
Here’s another one sent to me by a reader named Colin from the east coast – thanks again! This is one he got on a recent trip to Mexico. Let’s check it out!
Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002

Here’s another one sent to me by a reader named Colin from the east coast – thanks again! This is one he got on a recent trip to Mexico. Let’s check it out!

Here’s another one sent by Colin, a reader from back east – thank you! He went to Mexico recently and sent me a ton of varieties that he found there. You’d think with Mexico being next door I’d be able to find more varieties, but actually it’s been really hard. This one’s made in South Korea for the Mexican market. Instant noodle are hugely popular in Mexico, and with spicy flavors coming out of South Korea, it’s a pretty good fit. Let’s have a look!

Here’s another one sent by Colin, a reader from back east – thank you! He went to Mexico recently and sent me a ton of varieties that he found there. You’d think with Mexico being next door I’d be able to find more varieties, but actually it’s been really hard. This one’s made in South Korea for the Mexican market. Instant noodle are hugely popular in Mexico, and with spicy flavors coming out of South Korea, it’s a pretty good fit. Let’s have a look!

I’ve been wondering when I would find this one for a long time and finally, I have. It was at the local HMart in Lynnwood, Washington on 184th street – if you live in this area, you should definitely check this place out! Anyways, cheese powder and spicy South Korean ramyun – I mean how can you go wrong here? Not only that, you’ve got the added bonus of a little character with a block of cheese on it’s head vomiting cheesy goodness into the bowl with a smile on his/her face. Sounds tasty! Let’s check it out!

This is one I’ve seen on spicy lists before but it’s been a long time since I sampled it. Those two big peppers on the front look foreboding! I’m sure it was spicy, but how spicy? I guess we’ll have to see! Let’s have a look at Ottogi Yeul Ramen!

I’ve gotten a good amount of comments about this one. Ottogi Sesame Ramen seems to have filled an interesting niche in the noodle market! It’s pretty neat stuff – it has something called an ‘egg block.’ It is basically dehydrated egg that when introduced to the boiling water springs to life! I’ve had the bowl version (also known as a king cup) before, but never reviewed the pack. Let’s check out Ottogi Sesame Ramen!

The Ramen Rater’s top Ten South Korean Instant Noodles Of All Time made it’s debut last January and I thought this would be a good day to release the new one for 2015! South Korean instant noodles (known as ramyun) are characteristically thicker and chewier than most instants. Spiciness is a common trait as well as beef flavors. Here are my top picks of the South Korean varieties I’ve reviewed of my 1,573 reviews to date.

Woot woot – potatoes! These sounded good today – potato ramen… I really like the little Ms. Potato Head on the packaging. Ottogi makes some interesting varieties – I reviewd many of them waaaay back when I moved to Edmonds, WA. I would walk every day and pick up a single pack and bring it home, cook and review. Those were in the #100-#300’s. Seems like forever ago! These noodles are made primarily with potatoes, which give them an extra chewiness. Let’s check out Ottogi Potato Ramen!

I thought I’d make one for my wife today. Kit loves cheese. I mean she really loves cheese! I don’t know anyone who gets happier when cheese is mentioned! I thought this would be a perfect one for her. Cheese noodles for a cheese lover. Let’s check it out!

Sweet – another noodle snack! I think we’re pretty close to an annual noodle snack top ten list soon – just trying to figure out a good time to release it… Halloween perhaps? Superbowl time? If you have an idea, shoot me a comment below! Anyways, here’s another one of Ottogi’s Ppushu Ppushu line. This is the first one I’ve seen that’s chicken flavored that I can remember from them. Let”s have a look!

Ottogi sent me a box of noodle samples a while back in hopes of doing a Meet The Manufacturer series. Unfortunately, timing and language barriers made that hard to come to fruition, so I figured I ought to review some of the varieties they’ve sent over time. This one’s Japchae – a traditional South Korean dish of clear noodles, vegetables and meats. Good stuff, at least what I’ve tried in a restaurant! Let’s have a look to see what this is like.

I did an appearance on a show called Cam Fu & Friends which was recorded at Microsoft on January 7th, 2014. Cam the host and I met because of instant noodles a while back. He did instant noodle reviews on The Noodle Freak for a while and then went on hiatus from it, telling folks to come check out my site, a real honor. So we actually met in person the first time the other day. He really was hoping I’d do a review on the show, and so I had to come up with something to review. Well, this one fit the bill; easily prepared during the taping! Further below, you can watch the video! Let’s check this one out.

It’s no secret that I eat a lot of instant noodles. Last year alone, I did 320 new reviews! I’m often asked, “when you aren’t reviewing, what instant noodles do you like to eat?” South Korean ramyun is the answer. In 1963, instant noodles were first introduced to South Korea as ‘ramyun.’ People were a little confused at first; they thought it was a textile! They also weren’t super keen on it being chicken flavored; South Koreans prefer rich beef flavors as opposed to lighter poultry tastes. With a little tweaking, the spicy rich beef noodles synonymous with ramyun were born. The thick noodles, rich broth and spiciness keep me coming back for more. This list contains my favorites from the 1272 reviews I’ve done thus far. They are all made in South Korea, and many will be hard to find in the United States, if not impossible. With that, here’s my list.

