Over 5,000 Instant Ramen Noodle Reviews Since 2002
What an interesting thing! You might be surprised to know that while 7 Eleven stores started in the United States, they’re owned and headquartered in Japan now. 7 Select is a range you see over there quite a bit but here it seems to be a new thing. So, a convenient pasta cup. This sounds like fun. It promises to be the finest… Oh man I still feel like crap… I think we all have the ‘rona. This isn’t fun that’s for sure. But hey let’s check this out!
Here’s another sent by James from Lakeside, CA – thanks again! This one I haven’t tried – I’ve tried the same flavor but in their restaurant style straight noodle version. Let’s give the bowl version a try.
This one came by way of the fine folks at Asha Dry Noodle USA – interesting! When they mentioned it to me, I knew who would be fascinated by this – my daughter. Mimi is into Hello Kitty. Anyways, she’s in the episode of Instant Noodle Recipe Time – so check it out! Let’s give this stuff a try!
This is an interesting one. It appears this is a variety made just for the United States by Taiwanese company A-Sha, however it is produced in Vietnam. What’s more interesting is that it’s a Hello Kitty licensed product and it’s spicy – better do a mukbang! How spicy could it be with the cutesy factor? We’ll find out.
Here’s one that came by way as a Christmas gift from my friend and esteemed author Matthew Bellah of Port Townsend, Wa. My great thanks and appreciation to you, sir. This appears to be a vegetarian friendly bowl that is made in Vietnam and designed by a fellow here in the Pacific Northwest. Sounds interesting – I’ve seen these locally before, but never tried them. Let’s check it out!
I got two of these in quick succession – the first from James in Lakside, CA and the other from a subscription box out of California as well from Exotic Noods. If you want to get one of their boxes, head over and use the coupon code THERAMENRATER and get a nice discount – thank to you both for sending these!
Here’s the second of two products from Soupply containing retort pouches. This is really quite awesome – something I’ve wanted to see for a long time. Retort pouches are like flexible cans that can contain meats, vegetables, broths and more. This gives a serious boost to noodle soups that are shelf stable. Let’s check it out!
This is something new – an upgraded version of Maruchan’s popular Instant Lunch. I’ve tried the non Hot & Spicy in the past and been meaning to try this one. Let’s give it a go!
Here’s another one sent by James from Lakeside, CA – thanks again! This one’s made in Vietnam, but for the US market. Chicken instant cup noodles. Sounds pretty basic to me and should be alright – let’s find out!
This came out of an Exotic Noods subscription box – one of many interesting and unique varieties from around the world they put in there. Use the coupon code THERAMENRATER at checkout for a discount!
This one sounds interesting. So, this is a Taiwanese made product specifically for the US market. This sounds as if it’s full of sesame with the sesa prefix to all the parts of the product’s name and maker! Let’s check it out!
Definitely not ramen, but something interesting from a domestic company known for ramen. Found this at Uwajimaya in Bellevue, Washington when I was picking up some narutomaki. Let’s check it out!
This one came from Exotic Noods! Exotic Noods has great monthly subscription boxes with products from around the world. Worth a look! Use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount!
This is the third of three immi varieties I received from the company – thanks! They use pumpkin flour to make these noodles and thus far, I’ve had mixed results on the noodles’ consistency and chew. The first one I disliked a lot, however the second I liked quite a bit. Let’s check out this third and final iteration.
Pumpkin seed noodles – it just fascinated me, especially since I’ve been doing weird things with bread. Now I want a noodle machine to load with all sorts of interesting things… Very curious how this oe will turn out. Last time, they were on the extremely chewy side and so we will see. Let’s give these low carb noodles a try!
For the longest time, I only thought there was a single variety of Nongshim’s Tonkotsu bowl – the spicy one. Lo and behold, there’s this one with black garlic oil as well. What’s more, I think both exist concurrently. The spicy one has a five star rating from me and is at the top of the USA top ten. Let’s check this new one out!
