Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
The instant noodle originated in 1958 in Japan, but since that time, they’ve expanded in popularity all over the world, including of course, the United States. Seeing this, instant noodle companies thought it wise to start building plants here in the 1970s. Since then, many brands operate factories here in the US, mostly in southern California. This is a list of my favorite varieties produced here, encompassing my over 1,100 reviews to date. With that, here’s your top ten, America!
Found this the other day and hadn’t ever seen it before. Then I looked closer and saw it was Rasa Soto Mie. Now, I’ve reviewed the export version of Soto Mie before, but there’s a difference: this one’s beef and the other was chicken. Interesting! Always nice to see a new Indonesian variety available in the states! Let’s check this one out.
Here’s an udon variety – katsuo udon. So what’s katsuo? Katsuo is also called Skipjack Tuna. Here’s an excerpt from a Wikipedia article:
Happy August! The Ramen Rater has entered the advertising game! This chart (click image to enlarge) shows have many impressions (page views) have accumulated per month since October of 2010. The Ramen Rater keeps getting more popular. We feel that it is the best place for grocers that sell instant noodles as well as manufacturers of instant noodles to advertise – people who come to The Ramen Rater are looking for information on instant noodles or where they can find them. Why not tap into that? With more people browsingh the site come new expenses like hosting. Advertising with The Ramen Rater not only helps get the word out and bring people to your company website but also helps support The Ramen Rater continue to bring you daily reviews.
Here’s one that is manufactured in Shenzhen, China and distributed in Hong Kong. Let’s check it out!
Here’s a cup I got today that was sent to me by Joe B. from the UK – thanks! Curry. Sounds good to me! Turns out Tesco is a big grocery chain in the UK. Let’s check this one out.
Got this great package from Joe B. who lives over in England – thanks, man! Let’s look inside!
Here’s another one from the T&T Supermarket up in Burnaby, BC. I asked for help with the translation on Facebook. Thanks guys! Snack noodles are very popular in Asia and here’s one variety to check out. Yes – it’s from Taiwan! It’s a package with three little packs inside. Let’s check it out!
Spicy and shrimp sounded good for breakfast today. Let’s check this one out!
Here are the side panels (click image to enlarge). Contains meat. Also contains wheat, soybean, egg, milk, shrimp and krill.
Here’s another one from T&T Supermarket in Canada! I haven’t reviewed on in a while, but here we have a ramen snack. You don’t cook them, it’s a little snack that’s ready to eat and already flavored. Let’s check it out!
Hey look! Something from The Philippines! I can’t remember the last time I had anything from The Philippines (looked it up – August 18th, 2012 – almost a whole year ago). You might be wondering, what is pancit bihon? Wikipedia says:
This year, we’ve got some new fiery additions to this list of spicy and burning hot varieties. If you can find them, you’ll be feeling quite the burn! If you think you’ve found anything hotter or noteworthy of being on this list, please comment below or send me an email. Without further adieu, here’s the 2013 picks for the spiciest instant noodles I’ve found after 1,128 reviews!
Here’s another one from T&T Supermarket up in Canada! To be honest, I was absolutely stoked to find this one; I’ve seen pics of the Campbell’s varieties in the past, but they’re not available in the United States as far as I know. Let’s check out this little chicken cup.
In the last day, lots of people have been coming to The Ramen Rater from Indonesia! One person who commented via the facebook page said”you should try this one fried noddle, it has black pepper flavour. will not disappoint you :)” (for those wondering, this is friend black pepper chicken flavor noodles). I looked through the box of varieties my friend in Jakarta sent me and lo and behold, I had it in there! Thank you very much! Let’s check this one out!
7/31/2013 – UPDATE – I’ve been getting quite a few comments about wax in noodles again, so I thought it would be a good idea to repost this. Recently, an article outlining reasons not to eat instant noodles came out which perpetuates these rumors and false claims.
I noticed lots of visitors to the website tonight from Indonesia – it looks like they’re happy that thje Indomie cup was the #1 on the Top Ten Instant Noodle Cups Of All Time 2013 Edition! Well, I’ve been asked if I’ve reviewed more Indomie varieties, and so here is a link to an interview I did with Indomie CBP and lots of links to local varieties – enjoy!
Here’s another I got up at T&T Supermarket in Canada! Shio is one of four main categories of ramen in Japan (Tonkotsu, Shoyu and Miso being the others). Here’s what Wikipedia has to say about Shio:
Here’s one from South Korea. This is a seafood variety, but with no broth. If you look closely, you’ll see three triahles on the lid. These are perforated holes that you poke through and use to drain the noodles. Let’s check this one out!
Here’s another one I was given by the nice folks at T&T Supermarket up in Canada – thanks again! I thought some fresh noodles would be nice for dinner tonight and I’ve wanted to try these for quite some time. Let’s check ’em out!