I’ve had a hankering to re-review this one since I had the cup version and really liked it. Made me think maybe I was a little tough on this one when I reviewed it as #121. But now I’m looking through the archives and I gave it a 3.5/5.0 stars, which isn’t bad, then I re-reviewed it and gave it 3.5/5.0 again. Funny, I didn’t think I’d re-reviewed this one… Well, I guess it’s a re-re-revie; I already took the pictures of everything, right? Let’s give this one another peek.

After more than a year of pondering and reviewing since the last list, here’s the new top ten instant noodle bowls. This encompasses all instant noodle bowls reviewed up to today, June 15th, 2013. With no further adieu, the top ten instant noodle bowls of all time, 2013 edition.

Here one that came from Korea by way of Kristen W. of Arizona! Thank you so much! I’ve wanted to review this one for a long time! Let’s check this unique variety out.

Found this one up the road at KS Mart in Lynnwood, Washington. Looks really interesting – an egg block huh? I imagine it will be like a seasoning block or something… Funny; I had a sesame one yesterday too. Well, on with the sesame flavored noodles!

Here’s one that was sent by Sungmin over at Paldo America – thank you! This is a new variety that just came out in South Korea. The name ‘Jong-gah-jip’ is of a well-known kimchi producer. Let’s give this a try!

Here one that came from Korea by way of Kristen W. of Arizona! Thank you so much! I’ve wanted to review this one for a long time! Let’s check this unique variety out.

Kristen W. of Arizona sent me some noodles she got while she was in South Korea!

This is a great little collection of South Korean varieties you can’t easily find here! Ottogi Cheese Ramyun and Spaghetti bowls – been wanting to try them for a while! The two above are Paldo Korea varieties – I think Rabokki and Jjajang. The Nongshim Shin Cup in the lower right is the South Korean version. Thank, Kristen! Soon as they’re made, some The Ramen Rater stickers will be coming your way!

Here’s the first new Ottogi variety I’ve reviewed in a long time! It’s an interesting one, too. This is most definitely a cup, however it says it is a noodle bowl on the packaging – weird! Hoping in 2013 to be able to get with Ottogi and do a Meet The Manufacturer – they’ve got some interesting twists on Korean instant noodles that are really good! Well, let’s give this one a try!

Here’s one that was sent to me by Moon Hee Wi, the journalist who wrote the article in the JoongAng Ilbo a couple weeks ago! Thanks! Let’s give it a try!

In the last week, I did a ‘Meet The Manufacturer on Indomie and have been enjoying Indonesian instant noodles. Today, I am going to try something completely different – donated by Ramen Place. It’s a Korean seafood big bowl – spicy stuff! This should be interesting as Indonesian noodles have been so different. Here we go!

Thanks to this sample from Nick over at OrderRamen, today I’m trying the third entry into the ring of ‘white broth’ ramyuns from Korea. The others, Paldo’s Kko Kko Myun and Samyang’s Nagasaki Jjampong I found to taste a lot like Jalapeno Cheese Cheetos! Very curious if Ottogi’s offering is like that too. Let’s find out!

Nick at www.OrderRamen.com mentioned he got in something new last week and asked if I’d like a sample.

Otay! It’s time for some cold noodles – not usually my favorite but we’ll just have to give them a try.

I’ve heard now from two separate sources that this Kkokkomyeon stuff is really popular and is going to be a really big deal when it comes to the USA. Both a seller of instant noodles alluded to it as well as a mention by name by the lady at the Kitty House at 99 Ranch Market (they sell Hello Kitty stuff there).

You like it hot? This stuff is good and it delivers some decent heat too. I’ve had the cup, the pack and now, the big bowl. Wonder if there’s a regular sized bowl? Hmm…

Here’s another one that Nick from OrderRamen.com sent along. Curry’s very high on my favorite spices list – let’s see how this one does today. I decided I wanted it to be a little stronger than normal, so I omitted 1/4 cup of water.

Nick at OrderRamen.com was kind enough to send a couple of these along. These are my wife’s favorite – very basic and simple noodles which are tasty and satisfying. I think you could probably ordr them from OrderRamen.com if you send him an email – they’re worth it!

Despite some trouble with FedEx, I got a box in the mail yesterday from Nick at OrderRamen.com!


I’m going to guess that this is about the same as the Ottogi Jin Ramen (Hot) except it will lack the heat. Yeah that makes sense I think.

Sounds like a pretty standard cup noodle. Thing is is that it’s Korean, so this kind of spicy is different than most spicy stuff.

So I’ve had this variety, but not in a cup before. Strange but it seems that these are just a bit different in cups… Anyways…

Here’s yet another variety of Ottogi’s Ppushu Ppushu super powered smash snack. This one’s barbecue flavor – wonder how this one will be…

So you’re hungry, lazy, and you’re 12 years old or in a college dorm. Well, I’m sure most of you know the rest – you smash up a pack of Top Ramen and sprinkle the seasoning pack in, shake it and you’ve got some kind of funky potato chip bizarro-land thing. Well, in Korea they took that concept a step further and have products that are marketed to be enjoyed that way!

I was very much on the fence as to whether I’d tried this one before, but as it turns out I haven’t. Looks like something tasty.

Here’s a cup noodle from Korea’s Ottogi. It says it only takes 2 minutes to cook. Usually, you’re looking at 3 minutes! Such efficiency!

I thought this looked interesting. I don’t usually see any kind of ‘mild’ flavors coming out of Korea, but here you see one. Here we go!