This is the last of the prototypes Vite sent me. These have been really good! Curious if I’ll like this one too. What a week – I’ve been deep diving into pumpkin spice noodles for the past 4 days and while I thoroughly enjoyed them, this will be a welcome change. Let’s give this a try!
Here’s a neat cold variety from the United States! Summer months are great for cold noodles as they are more refreshing. My friend Taku-san from Myojo was kind enough to share some new refrigerated varieties recently and here’s the first one – arigato! Let’s check it out!
Was digging around in my hampers and found I hadn’t reviewed this extra spicy variety and thought to myself ‘it’s time.’ So, since I thought that, it must be. Let’s give it a try.
It’s been literally years since I tried this one since it’s packaging has changed. I was looking around the local store when that hit me. So, here we are. Green beans, carrots and bok choy? Interesting – let’s check it out, shall we?
So the first ‘Generation 3’ varieties I tried was the chicken flavor from this range and I was thoroughly impressed. Today, I’m going to sample the tonkotsu. Let’s just rip into it and give it a taste!
As soon as I heard about this stuff I was curious. But that was a long time ago and I’d almost forgotten why I was so curious until I did the unboxing. This stuff is made with pumpkin seed protein! That’s definitely unique. 22g of protein and 6g of net carbs. Ah, I remember net carbs. So, for every gram of fiber, you can knock off a carb. This has a ton of fiber. I’m really curious. Let’s give it a try.
Thanks as always to James from Lakeside, CA for sending this over! I like this brand – wonder who Mr. HOO is though. Whomever he is, he must have a moustache. Let’s give it a try!
Big thanks to James from Lakeside, CA for sending this over! At first I was curious how they would go about doing this and then I opened the lid. Crushed noodles. I had a quick ‘a-ha’ moment and remember way back I reviewed good old #1506. 1506 was Nissin Mug – which was a variety from India and almost the same thing – instant noodles that are in rice sized lengths. This however has both the short crushed noodles AND rice. I’m very intrigued and curious about this. This right here is the kind of innovation and unique thing I have been talking about – and seeing something like this in the US market is a thrill, honestly. Let’s take a look and give this one a try!
This is the third variety of Noodie Vegan ramen I have here to try and I’m really stoked! The first I tried was their Peanut Chili which was absolutely fantastic stuff – just loved it. The second was the Smoky Garlic, and sadly, I really disliked that one. But now we have a Vegan Tonkotsu and I’ve had quite a few Vegan tonkotsus in the past, so I’m hoping this one will be great. Let’s give it a try!
I’m absolutely fascinated and enamored with this new brand. Their products are very uniquely packaged for one, and for two, they’re quite good – at least that was my experience with their peanut chili variety. Let’s give the smoky garlic a try in hopes that it’s got some serious garlic flavor going on!
Alright so first off – this is made in China, however the package is definitely made for sale in the United States. Second, I found this at Asian Food Center on Hwy 99/Aurora by Shoreline, WA – definitely a great place to visit every couple of months. I’ve found tons of unique variants there. Let’s check it out!
To be honest, this makes me very happy. I’ve really found the Ramen Express varieties to be quite good, and now they’re easily found at Walmart. I’m not extremely keen on the cup versions (although I haven’t had the new shrimp variety so maybe they’ve changed; I will soon), but the packs have a great noodle and very nice flavors. I’m unsure if this is different than the origininal hotter and spicier variety; this one tacks ‘chili’ on the end and has different packaging. Saw it at Walmart a couple of days ago.
This one came from Exotic Noods! Exotic Noods has great monthly subscription boxes with products from around the world. Worth a look! Use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount!
This one came from Exotic Noods! Exotic Noods has great monthly subscription boxes with products from around the world. Worth a look! Use coupon code THERAMENRATER for a discount!
An older package of Maruchan Chicken flavor Ramen Noodle Soup
You may have seen that I was in the hospital this week. I can describe the whole thing in the video below since it has been typed a lot of times and I had a TON of blood draws in the past few days and to put it short, they had to get them out of my dominant hand and it’s a little sore after being poked so many times, so my apologies.
