Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
This is the third review of the day and this is a fingers crossed situation of saving the best for last. I love rapokki – ramyun is paired with tteokbokki with a sweet and spicy sauce. This can go awry though, especially if the cooking instructions are iffy. I’m hoping we’re gonna make something rad. Let’s start.
Here’s a variety that I found in one of MiauMall’s Nakama Noodles subscription boxes! These boxes are discontinued, however you can find their stuff at MiauMall – here is what they said about this one – “Let’s up the celebration with a cup of cheesy ramen! This ramen features a rich, savory white chicken broth that is made even richer with the 3- cheese powder, combining parmesan, emmental and gouda! Perfect for a fun hanami celebration!”
The last one of these I tried was the Totino’s Cheese Pizza. Unfortunately, that one got a rather low score. The idea of these products being ramen is quite a stretch – I will say these are a lot of fun nonetheless. I jokingly said I bet this is made with semolina flour on the last review – it is. It also says in the ingredients that this is pasta. Let’s see what fajita noodles are like.
Frank over at 5am Ramen sent me this in a box of varieties – thanks! He’s got some really premium stuff like this for sale – and he does guides and tours over in Japan as well! Here’s what he had to say about this variety – “Seasoned with salt, shio ramen is an unsung hero in Japan’s ramen world. Furthermore, it isn’t easy get right because the seasoning is normally light. But they get this one oh so right! The word “Fuyu” means winter in Japanese and this is a shio ramen perfect for winter. The salt base makes way for a sticky rich soup that has a spicy kick to it. The Nappa cabbage make for a great topping too.”
It isn’t often I hear about varieties that I had no idea existed. When it does, I’m usually on the hunt – but these are hard to come by. Luckily, the folks at hongkongfoodies.com have all these neat ones – and more! Check out the video!
This one is particularly interesting. They changed the package design – and the brand. This has been Ottogi for years but now it’s Otoki. Perhaps a way to get westerners to pronounce the brand name correctly? Well, let’s give it a try!
We found this one at the new T&T Supermarket in Bellevue, Washington. It was out first visit and found some neat stuff there, although I really expected their noodle aisle to be so much more impressive than it ended up being. Did find a nice array of things, though. Let’s try this interesting little box.
It should be noted that this is being posted on National Noodle Day – October 6th, 2025. I didn’t really see anything pointing for the reason for the inception of this day. All I find are things about noodles. Anyways, I guess every day is National Noodle Day over here.
Well, this is it. The last of the Momofuku varieties. I’ve been waiting to do this one and as this is Thanksgiving eve eve, hopefully I’ll be doing this one tomorrow. On with the pre-turkey noodling!
Here’s one I found at S*Mart – shop smart, shop S*Mart! Awhile back I reviiewed some varieties that were much like this and were incredibly good. Fingers crossed. Actually, today is a big day – this week, I shot the video for six top ten lists – all in one session. Just got the 2025 global top ten all ready for release as I type (it’s 4/17/25 today so you can see it already), and the last time I did a regular review was twenty days ago. So, I’m pretty stoked to do some reviewing again. Let’s give this one a try!
This is another new packaging variety from Prima Taste of Singapore. Different package and size – possibly different flavorings? Let’s find out.
So I’m going to be very upfront on this one – this is the absolute BEST BIRRIA INSTANT I’VE TRIED. It’s really quite wonderful. If that’s enough to perk your ears up, the seafood variety is no slouch either. If ya want to check these out, head over to Cielo Fresh Foods’ website. Enjoy!
Here’s a variety that I found in one of MiauMall’s Nakama Noodles subscription boxes! These are discontinued, however you can find their stuff at MiauMall – here is what they said about this one – “Let’s start the season of love with this sweet and spicy ramen! This collab with Mode Gakuen features a tasty yukgaejang-style broth with a beef base and plenty of red chili and garlic. And with the honey butter oil, this cup is lovely from start to finish”
This is something I’ve very excited about – was contacted by a reader who asked if I’d like to try Polish varieties and of course I answered yes. A ton of really great ones and it’s really hard to find this stuff here. Let’s check ’em out!
