#2330: Ve Wong Little Prince(ss) Brand Snack Noodles Artificial Mexican Pizza Flavor

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#2330: Ve Wong Little Prince(ss) Brand Snack Noodles Artificial Mexican Pizza Flavor - Taiwan - The Ramen Rater - noodle snack

As I’ve said in the past, I’m usually about 50 or so reviews ahead of myself. Well, today is the actual day our daughter Miriam will be born and by the time this comes out she’ll be close to two months old. Wow! It’s early in the morning – although it’s just a few hours away. Really excited! This one seemed interesting enough for a day of birth – Mexican pizza from Taiwan? I think a fiesta is in order; although I wish these were called Little Princess – but hey look at the title I think that works at least a little! Let’s check it out! ...see full post

Prima Taste Ready Meal – Curry Chicken With Rice

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Prima Taste Ready Meal - Curry Chicken With Rice

I know, I know – you don’t have to tell me that this isn’t an instant noodle, but the folks at Prima Taste sent me some of these neat meal pouches and I wanted to let people know about them. You cut a little slit in the side towards the top and microwave for 90 seconds. Boom – curry chicken rice!  Here’s a quote from the company: ...see full post

#2326: Nissin Demae Iccho Tokyo Shoyu Tonkotsu Flavour Instant Noodle (Cup Type)

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#2326: Nissin Demae Iccho Tokyo Shoyu Tonkotsu Flavour Instant Noodle (Cup Type) - Hong Kong - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles

Another left over from the Nissin Hong Kong Meet The Manufacturer. I’ve reviewed many Nissin HK tonkotsu varieties thus far, and today we have yet another variety! This is a Tokyo Shoyu Tonkotsu. Shoyu translates to soy sauce, so this seems like it will be a kind of milky soy kind of thing? Let’s find out!! ...see full post

Box From Japan: Ramen Subscriptions Are Back!

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After a short hiatus, I received an email from Javier. Javier runs Box From Japan, a website where you can get different subscription boxes full of interesting Japanese things! They have a ramen box – which comes with 4 varieties of instant noodles from Japan. They also have a cando box which has a ton of different kinds of Japanese candies which are odd and interesting. Even a Pokemon box! Let have a look inside this one! ...see full post

Exotic Noods Sends Their New Premium Box

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Exotic Noods Sends Their New Premium Box - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles - subscription box

Exotic Noods (www.exoticnoods.com) is a monthly subscription box – 4 varieties from around the world arrive at your door with chopsticks and info on them. Pretty great, especially if you don’t know what to try, don’t have an Asian grocery anywhere near where you live… Many reasons to check out an instant noodle subscription service. I think the best reason is to try something new and expand your palate! This box is a ‘premium’ box – wioth a lot of extras! Let’s look inside! ...see full post

More Product Samples From Prima Taste

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More Product Samples From Prima Taste - Singapore - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles

When I get a package here, it’s turned into a kind of celebration. So the head of festivities is Miles – a box comes and he’s ready to beat on it like a drum! I think he’s going to be a percussionist when he grows up – which I’d definitely be okay with. However, maybe he’ll be a noodle reviewer and follow in my footsteps – who knows; he’s not even two years old yet haha! Let’s open the box! ...see full post

#2323: Ogasawara Kirin Giraffe Shio Ramen

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#2323: Ogasawara Kirin Giraffe Shio Ramen - Japan - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles

Here’s one I got at the Carrefour store in Taipei at the bottom of the Miramar Entertainment Park mall. It was on sale and definitely something I didn’t expect to see. There was a bunch of articles that came out about this variety a while back – it was popular many years ago and discontinued and then brought back to the delight of consumers. Noodles with a picture of a giraffe in a bow tie on the front? Yeah; this sounds neat. Let’s check out this revisited classic from Japan! ...see full post

#2317: MAMA Instant Bowl Noodles Shrimp (Tom Yum) Flavor Base

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#2317: MAMA Instant Bowl Noodles Shrimp (Tom Yum) Flavor Base - Thailand - The Ramen Rater - instant noodles

Here’s yet another from a reader named Colin from the east coast. He’s always surprised me a little insofar as being able to send me varieties I hadn’t reviewed yet. I mean, this totally would have been one I would’ve passed over as previously reviewed, but I can’t find it anywhere. As far as walking by it at local stores, I’ve done so countless times. Anyways, let’s crack i open and have a look! ...see full post

Donation From ‘Ramen Regret Rater’ of Australia!

