series that’s expanded since being in the 2017 top ten list with their black garlic oil tonkotsu. For those of you unfamiliar, here’s a little about tonkotsu ramen from Wikipedia –
So the other day I posted the unboxing of noodle and potato chip samples sent by Nissin Hong Kong (thanks again!). I thought it would be fun to do up a video with the family and try these out one by one.
Here’s another one sent by Javier over at BoxFromJapan.com. Box From Japan offers subscription boxes of all sorts of neat Japanese things including candy and ramen! Check ’em out!
Today we have a two box unboxing time. The first box has noodles, the second has chips. So I only made one video, and so from the start to about 5 minutes, 30 seconds is the first and from then on is the second.
Today we have a two box unboxing time. The first box has noodles, the second has chips. So I only made one video, and so from the start to about 5 minutes, 30 seconds is the first and from then on is the second.
I couldn’t help myself. I thought that for my 2,600th review, maybe an homage to the first video game console I’d ever played was in order. I thought the pixelated graphics could do a nice job and so here we are. So this is a new range for Nissin Cup Noodle Nice. The Cup Noodle Nice look to me a distant cousin of the Cup Noodle Light+ series – they contain non-fried noodles for starters. They have the same fiber as a ton of lettuce, lower calories, etc. If this comes out as good as the Light+ varieties did, then this should be something special. Let’s see what Wikipedia has to say about Nissin Japan –
Well this sounds like a good one! It sounds to be like a chicken shio variety. Shio is one of the classic ramen varieties from Japan. Let’s see a little more about shio from Wikipedia –
I think this is the last of the new versions of the Cup Noodles from the USA. They changed the recipe last year to commemorate the 45th anniversary of Cup Noodles. Here’s a little from Wikipedia about the history of Cup Noodles –
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 –
So here’s one of the new Nissin Hong Kong straight noodle variants. I had to do a little looking to find what ‘aka tonkotsu’ was. Mainly the ‘aka’ part wasn’t something I’d heard of before. As it turned out, ‘aka’ refers to the spicy cod roe (eggs) in this one. Sounds interesting! Here’s a little about the tonkotsu style of broth from Wikipedia –
Here is a new Cup Noodles variety from Nissin Hong Kong – Laksa! It’s interesting how a lot of flavors of Malaysia and Singapore are making their way further east lately. Many different Laksa varieties exist, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen one from Hong Kong before. Here’s a little from Wikipedia about Laksa –
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.
Here’s one that Kamran from Ramen Regret Rater sent over from Australia – thanks again! He got this one on a recent trip to Bali. It’s crazy – everything is so far away from here but all sorts of awesome places are just a quick hop from Australia.
Rounding out the Cup Noodles Very Veggie range is Spicy Chicken. All I can say is that if it’s anything like the other two this will be a no-brainer. I still am beside myself on these; these are just about the best thing I’ve seen come from the United States in a long, long time. So Very Veggie has 1/2 cup – which is one full serving – of vegetables. Let’s check it out.
Today we’ve got yet another one from the massive amount of varieties left over from the Nissin Hong Kong Meet The Manufacturer. Seems like I just keep pulling them out of the hamper again and again! It’s a good thing though – the more the merrier and these days, it is getting harder to find varieties locally to review. So gotta make sure to give everything a try. Tonkotsu is a classic Japanese ramen variety. Most of all, tonkotsu is famous for it’s milky pork bone broth. Next, a little more info from Wikipedia:
