Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
Maruchan: Noodle Soup – Shrimp Flavor
Stars: **
Notes: I don’t know why, but the ramen companies that cater to the U.S. customer really dropped the ball here – there’s only one packet and the noodles are of very poor quality. However, this type of ramen’s saving grace is it’s ability to be used to make a bastardized version of ‘Spaetzel,” a Scandinavian dish. Get it here.
Mi Hai: Crab Flavor and Prawn Flavor Stars: *** 1/2
Notes: This is some really decent stuff – not a whole lot to it, but definitely tastes like crab and prawn.
The noodles are better than expected too. One note though, it does tend to give me extremely bad
heartburn. I don’t like that.
Namchow: Tom Yum Shrimp Bowl Stars: *** 1/2
Notes: Just polished it off a minute ago. Not extremely complicated but a very satisfying bowl.
Upon opening the packaging, the consumer is greeted by two small but very clear pouches
of which one contains a mix of chili oil/seasoning oil, and the other a base with
dehydrated meat ad vegetables. After leaving it to steep with some boiling water, the
end product is a bowl full of bright red broth and some really greasy noodles. Wasn’t a
really hot bowl; on the contrary, it was very citrussy flavored. But very very greasy. I
can’t begin to describe how greasy it is! A worthy bowl of noodles on it’s own.
Nissin: Spicy Seafood Flavor w/Chili Pepper
Stars: **
This wasn’t too bad at all, just not much really
special about it. As far as spiciness, nothing to sweat.
Nong Shim: Champong Oriental Noodles
Stars: **
Notes: First off, this was a pretty big package; more like very big. There was
a pack of dehydrated fish as well – octopus, cuttlefish, seaweed etc.
Also, the noodles were Udon style [extra thick]. After I made it, I
realized that the broth was quite dark and deep red. The octopus was
black too – and after the noodles, drinking the last bit of broth was
what I imagine a ton of fish blood and salt would be like.
Nong Shim: Neoguri [Seafood’n’Spicy]
Stars: **
This stuff is salty and weird. The noodles are nasty, but
the broth is very potable and potent. Becomes a
darkish red rust color and is strangely thick with bits
of octopus etc in it. Get it here.
Quickchow: Pancit Palabok
Stars: ** 1/2
Notes: This is an odd one. I have tried quite a few Filipino ramens, but I would have
to say Quickchow is probably the best. This is a rather dry rice noodle ramen. The flavor
is interesting. Only way I know how to describe it.
Samyang: Kalgug-Su (Spicy)
Stars: *** 1/2
Notes: A very good package of noodles. This one took quite a bit of looking around to find out what brand/type it is. So the noodles are very much like Indomie’s special – but they are VERY wide – wide as egg noodles! Was a great bowl of soup with the
only exception being that it had some dehydrated mushrooms in it that were
extremely foul. I thought since the name Kalgug sounded like an overture to regurgitation, that word must refer to the mushrooms.
Samyang: Pojangmacha U-Dong
Stars: ** 1/2
Notes: These were some interesting noodles. First off, they are called ‘u-dong’ and not ‘udon.’ Second, they had something called ‘sea tangle.’ I believe that the sea tangle is the true redeeming quality of this package. As far as the flavor, it wasn’t the best in the world. Wasn’t really seafoody… I dunno – didn’t really taste different – just ‘other’ seafoody, and smelled good. I mostly enjoyed the very exciting sea tangle.
Sapporo Ichiban: Shrimp Flavor
Stars: ** 1/2
Notes: Wasn’t all that jazzed about this stuff – I do think I like the Maruchan Shrimp a
tad bit better. The difference however, is that this package of noodles is very
dense – lots of noodles! A plus, but not enough to make me stoked. Get it here.
Wai Wai: Tom Yum Shrimp Flavor
Stars: **
Notes: Some pretty damn hot noodles! On the back they have put this style’s motto: ‘Softer Noodles,
Quicker To Be Served.’ It was true, these cooked up quickly, but they were insidiously hot, and
this annoyed me. Also, not even a hint of shrimp flavor.
Wai Wai: Tom Yum Chili Flavor
Stars: **
Notes: Some pretty damn hot noodles! On the back they have put this style’s motto: ‘Softer Noodles,
Quicker To Be Served.’ It was true, these cooked up quickly, but they were insidiously hot, and
this annoyed me.