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Donation of instant noodles from Australia from Ramen Regret Rater - The Ramen Rater

I found out recently there’s now a group that’s reviewing spicy instant noodles in Australia – they call the blog RamenRegretRater, and they talk about the poops they have after eating spicy instant noodles – I shit you not! I’ve been chatting a lot with Kamran R. about instant noodles a lot recently and kindly sent some stuff he found while on vacation in Bali. Thanks, man! Let’s take a look! ...see full post

Book Review: Fine Dining With Johor Kaki: 100 Must-Try Johor’s Heritage & Street Food

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Book Review: Fine Dining With Johor Kaki: 100 Must-Try Johor's Heritage & Street Food

A couple of months ago, I was sent a new book (click to enlarge) by my friend Tony Johor Kaki! He runs a really great blog and I first found him from his instant noodle reviews. Now he’s written a book – Fine Dining With Johor Kaki: 100 Must-Try Johor’s Heritage & Street Food. Its a really neat presentation of some of  southern peninsular Malaysia’s great foods and where to find them. Here are some words about it from the author: ...see full post

The Ramen Rater’s Top Ten Chinese Instant Noodles Of All Time 2017 Edition

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The Ramen Rater's Top Ten Chinese Instant Noodles Of All Time 2017 Edition

恭喜发财 and Happy Lunar New Year to all! I had a look at my lists I hadn’t updated in a while and saw it was in January of 2014 last I did a top ten Chinese list. Why so long? Well, I like to have done quite a few reviews in a year when it comes to country lists for that specific country. If I’d done only two and there weren’t any big changes, I’ll kind of let it go until the next year. This one seemed ripe and ready for a new version. Of the almost 150 reviews I’ve done of Chinese instant noodles, these are my favorites. I should mention that if you are an instant noodle in mainland China and interested in having me review your products, please contact me to set up a review series. With that, let’s have a look at The Ramen Rater’s top Ten Chinese Instant Noodles Of All Time 2017 Edition.  ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: Mom’s Dry Noodle Vegan Chilli With Sesame Sauce

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Mom’s Dry Noodle Vegan Chilli With Sesame Sauce - Taiwan - The Ramen Rater

A lot of people these days are giving up meat and switching to the Vegan lifestyle. So, what’s the difference between Vegetarian and Vegan? It seems like there are many different ‘flavors’ of Vegetarianism. For example, I have a friend who claims to be vegetarian, however he eats bacon, eggs and Jack In The Box fast food tacos. Here’s what wikipedia has to say about Veganism: ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #2313: Xiao Ban Mian Sesame Oil With Garlic Flavor Thin Noodle

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Xiao Ban Mian Sesame Oil With Garlic Flavor Thin Noodle - Taiwan - The Ramen Rater - Instant noodles

This looks very interesting. Check out how thin these noodles are! Sesame and garlic are great flavors to marry together as well. So we’ve seen sesame sauce – the tan colored peanutty kind of stuff and today it’s sesame oil – a much lighter fare. Let’s have a look! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: Mom’s Dry Noodle Sour & Spicy Flavor

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Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: Mom's Dry Noodle Sour & Spicy Flavor - Taiwan - The Ramen Rater

Here’s one I really like. It has what I like to call a ‘back and forth effect flavor.’ It’s like you get one flavor lingering then your palate gets the hint of another flavor, then back to the first. It’s really unique in this way – reminds me of one of my favorite hot sauces – not in the taste, mind you, but this kind of back and forth. Let’s check it out! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #2312: Xiao Ban Mian Traditional Shallot & Onion Oil Noodle

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Xiao Ban Mian Traditional Shallot & Onion Oil Noodle - Taiwan - The Ramen Rater

During my trip to Taiwan in November of 2016, I had the opportunity to try the three varieties of the new Xiao Ban Mian line. I remember this one in particular; it was really quite good and I only got a bite or two of it – my sister actually scarfed this one down quickly! Now, back in the controlled environment of my noodle lab (sounds more amazing than it is, really), I’m really excited to give this a try. Let’s check it out! ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: #2311: Xiao Ban Mian Sesame Sauce Matcha Noodle

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Meet The Manufacturer: #2311: Xiao Ban Mian Sesame Sauce Matcha Noodle - The Ramen Rater - Taiwan - instant noodles

Xian Bian Mian is a new line from Howsler Foods. They all use straight noodles and are a bit different from the Mom’s Dry Noodle line. These tall narrow packs have three servings in each. So matcha has become really popular – but what is it? Let’s ask wikipedia: ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: Mom’s Dry Noodle Onion Oil & Shrimp Flavor

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Mom’s Dry Noodle Onion Oil & Shrimp Flavor - Taiwan - Taiwan - The Ramen Rater

Here’s one I’ve liked for a while . In fact, it’s on the Taiwanese op Ten list! I really like shrimp as well as onion! I thought since I’ve had the opportunity to try a nice amount of Taiwanese food now, I’d share this info about their food from wikipedia: ...see full post

Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: Mom’s Dry Noodle Pepper & Sesame Sauce

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Meet The Manufacturer: Re-Review: Mom's Dry Noodle Pepper & Sesame Sauce - The Ramen Rater - Taiwan

So today we kick off Meet The Manufacturer with a unique variety – pepper and sesame sauce. First, this is black pepper, not hot chill. Second, sesame sauce is completely different from sesame oil. Sesame sauce has a more peanut butter kind of texture and flavor whereas sesame oil has that strong sesame scent and saltiness. Let’s dig into this one and get things started! ...see full post