Back in 1986, a South Korean company called Nongshim 농심 (which translates to Farmer’s Heart), introduced a product called Shin Ramyun. Since then it has been one of the most popular varieties around the world. In this post, I’ll do a deep dive into the product – a tear down of the package and it’s contents, my tips of preparation, and some things you might not know about it. While not my favorite variety I’ve tried, chances are it may be yours. I run a group called Ramen Junkies on Facebook and the topic and focus of the bulk of posts on there surround this product.
Today, I have something that should get some folks in a tizzy but that’s just fine. I’m reviewing instant noodles. Well, sort of. Well, not really. This is a toy. Don’t eat these. I mean, you could I suppose, but I’m telling you not to. See, it says that this toy is for ages 3 and up. So, they’re figuring you and small children will have the sense not to try and cook them and eat them. Let’s check out these sproigy and stretch things.
Yup – another newer version Vite Ramen! Once I get through all these, the prototypes for version 1.3 will be next! I remember I really liked this one – let’s see how this improved version does!
So what I love about what these guys do is they come out with new versions. This particular variety is version 1.2. This one is a special collaboration with a company called Fly By Jing that makes Sichuan Chili Crisp, one of the true flavor delicacies. Let’s check it out!
I received an email a few weeks ago from Isabel, CEO and Founder of Noodie. She extolled the virtue of her product (non-fried, 16g of protein, lower sodium, load of veggies, and Vegan-friendly) and asked if I’d like to try it. Never one to turn down the chance to try something new, I accepted – and here we are. I write this before tasting, but I’ve got it say I’m already impressed. The presentation here is just impeccable – downright revolutionary to be honest. You can cook these noodles in their container (which is plastic by the way). You can cok it like a cup noodle, however the noodle block is in a standard flat shape – which works with the container. The graphic design and fonts are great – you can’t tell from the above picture, but the contents of the bowl image are done with gold leaf! This honestly feels like a futuristic instant noodle. Isabel sent a very nice note about how my review would be a big milestone in the timeline of her product. Like I said at this point of writing, I’ve not tried it yet – but I definitely wanted to say that this is one of the neatest packaged noodles I’ve seen. With that, let’s begin.
I saw these on Amazon recently and though I should contact Maruchan about giving them a try – and they kindly obliged. Thank you! There’s a couple interesting things I’ve noticed that I’ll mention as you scroll down and look at the images and text. With that, let’s check out this, the biggest change I’ve seen to date of the Instant Lunch cup. Actually first, look at the lower left corner. See that? Microwavable – unbeknownst to many, no – you’re not supposed to microwave the foam cups – but these aren’t foam cups.
Well, I’ve come to the end of the fresh varieties from Myojo USA which is a bummer because they’ve all been quite good. This one is kind of like a seafood tonkotsu and I’m really curious how it will be. Let’s give it a go!
I have this and one more fresh variety that I need to cook up of these great Myojo USA refrigerated varieties – they’ve been extremely good! My wife has been a fan of yakisoba for a long time as have I, but my daughter could be heard while I was finishing up the reviews that day I tried the savory miso version. ‘Mama, can I have another bite?’ She’s definitely one for repetitiveness, and like a happy broken record, I want to say I heard her say it a good couple dozen times. Curious how they’ll like this one – I think they will!
Well, didn’t I just hit one of those big numbers a few weeks ago? Well, much earlier than I hit my 4000th review, the video at the bottom of this one got published. See, my episodes of Instant Noodle Recipe Time come out sooner that the posts they’re for. It’s nice having things staggered a bit to be honest. Well, the epiosde at the bottom of this review is my 1200th episode of Instant Noodle Recipe Time! A couple interesting things about this episode are the fact that I’m sure the kitchen will be incredibly hot – tomorrow (I get the posts ready for the review the night before) is probably going to be the last ultra hot day of the summer (if we’re lucky. Today it got up to 93F here if not hotter. It’s also kind of humid. We also have a lot of smoke from forest fires. So, I’ll be slaving away in a hot kitchen tomorrow – I wouldn’t have it any other way. Thank you for watching the show.