This one was sent by Mr. Yamato of Yakantei in Japan! Thank you! First off – if someone has a better translation of what this particular instant noodle is called, please let me know? The original text is 長尾製麺 ラーメン仮面・タソガレトンコツ. This is quite unique in that the outer packaging is paper. Yes – paper! Let’s have a look at this artsy ramen!
Let me say that the past couple of days have been probably a couple of the most crazy, fascinating and rewarding of my run so far as The Ramen Rater. I did am interview with Quartz (part of The Atlantic) and it went viral; Huffington Post picked it up, Grub Street, Digg,… Did an interview with South Korea’s Cultwo Veranda Show and appeared, and have two interviews with radio and television lined up in the next couple of days. A couple of interesting opportunities I can’t talk about yet have popped up and I’m very excited about them and will share as soon as I can. Thursday I went up to Canada and met with some folks at a big Asian grocery called T&T Supermarket. They were really nice people and even sent me home with some great new varieties to review and share! Thank you so much! This is one of them. Oat noodles? This sounds different – see the little circle on the lower right? It says ‘health is important. Let’s check it out!
Hey folks – so we’ve re-tooled our rates for August! We now have monthly pricing and 30% off for August! Check out this PDF to find out more. Thank you!
Another Indonesia variety sent by a kind person in Jakarta! Thanks! This is called ‘gulai’ – something I’ve never heard of. I consulted Wikipedia and found this:
Here we go with the 30th edition of The Ramen Rater Noodle News! I scour the Internet for articles about ramen and instant noodles and bring them to you! Here are some recent stories you might find interesting!
Here’s one sent to me by Xavier over at Ko-Lee in the UK – thanks! These are made in Thailand for the UK market. Has directions for dry noodles as well as with soup – I’m going to prepare the latter. Let’s check this out!
Here’s another one we found in Richmond, BC during my birthday trip! Thanks yet again to my wife Kit! By the way today is out 3 years and 7 months first meeting anniversary! I’m curious about this one since it’s a Canadian product and it’s a South Korean theme. My hopes are high! Kind of an interesting one to pick as well as I got an email today from MBC , a South Korean TV network, and I’m going to do an interview with them tonight for the Cul-Two TV show! When it’s out, I’ll share a link. As for this noodle bowl, let’s check it out!
My wife mentioned she saw this brand at her work and I was curious, so she brought a couple varieties home! Thanks, Kit! I’ve never heard of this brand before. It’s an interesting one as it’s made in Thailand but set up for sale in the United States. Let’s check it out!
Went to Uwajimaya in Seattle yesterday and saw these – little four pack of mini noodles! Let’s check ’em out.
Cups were the second instant noodle innovation that really took the world by storm. Nissin founder Momofuku Ando of Japan decided that a cup would be a really handy way to have instant noodles on the go. His creation came to the market in 1971. Forty-two years later, the instant noodle landscape is filled with many different cup designs and contents – some all inclusive only needing hot water,m and some requiring a little more with packets – and some even with forks! Of all the varieties I’ve tried to date, here are my favorite ten.
Here’s another one sent by Scott over at Nissin USA – thanks! Some may be wondering what sukiyaki is – here’s what Wikipedia had to say:
Here’s another from my Indonesian friend – thanks! Another new brand! Let’s check it out.
Today, it’s a South Korean classic cup. These guys were the very first to introduce ramyun in South Korea back in 1963! I did a Meet The Manufacturer with Samyang Foods- here’s what they have to say about cups:
Another one that was donated by a friend in Indonesia – thank you! So this is something very different – kua chap. It looks like from the package, these are like large tube noodles, although it does not seem that way from the way this package feels. It’s thin and flat – hmmm… Let’s have a look!
Another one we got on our trip to Canada – thank you to my beautiful wife Kit! So I recently got this comment on my Top Ten Strangest & Weirdest list:
This was sent to me by Kristina W. of Arizona – thank you! Jjajangmyun is basically a noodle that is coated in a black bean sauce. Let’s check it out!
A couple days ago, I was interviewed via Skype on NTD TV about the recent uproar over The Bottom Ten List as well as what I do. It was a lot of fun and I would like to thank NTD TV for this great opportunity! Thank you! Here’s a direct link to their site.
You’re probably wondering what the deal is here. Well, I’ll tell you! These were sent along with a slew of other Indonesian (yep – it’s from Indonesia!) instant noodles. These are made by Indofood, the same company that makes Indomie! They only take 4 minutes to make, and I think they’re unique enough that I’d review them. Thank you to my friend from Indonesia for sending me noodles I could never lay my hands on here! Let’s check ’em out!
Earlier today, I did an interview with NTDTV about the Bottom Ten list! Should be a link coming soon! Woo-hoo!!! In the meantime, here’s a Chinese rice noodle variety from Chencun. We got it during my birthday trip up to Canada! Thank you, Kit!
Another one from my birthday trip to Canada – thanks, Kit! I’ve seen plenty of Demae Ramen varieties, but not until I visited Canada did I find bowls! Let’s check it out.