Thank you to Pher Engi for sending this along! This brand isn’t familiar but I must say I like the logo with the duck in the letter D. Let’s give it a try!
Here’s a variety that I found in one of MiauMall’s Nakama Noodles subscription boxes! These boxes are discontinued, however you can find their stuff at MiauMall – here is what they said about this one – “After a night of haunts and scares, you’re going to need some comfort! This pack of abura soba is sure to provide a bit of comfort! Get tons of flavor too with non-fried noodles with a hint of garlic and a tasty soy sauce tare with hints of sesame oil, bamboo and grilled pork!”
Here’s a variety that I found in one of MiauMall’s Nakama Noodles subscription boxes! These are discontinued, however you can find their stuff at MiauMall – here is what they said about this one – “We had to end our list with more Pokémon fun! This tasty ramen pack features ramen noodle in a spicy soup with a spicy miso-based soup. This soup has great spice with chili paste and chili powder and tons of umami with hints of beef and gochujang in the broth!”
Another shroomy one from James of Lakeside, California – thanks! The first one of these I reviewed I was very surprised by insofar as I actually liked it. I’m not a fungi (well, my wife thinks I am at least) and have never really been all in for mushrooms. She is though – bI have seen her devour them with such zeal; I feel kind of left out of the spore thing. But I digress; let’s see how it goes with a rice noodle version.
Frank over at 5am Ramen sent me this in a box of varieties – thanks! He’s got some really premium stuff like this for sale – and he does guides and tours over in Japan as well! Here’s what he had to say about this variety – “The city of Tenri in Nara is known for two things – the Tenrikyo religion…and RAMEN! The local ramen is referred to as “Stamina Ramen”. It’s rather unique. For one, the shoyu (soy sauce) seasoned soup is packed with Chinese cabbage, or hakusai. Hakusai is a topping you rarely see in ramen. Alongside the tangy shoyu base, the soup is a bit spicy from togarashi spice and broad bean chili paste. You’ll also notice the strong presence of garlic. In summary, this is an underrated, delicious ramen that hits the spot any time of year.”
Big thanks to Pher Engi for sending this along! These are really neat varieties and they come with braised egg or braised quail egg! Let’s see what is in there!
Here’s one from James of Lakeside – thanks again! He sent two of these – one with bean thread, one with rice vermicelli. Let’s see what’s within.
In 2013, I got a lot of flak from Taiwan. My top ten and bottom ten lists were the focus – nothing on the top, a couple on the bottom insofar as Taiwan was concerned. I decided hey – maybe I should do a shout out to Taiwan and ask for some varieties. A-Sha was the first to answer that call. Over the years, I’ve been lucky to try different export varieties as well as Taiwan only ones that have been so impressive. Today, I’ll show you a trifecta of varieties you can get here in the United States over at ashadrynoodle.com – check it out!
Thanks again to Pher Engi for sending this one! This is from their ‘syiok’ range – in Singapore (and I guess syiok (or shiok) mean wow or cool or excellend or rad. This sounds interestoing. Let us cook!
Here’s a variety that I found in one of MiauMall’s Nakama Noodles subscription boxes! These boxes are discontinued, however you can find their stuff at MiauMall – here is what they said about this one – “Next up is a classic bowl of shoyu ramen with a fun Pokémon package! This
bowl features thick tasty noodles in a chicken and shoyu-based soup with
hints of ginger, garlic and onion for tons of umami! Plus, this bowl has 1 of 3
possible Pokémon designs”
Big thank you to Pher Engi for sending this along! Recently, I reviewed a tom yum flavored dry noodle from this range. This one has soup. Sounds good – curious how it will be, so let’s cook it up and find out.
Frank over at 5am Ramen sent me this in a box of varieties – thanks! He’s got some really premium stuff like this for sale – and he does guides and tours over in Japan as well! Here’s what he had to say about this variety – “This is is the official instant ramen from Junren, one of Sapporo’s most celebrated miso ramen shops! This is saying a lot, as miso ramen originally comes from Sapporo….and there are countless miso ramen shops there. But Junren has a history going back to 1964. This instant ramen pays proper homage to this. The soup is rich with pork bones, but isn’t too rich. A bold miso flavors still shines through as well. The thick, Sapporo style noodles are wonderfully chewy and the generous amount of minced ork adds extra meatiness to the soup.”
