Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
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!
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!
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!
I was contacted last year by Fanny Chu, a California artist with a true love for ramen. In fact, she designed a ramen poster, highlighting many of the different varieties of ramen in Japan. Well, she’s done a big update to the poster and now it includes a whopping 42 different varieties. They can be bought here. Let’s have a look!
Sad to say it but this is the last of the varieties sent to me by Javier over at www.BoxFromJapan.com. He’s decided to end the subscription service for instant noodles, however you can still get neat boxes of Japanese candy! Check ’em out! Well, here’s what he had to say about this variety:
Here’s another one from Colin – thanks! So, wwhat’s CXO sauce? Here’s some info from wikipedia:
Yet another left over from the Nisin HK Meet The Manufacturer! Man, they sent so many! Thank you so much – really helps a lot! So these are instant takes on classic Italian pasta dishes. They’re microwavable and thus far, I’ve not had one I didn’t like. Let’s see how this one fares.
Here’s another box from MyKuali – hoping that it’s got what I am hoping it has inside! Let’s see!
Yet again, a donation from Colin of the east coast – thanks, bro! This is another ‘no way – I’ve reviewed this one’ kinda variety, but it turns out indeed I haven’t. It looks like the Nongshim ‘BIG Bowl’ line, but it’s definitely not the export version if it is. Let’s have a look – very curious about this one.
This is one I brought back with me from Taiwan! Happy Cook is a brand that one of the factories in Taichung makes.
I got a message from a reader whose name is Zou from China. He has this instant noodle he said I have to try – and so we start chatting. So it came in the mail a couple days ago! Let’s check out what he sent!
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!
This was sent to me by Ippin, a purveyor of wonderful Japanese items! Thank you again! They informed me that this one has been discontinued, but I’m reviewing it anyways. I really like curry, spicy things and chicken. What’s more, it’s snowing today! Let’s give this Cup Noodle with a famous tennis player on the front!
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!
Here’s one of a line I’ve been kind of on the fence about lately. I tried their tonkotsu and was a little disappointed and hopeful that this miso will be a different story. Shall we have a look?
Got this neat dual box package in the mail the other day! What’s inside? Let’s see…
Yep, you guessed it! This is yet another one left from the Nissin Hong Kong Meet The Manufacturer. Thanks again to Nissin HK for sending so many varieties! Sounds simple enough – it’s spicy, it’s beef. Let’s check it out!
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:
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.
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:
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!
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!
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!
So I remember the first time I tried this one a couple years ago. Indeed, it is spicy! Sichuan pepper is a little different kind of spicy in contrast to a jalapeno or wasabi – here’s a little info about the Sichuan pepper from wikipedia:
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:
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:
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!
Since Meet The Manufacturer can be up to 15 reviews, I told Kyle over at Howsler foods that I’d be able to re-review varieties he’d sent before. He was pretty happy about this and so here’s a box of them. So, let’s pop it open!
Here’s the first box from Howsler Foods. So let’s crack it open!
Well packed, indeed!
Interview With Howsler Foods * Product Samples From Howsler Foods (1 of 2) * Product Samples From Howsler Foods (2 of 2) * Mom’s Dry Noodle Pepper & Sesame Sauce Flavor * Mom’s Dry Noodle Onion Oil & Shrimp Flavor * Xiao Ban Mian Sesame Sauce Matcha Noodle * Mom’s Dry Noodle Sichuan Spicy Flavor * Xiao Ban Mian Traditional Shallot & Onion Oil Noodle * Mom’s Dry Noodle Sour & Spicy Flavor * Xiao Ban Mian Sesame Oil With Garlic Flavor Thin Noodle * Mom’s Dry Noodle Vegan Chilli With Sesame Sauce
Here’s one sent to me by Colin – thanks again! So this one is kind of interesting – I’ve reviewed lots of Mr. Noodles in the past, however they’ve been from Canada. I think there’s also a Mr. Noodles in India as well – unsure if they’re related to this Bangladeshi brand though. It seems to me that with so many Mr, Noodles out there (lest we forget Mr. Noodles from Sesame Street as well), there’s bit of confusion. In fact, I get comments quite often actually from the Mr. Noodles customers in Canada asking where to go to contact them. Of course as far as the Canadian ones go, all I can find is a distributor and nothing else. So very sorry, Canadians…
Another one from the Nissin Hong Kong Meet The Manufacturer. This one is really popular overseas – I think I saw it on some list as a favorite. Here’s a little from wikipedia on the might Cup Noodles:
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Here’s one sent by a reader named Jen from Australia – thanks again! So chow mein – very curious how this will translate. Indeed I’ve had chow mein that tastes like yakisoba, chow mein that’s just salty and soy, chow mein that’s very bland. But this one looks like it will be chow mein with a small amount of broth and vegetables which sounds odd. But wait – is it odd? As a matter of fact. Australia has it’s own take on Chinese food – here’s a little about it from wikipedia:
Here’s another one from Colin – you da man! He got these during a trip to Mexico earlier this year and sent them along. It’s funny; it still kind of boggles my mind how few instant noodles from Mexico I’ve had the chance to try until only recently. I mean, Mexico is pretty darn close. But then again it’s kind of the same way with Canada – I live about an hour and a half from the border and until we went up there a few years back for my birthday, I hadn’t tried much of anything from up there. Anyways, let’s check out this chicken flavored instant ramyun from South Korea for the Mexican marketplace.
Here’s yet another left from the Nissin Hong Kong Meet The Manufacturer – thanks again! Today it’s the cup version of their black garlic oil tonkotsu. Indeed, black garlic is an interesting thing – here’s what Wikipedia has to say about it –
South Korean instant noodles are known around the world as being spicy and beefy for the most part. However, there are many different styles. In fact, seafood jjamppong, black bean jjajang, cold noodles, and creamy beef noodles exist in the scene. Today, I’ll do a rundown of my favorites – the best of the highest rated South Korean varieties from over 2,300 unique varieties I’ve reviewed from around the world. Finally, I would like to note that it’s tougher to find South Korean varieties. Therefore, any instant noodle companies from South Korea should contact me promptly to be considered for upcoming top ten lists. Let’s get started.
Hooray a new box of MyKuali samples! I’ve been a big fan of their products ever since they released their Penang White Curry way back in 2013 I believe. Since then, they appeared on my top Ten Spiciest list and then my Top Ten annual. They’re known nowadays worldwide as something unique and different. Let’s see what’s in this package!
Here’s one sent by Marvin R. from Texas – thanks again! I have trouble getting new varieties from India. It’s prertty far away and usually my only source are Indian grocery stores here. Here’s a little about Maggi instant noodles from Wikipedia:
Here’s one my friend Paul S. brought me back from a trip to Mexico – thanks again, bro! So instant noodles are very popular in Latin America. A lot of flavors that reflect the local tastes, this one being shrimp. Let’s check it out!
