Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
I remember when we’ve flown to Taiwan, when they ask what you want to eat, they’ll go up and down the aisles and say ‘pork porridge?’ I’ll admit, I usually got pork porridge. It was kinda funny. Anyways, found this one at Evergreen Asian Market in Everett, Washington. Let’s cook.
The local grocery store keeps providing more stuff all the time it’s really quite interesting. Wasn’t sure of the Korean one but this should be good and last will be the Thai Curry – should I be able to find it. Months later, I still haven’t and would have truly enjoyed finding it, but to no avail everywhere I’ve looked.
Here’s the second of my three review series of stuff found at local bargain stores. This is another one From Dollar Tree – and the price there on the label was the price I paid for it. I almost never have seen an instant noodle with a price on it – fascinating! What’s also kind of interesting is this and the last one are 300ml. IDK if that’s a pointer that both may be from the same folks but I don’t think so. I should also mention I reviewed a similar packaged product awhile back. The packaging did change and when the emperor gets new clothes, it gets a new review. Finally, when I reviewed it previously, it was incredibly good – and made in Thailand. Still made in Thailand. Let’s cook it up.
I’ve been saving this one a little while and thought hey today’s the day. Well, today IS the day! Tonkotsu time!
Big thanks to James from Lakeside, California for this one! Yeah these are big, that’s for sure – really big. Like huge. Let’s cook it up!
Here’s one sent by James from Lakeside, California – thank you! Wasn’t sure if I’d had this one however the other I’ve had from this range was udon with seafood flavor. Let’s toss in some chashu and give it a go!
I don’t know what I did… Maybe it was the amount of walking I’ve been doing… I do tend to walk as fast as I can… I have a suspiciom it was stretching to grab a bowl off the high shelf that was accompanied by a little feeling and sounded like biting a piece of raw chicken gristle. Whatever it was, I’m really sore. Not fun. Anyways, enough griping – found this one at Evergreen Asian Market in Everett, Washington. What’s more, is the pack green or pink? I thought it was green the whole time. Colors can be really hard for me to see. Better consult an expert. Well, my daughter says it’s pink. Alright – it’s pink. Let’s cook it up.
We arrive at the last of the three fresh varieties from Yoko Street. Miso! Let’s give it a try.
So Yoko Street sends fresh ramen to your door – here’s their website. I tried a few varieties a little while back and was enthused! Let’s try this and a couple more!
Here’s a variety that I found in one of MiauMall’s Nakama Noodles subscription boxes! Inside, they have 8-10 different varieties from Japan! If you’d like to get one, don’t forget to use the coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount! Let’s see what they had to say about this one – “Time to head to Hakata for their interpretation of the Gion Festival and some tasty tonkotsu ramen! Hakata is famous for its creamy pork bone ramen, but this cup kicks it up a notch with pork fat for a deep, rich flavor and accents of onion, garlic and sesame!”
Here’s a variety that I found in one of MiauMall’s Nakama Noodles subscription boxes! Inside, they have 8-10 different varieties from Japan! If you’d like to get one, don’t forget to use the coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount! Let’s see what they had to say about this one – “Miso ramen is famous in Hokkaido, but this pack changes things up by taking it to coastal prefecture of Kagoshima. This tasty pack combines rich miso with a Kagoshima pork dashi (Japanese soup stock) to create an extra savory bowl of ramen!”
Here’s a variety that I found in one of MiauMall’s Nakama Noodles subscription boxes! Inside, they have 8-10 different varieties from Japan! If you’d like to get one, don’t forget to use the coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount! Let’s see what they had to say about this one – “Now, let’s switch it up and enjoy a bit more devilish spice from the super cute Pochita. This special Super Cup ramen collab with Chainsaw Man features delicious sweet & spicy pork kimchi, with a hint of garlic to round out the flavor.”
Found this over at S*Mart, too. Hot pork bones! Wahoo! I’ve always liked this brand – usually their stuff is pretty decent. I wonder what the versions in China are like… Would like to try them, that’s for sure. Well, let’s try this export version.
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box – use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount!
Yoko Street reached out to me recently and asked if I’d be interested in sampling their ramen products. They ship fresh and so that sounded interesting. I’ve seen quite a few of these kind of everythig you need setups in past years but it’s been a little while – so of course I was interested. Well, let’s put it together and give some tonkotsu shoyu a try!
Protein and vitamins and fiber and low sodium and pretty low calories for the size of the serving. Let’s begin.
Fancy new packaging going on here. Mapo century egg with meat paste sounds really quite exquisite – this sounds great – I’m on it!
Another one from James of Lakeside, CA – thanks! He noticed me reviewing the Norita products and that I was curious about more, so he sent this. Let’s see what we have here.
Here’s an interesting one from Japan found in a Zenpop box – check out zenpop.jp and use the coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount!
Well, here’s the last of the Ramen Talk varieties I’ve gotten – they said they’d send more, which would be great! All have been quite exceptional. This one’s a tomato tonkotsu – I’m very curious – let’s give it a go!
Here’s another one I found at Asian Family Market the other day. This is a brand I’ve never seen before and thought ‘let’s give it a try.’ It was anice afternoon – brought our new Lab puppy Pepper with us to get her fitted for a choke chain, got some dog food and then of course to the Asian grocery. It was hopping in that area, that’s for sure.
