Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
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! This a spicy dandan variety, so should be thick stuff! Let’s give it a try.
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.
This is another new packaging variety from Prima Taste of Singapore. Different package and size – possibly different flavorings? Let’s find out.
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”
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!”
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!
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.
A busy week so only got a couple done. Found this at Fred Meyer and though I ought to review it, so here I am. This will mean I’ve tried the pack, the tray, and the bowl. Okay let’s hit it.
Here’s another cup from the big advent calendar box! I was tepid on reviewing these as I did awhile back, but the chicken one I did the other day was excellent, so I’m wondering if they’ve redone these. I’m excited to try this one – so let us begin.
We were at HMart and saw these – couldn’t resist. Who could resist a nice plate of tteokbokki in between watching people get slaughtered while playing children’s games? I’m hopeful on this one; I really like tteokbokki. I should also mention – this is my 2,500th episode of Instant Noodle recipe Time – it’s down at the bottom. I forgot about that, so episode 2,501 will have a little more about that. Let’s give it a try.
Thanks again to Noodle Journey for sending these! This Toowoomba version I reviewed recently from this range really reminded me of their Tangle versions here in the US as far as the noodle is concerned. Let’s give this a try!
This little square tray caught my attention at a local grocery store recently. I though it looked interesting, so we shall see. I must say the microwaved noodle usually is quite good in Nongshim stuff.
This one came by way of Noodle Journey – thanks! Yes, this is made in South Korea, but everything on here points to being an export variety for the Indonesian market. Very curious… Let’s give it a go, and don’t forget to check out the mukbang below!
Big thanks to Noodle Journey for this one! This is a new variety and it’s all in Korean. What might confuse people here is that they may have thought this would be the flavor of it the whole time. This is not. The flavor of Buldak is the flavor of the sauce that goes on Korean Fried Chicken. Original Buldak doesn’t taste like chicken. I have fought with people over this misconception. ‘But there’s chicken seasoning in it!’ Yes, perhaps in some, however in another Korean variety – a beef flavor, there’s pollock (fish) and no beef. Is it fish flavor? In Pumpkin Spice cup noodle, there’s garlic. Is it garlic flavored? No. These different ingredients are part of the arsenal of food scientist ingredients used to approximate different flavors. Anyways, let’s give this a try!
Time for something prawny! It’s prawn o’clock! Prawn o’yeah! Let’s prawn it up!
When I got the big Nissin Deutschland Advent Calendar, I figured I’d reviewed most things, but that was not the case to my chagrin. Lots of Demae Ramen in there with new packaging as well as new flavors! Let’s do spicy first!
This is a huge unboxing! Big thanks to A-Sha for sending these along! There’s a whole lot to unpack – let’s check ’em out!!
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 – “We’re keeping it hot with this next choice! Nissin created a tasty cup of spicy ramen with plenty of hot chili. But don’t worry—it’s not just spicy! It combines shoyu with miso, garlic and kimchi vinegar to create a flavor profile with tons of depth for an addictive taste!”
A couple of years ago, I found out about Lao Gan Ma Spicy Chili Crisp. A crunch, oil, and a little spiciness. I dubbed it ‘Love Sludge’ – it was so good that I evangelized it to all my friends. Since then, the enamor has most certainly worn off. I don’t know if they changed the recipe, but the last couple of times I’ve gotten some, it’s ended up in the bin, not completely used. Well, I thought a list of alternatives to Lao Gan Ma that are out there that not everyone’s heard of (nor I myself) would be neat. So, I started sending a few emails, asking for samples, and here’s The Ramen Rater’s Chili Crisp Roundup & Buyer’s Guide. I figure 14 varieties is more than enough to show a landscape of flavor and textures that are out in the wild – and I’m sure there are many more. With holidays coming up, if you’ve got a ramen junkie or chilehead to get something for, there’s a lot of different things here that will work that they might not have tried. These are in order of when I received/bought them. Each one has a link to where you can get them. If I end up with more, I will be happy to add them at the bottom. With that, let’s get oily!
Well, this is the last of all the big trays I have currently, and this gets drained off. A massive jjahangmyeon! Spicy jjajangmyeon isn’t usually my cup of tea, but we shall see. Let’s cook up a monster.
