Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
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:
Today we have a Zenpop.JP variety – so what’s Zenpop? They’re a subscription service for all things Japanese! Definitely, check them out. By the way, use coupon code RAMENRATER to get $2 off! Here’s what they had to say about this one –
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:
This one comes by way of Japan Ramen Box. Japan Ramen Box is a new subscription box outfit with neat varieties to check out! Go visit their website and have a look!
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 –
I think I got this one at the Hi Life store at the Nangang Exhibition Center in Taipei. This looks to be a pork variety. The Term ‘Double Bang’ refers to the two noodle blocks within. Let’s check it out!
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 –
Here’s another one I found at the Jason’s Market at the foot of the Taipei 101. So I remember reading that the QTTA range was a more premium one with more inclusions. Sounds nice to me. Let’s find out what in here!
Here’s another neat one from Zenpop.JP. Thank you! So Zenpop has all sorts of monthly boxes including ramen boxes. Nine instant ramen in one box for a good price – check ’em out! Here’s what they had to say about this one – ‘The soup has a condensed umami of chicken, which matches perfectly with the onion-garlic flavored noodles. Additionally, delicious wontons are included to make your empty stomach happy. Like in many other ramen bowls, sesame works as a hidden hero which brings a balance to the dish.’
Was contacted recently about a new product called Simply Shredz. Basically, it’s marinated and shredded pork that you can put on just about everything! Well, probably not breakfast cereal… But your could put it on congee! Anyways, let’s open it up and give it a little test run!
So this is the second pork tonkotsu variety offered by Mike’s Mighty Good Craft Ramen – this being the non-spicy version. Let’s see what Wikipedia has to say about this style of ramen –
So today’s variety is one I’ve been curious about. This is a pork tonkotsu from the United States – something I don’t usually think is going to be great. But if it does as well as everything else has, I think it’s going to be good. Here’s a little about tonkotsu from Wikipedia-
This one comes by way of Japan Ramen Box. Japan Ramen Box is a new subscription box outfit with neat varieties to check out! Go visit their website and have a look!
Here’s another interesting one from Zenpop.JP – thanks! So Zenpop is doing monthly boxes of all sorts of things Japan-related including instant ramen of course. This is one that looks to be of the same range as Maruchan’s midori no tanuki and kitsune udon – here’s what the folks at Zenpop have to say about this one –
Brought this back from Taiwan. Pretty much everything I brought back came through the rigors of baggage handling unscathed; but not every single thing did. Alas, this was one of them that didn’t. To be quite honest, it did better than some I’ve brought back before from abroad – a little crushing of noodles isn’t bad – I’vbe had ones whose noodle blocks were reduced to crumbs. Let’s have a look at this one – I found it at RT-Mart in Taipei.
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 don’t know if this one came before or after the famous ‘special edition lobster’ variety by this company, but this looks like it’s going to be quite a different variety. Here’s a little about ribs in Korea –
This was one variety I didn’t want to leave Taiwan without. I was lucky – we walked around the food expo in Taiwan last November and didn’t see it. Then We went through the beer, wine and spirits section and boom – there it is! A huge booth for TTL (Taiwan Tobacco & Liquor) and a guy asks is he could answer any questions. ‘Where are the noodles?’ Well, I showed him my event badge and he knew who I was which was very cool. Nice guy who went by the name of Ben – if you see this Ben, contact me – would love to do an interview about this product line!
This variety comes by way of Japan Ramen Box. Japan Ramen Box is a new subscription box outfit with neat varieties to check out! Go visit their website and have a look! This is wantan men – let’s see what Wikipedia has to say about this variety –
This one comes by way of Japan Ramen Box. Japan Ramen Box is a new subscription box outfit with neat varieties to check out! Go visit their website and have a look!
We found this one at a place called Hen Long Market up in Surrey, BC on a trip a few months back. Thanks to my friend Ken for telling me about this place! So this one’s from Vietnam and I don’t often have come across Vietnamese varieties like this one. Usually, I see the same thing again and again and this one is definitely different. Let’s have a look at this minced pork variety!
Here’s another one I brought home from Taiwan in November 2017. Thanks again to friends on facebook for helping with the translation.
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?
I think I found this one at 99 Ranch Market in Edmonds, Washington a month or two ago. I go in there an awful lot – they have the mung bean sprouts I like and usually with the longest expiration life in the area. I could go on and on about mung bean sprouts, but here’s a little about tonkotsu ramen from Wikipedia –
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.
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:
Alright, so here we go! I’ve been curious about these since they showed up in the mail.
The box is interesting – kind of looks like a tissue box in a way but definitely nothing like that inside. There are four packages inside and they are accompanied by four sachets. Let’s take a look at this unique variety from Taiwan!
Here’s one of those ‘dilemma’ noodles. I don’t know what the heck it is called and the bar code yields absolutely no results which are annoying. Luckily, I do have the resource of my readers and asked on the Facebook page for The Ramen Rater. A few people got they were tonkotsu, which is very helpful, although usually, ones like this are some kind of tonkotsu – like a little more detailed. But people were of the belief this was just their standard tonkotsu. Thanks for the info! Let’s dig in
Here’s another one from ZenPop. Zenpop offers a wide variety of Japanese product boxes to your door – lots of stationary and ramen as well – check em out! Here’s what they had to say about this curry udon –
Here’s one that came by way of Zenpop. Zenpop has monthly boxes of instant noodles from Japan you can get as well as a very popular line of Japanese stationary. Here’s what they have to say about this variety:
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 –
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!
Here’s another one I found up in Canada in July of 2017. So this one isn’t made in South Korea or the United States – it’s made in China. A lot of Nogshim varieties up in Canada hail from mainland China which I discovered a few years back. I’m pretty sure I’ve reviewed a potato pork version that I got up in Canada before that was a Nongshim China product, but I know it didn’t look like this one. Anyways, let’s see how this is – bring on the noodles!
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 –
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! So what is this Yokosuna all about? Well, I could be wrong, but it looks like Yokozuna is an echelon attained by Japanese sumo wrestlers. The Yokozuna are the best of the best. Let’s check it out!
Recently we headed up to Canada for a nice meet up with new friends and to find some noodles. This one spoke to me and said ‘Halloween’ – I mean, bone soup made from boiling pork bones is a very traditional kind of thing – heck, it could be also seen as something Thanksgiving style where after the meal the carcass of the turkey is boiled to pull out all of that great flavor. But the black and green big letters and all just kind of screamed skeletons! Trick or treat! Spooky!
So this is the last of the three fresh varieties sent to me by Yamachan – thank you again! First off, Yamachan is pretty easily found in the United States – I’ve not only seen their products in Japanese/Asian supermarkets but at higher-end domestic grocery stores. Here’s a little from Wikipedia on Tonkotsu and Shoyu Ramen –