When I saw these came out, I emailed my contact at Thai President Foods about them. I have been planning to do a special definitive guide to their tom yum. I honestly thought that was what was in here, but nope! Oops! But hey – these are super special and I can’t wait to give them a try! What was really nice is when I mentioned it, they said that they would send some of the tom yum people buy over there for the definitive guide! Thank you! You’ll see that unboxing sometime soon, but for now, let’s check out these special varieties!
I remember a few weeks ago looking at my browser – repeatedly, I would see this same ad. I finally, figured it was a demand that I reach out to this company and so I did. I was sent samples, and now we get to try them! When I initially saw their offerings, I thought these were boil in bag or microwave varieties. That’s not the case – they’re cook on stove – and I’m really curious how they’re going to be. Well, let’s find out!
So my daughter Mimi and I were at the local 99 Ranch Market and she saw this one and asked if I’d tried it. Honestly, I don’t think I have and if I have, it was over ten years ago, so looks like a good shot for a new review. I should point out that this brand, Ve Wong, isn’t pronounce ‘vee’ wong, but ‘way’ wong. Found that out in Taiwan! Let’s check it out.
This one arrived in an Exotic Noods subscription box – check ’em out and use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount!
Found this in a Zenpop.jp box – you get seven varieties of instant noodles to try! I would say that almost every time I’ve gotten one of these, I’ve never tried any of them before which is really awesome. Use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a groovy discount! Here’s what they had to say about this one – ‘Inspired by Kagoshima’s pork shabushabu, these soy sauce-flavored ramen deliver a rich taste of pork paired with dried bonito and kelp. It reminds of the seas off the shores of Kagoshima prefecture on the island of Kyushu. Made with a new technology, the noodles have a firm and tough texture, what Italians might call al dente. The soy sauce-flavored soup brings a deep richness from the local black pork, and a lot of umami from the bonito and kelp, topped with a sprinkle of green onions, pork, and flower-shaped kamaboko (蒲鉾).’ Cool let’s give it a go.
I’ve been slowly getting through all the varieties sent by a reader from Montana – thank you! These have replaced a competitor’s varieties at Walmart. When I did the unboxing video I didn’t expect the feedback I got in the comments – people are very unhappy about the change. I will say that the change is a big one, however if you really enjoy the other brand, it is still available in stores other than Walmart, so there is that. I did hear some positive things about this pork variety. It should be noted that the Malaysian HALAL stamp doesn’t appear on this one – for obvious reasons. But I still suspect this variety is produced in Malaysia. Let’s check it out.
This is one sent by a reader named Keijiro – thanks! I’ve seen this one many times, but only way I’ve seen to get it is online and in a large quantity. I appreciate it so much when readers share a pack or two of something.
Here’s one that came from a Zenpop.jp subscription box. Use the coupon code RAMENRATER at checkout for a discount!
The first thing I noticed about this one was toward the top where it mentioned it has real beef and real pork. I so seldom come across varieties from the Philippines that this was a real score. I think I found it up in Canada but I’m not sure. Let’s see what Wikipedia has to say about La Paz Batchoy real quick –
Pork bone soup is a particular favorite of mine – whether it be creamy tonkotsu or something more like this, I’m usually quite partial to these styled varieties. Let’s see what this one from China holds in store.
QQ is an interesting term when it comes to noodles. Michelin defines it as “QQ is the bounciness associated with fresh handmade fishballs, glutinous rice balls, and certain types of noodles. The term originated from Taiwan, where Q sounds similar to the local word for “chewy”, but it’s evolved to mean a little more than that.”
A few months ago I did a Meet The Manufacturer series on Vite Ramen, but the packs I tried were prototypes and not this, the finished product for version 1.0 (version 1.1 will be coming soon and I’ll be giving that a try when it comes out). It’s a neat concept brought to life by Tim & Tom Zheng.
Here’s one that came by way of World Ramens, a new business specializing in international instant noodle subscription boes. Use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount!
I thought hey I’ve got this other one – I should review it too. So here we are. It’s funny how there are two crowds; one that likes this brand and one that likes the other economy class instant here in the United States. They’ve both got their strengths, and the one with Maruchan I would say is the variety of flavors in their Ramen Noodle Soup range. There’s a ton of them – many of which are kind of hard to find. This is one I haven’t seen often. I think the first time I had this was back in early 2010 – yep that link is good old review #66. Looks like I re-reviewed it the next year.
You probably know tom yum, but what about the moo deng part? Well, it’s pork. That was simple, right? Let’s get into this one by Yum Yum of Thailand!
What a week! So last week I didn’t do a single regular review. I was knee deep editing all sorts of unboxings and episodes of The Chocolate Break. While we were out I found this one. I’ve seen it many times before, but buying 5 packs isn’t something I like to do at all anymore as first they’re expensive and second I end up with three extra packs to give a home to.
Today we have a Zenpop.JP variety – so what’s Zenpop? They’re a subscription service for all things Japanese! Definitely, check them out. By the way, use coupon code RAMENRATER to get $2 off! Here’s what they had to say about this one – ‘Spicy but tasty tonkotsu shoyu soup with garlic and red pepper. Add pork kimuchi flavored oil to enjoy delicious smell of kimchi. Ingredients are well seasoned pork, two kinds of kimchi seasoned with special sauce, green onion, and red pepper.’
Here’s the second variety from Hakubaku to cross my desk recently. This is a shelf stable fresh noodle variety – let’s give it a try!
Are you ready? Here’s a recipe from Lane of Antlers, Oklahoma – thanks! Watch me cook it up on a special episode of Instant Noodle Recipe Time EXTRA!