This is the second of three and yup – will be a mukbang. I think I’m in the mood for a mukbang today – last night was Halloween and it rained – poured – and so something hot sounds good. Still raining today. Let’s give it a go.
Here’s a new one from Myojo – sounds good and definitely in the mood – let’s give it a try!
My last review was a Japanese cold noodle, and now we have a Korean style cold noodle from the United States. The sweet spicy gochujang sounds kind of like bibimmyeon. Let’s give it a try – it’s summer right now as I type this, by the way.
A big thanks to Daniel over at www.exoticnoods.com for sending this one! I’ve been wanting to try it and mukbang it up for a while now (mukbang vid at bottom of the page), and here it is. I love tom yum. I’m curious though as the Buldak base has the heat, but it also imparts some sweetness as well. Interesting. I guess the correct route is to give it a try.
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 – “Nissin Donbei is back in spicy form! This tasty bowl of udon with fried tofu combines pork, shoyu (soy sauce), katsuo dashi and plenty of spice for a red hot soup. We hope this bowl feels like a whole fireworks show going on in your mouth in the tastiest way possible!’
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 – “Here’s another selection that will set your mouth aflame in a great way! This ramen features a tasty miso base with the addition of beef and gochujang to create a soup that is nutty, full of umami and deliciously spicy!”
This one came out of a Zenpop box a while back. I didn’t get any explanation of what we have here, but the research I did via bar code came up with the title. Sounds good to me – let’s check it out!
Here’s one found at S*Mart a couple of months ago. It looks like the fellow on the cup is Tan Xiao Ai, maybe a drama actor, or a professional go player, but I’m guessing the former. Lots of sachets in this one – let’s get to it.
Check this out! New Surfmama packages arrived at my door the other day (late May 2024) and now I’m reviewing them. Let’s check out the spicy mala!
Found this one at 99 Ranch Market. Looked interesting and it’s not only got a brand ambassodor tie-in (no clue who this guy is though) and a sweeepstakes for what looks like an iWatch. Also, a TON of sachets. Let’s give it a go.
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 – “Next up is another amazing pink design with a cup full of tasty noodles with a slightly spicy kick. This cup combines spicy tomato with a thick cream soup that has a delicious cheese flavor. This perfect combo is sure to get you hooked!”
Hey it’s time for some Korean seafood noodles! This one comes with some sea tangle (kelp) that helps season the soup! I’m kind of excited about this one. Let’s hit it up.
The second of two varieties by this company I found at S*Mart in Bellevue, Washington. I remember liking the other one immensely. That one was original flavor and this one says spicy. Let’s give it a go!
Found this one at S*Mart a couple of weeks ago over the Bellevue, Washington. There’s a few versions of this range I’ve tried before and I think these are new. At least the packaging is. Let’s give it a whirl!
This last weekend I redid my desk and mounted my computer underneath it. It went really well, but jacked up my back. Yesterday, I decided to take it easy (well, I didn’t) and walked to another town and got a couple varieties to review. This was one of them. Hopefully it’s enjoyable. We shall see…
Here’s the last one I found on our recent run over to HMart. Well, all the other iterations of Bulramen haven’t been my favorites, that’s for sure. Hoping this one does a little better but not expecting it to. But I’ll give it a chance.
Okay so I found this at HMart and I believe (could be wrong) it’s from the same people that make Bulramen. It’s certainly made in South Korea, but for sale in the United States and packaged for that reason. Anyways, let’s try some beef flavor noodle.
Another find at HMart. Found the pack versions there as well. The packs were certainly underwhelming; both insofar as flavor and heat, however the noodle was pretty good. Let’s give this one a shot.
Looks like we have a Korean boy band with a ton of dudes. Yep. There’s a lot of these tie-ins in Korean varieties. There used to be one that was called DJ Doc which was a tteokbokki and ramyeon variant that was really great – that was the first one I’d seen. Anyways, can’t complain about tteokbokki, that’s for sure. Let’s give it a try!
Here’s one that came in a Zenpop.jp box – which no longer exist.
This came out of one of their ‘triple box’ offerings. It’s a spicy and extra savory version of their seafood variety. Let’s check it out.