This is the last of this range sent by James from Lakeside, California – thanks again! They’ve been pretty decent and I must say 6 minutes is the right timing to use. Let’s try it out.
Big thanks to Pher Engi for this one! So too warm in the bedroom at night so open the window. Writing this during allergy season so pollen invades room. Misery. That’s how I start my day. Let’s cook.
First, big thanks to James from Lakeside California for sending this. So, I’m generally not a huge fan of river snail noodle, however this one seems like it’s been very popular. There’s a tom of sachets. A ton. Let’s give it a go.
Here’s a variety that I found in one of MiauMall’s Nakama Noodles subscription boxes! These are discontinued, however you can find their stuff at MiauMall – here is what they said about this one – “We had to bring this popular, limited-edition tempura soba back! This pretty, pink soba bowl has delicious soba noodles in a savory katsuo dashi (Japanese soup stock) and soy sauce soup! It’s topped with tasty beni shoga (red pickled ginger) tempura, perfect for the season!”
Here’s another one from James of Lakeside California – thanks again! I was pleasantly surprised with the chicken flavor from this range – not bad. Doesn’t make we interested in going to prison though – these will generally only be sold to people who are in prison. My guess is this range wasn’t so popular or an order wasn’t picked up. It’s in Grocery Outlet all over the place at the moment. Let’s give it a try!
You may have seen this before – on my top ten global noodles list. It’s incredibly good and the folks at A-Sha sent me the new packaged version. Read the review and I’ll go over changes if any to the product. Hope they haven’t as it was great.
Big thanks to Pher Engi for this one! A little research found some answers on this one – Wikipedia had this to say –
Big thanks to James from Lakeside California for this. Okay first things first. He found this at Grocery Outlet in California. Yesterday, I walked over tot our local one in hopes that they might have some other varieties. They had the ones he sent – all the exact same ones. Second, these are definitely what are known as prison ramen; they have the earmarks with the clear packaging which makes it awful hard to smuggle and contraband using the packs. Well, it says it is made in the US so the next question – who makes these? This image of a sachet of Maruchan Creamy Chicken shows the text and font same as on these. But why? They already have a line of products for corrections. Anyways, I’m leaning towards them being the manufacturer – could be totally wrong though. Anyways, let’s give it a try!
Frank over at 5am Ramen sent me this in a box of varieties – thanks! He’s got some really premium stuff like this for sale – and he does guides and tours over in Japan as well! Here’s what he had to say about this variety – “This instant ramen beautifully showcases Japan’s Nagano region. First of all, “Shinshu” is the ancient name for Nagano. Furthermore, “Shinshu Miso” comes from Nagano and is the most prized type of miso in Japan. This instant ramen features a rich soup with a bright Shinshu Miso flavor. It also includes two toppings straight from Nagano – nozawana (a leafy green) and shimeji mushrooms. Lastly, there’s a little bit of heat coming from shichimi spice prepared by a company that’s famous for it.”
Here’s one sent by James of Lakeside, California – thanks! The first of these was good as I remember and this one sounds very good. While made in China, everything is done specificall for the USA. Let’s give it a whirl!
I’m really intrigued with these bowls. This was sent by Pher Engi – thanks again! A beef tomato eh? It looks to have a nice little spherical surprise – let’s have a look!
A big thanks to Noodle Journey for sending this one. So this cold noodle usually has apple I believe but this time it’s strawberry. Very curious about this, so lett’s cook!
Thank to Pher Engi for sending this one! This one’s a bit confusing to me as in my research of this particular style, the kaw style is made with chicken, however I see a myriad of seafood. No matter – let’s try it out!
Big thanks to Noodle Journey for sending this one! So, this is a new version of Paldo’s Bibimmen, kind of a 2.0 deal. Looks interesting – I guess we ought to sample it.
