Payless Pancit Shanghai Oriental Flavor

Country of origin: Philippines
Bought at Super Oriental Market

I figured I'd continue in the pancit canton vein. Here's some new stuff from Payless. The couple different Payless noodles I've had were pretty good, so let's check these out.

It's the same size noodle block as the Lucky Me noodles but these look a little funky and kinda feel like packing material. There's a veggie pack and a pack of paste that smells like soy sauce but has some other stuff in it as well.

The first thing I noticed about these was the God awful smell. I mean DAMN, these are some of the stankiest noodles I've ever encountered, and the smell fills up the room immediately. Ugh. The noodles just aren't good quality... they don't have a pleasant texture and are too chewy despite cooking them extra for such a small noodle block. They don't taste as bad as they smell but the smell just kind of kills it. The worst part is I've got these same noodles in another flavor that I'm planning to try... damn. 3/10.

Lucky Me! Pancit Canton Hot Chili Flavor

Country of origin: Philippines
Bought at Super Oriental Market

I've gotten to where I really like pancit canton noodles and other noodles that are a bowl o' noodles rather than a soup. I also like hot stuff, so these seem to be right up my alley. Let's check it out!

Snack size noodle block, just like the other Lucky Me's with a seasoning pack, soy sauce and some seasoning paste which smells kinda spicy.

Not a lotta noodles just like the others. These have kind of a chili spice with some red pepper flakes and such thrown in for a little extra spice. They're a little bit spicy, but just barely enough to register on my spiceometer. They are pretty tasty, though, so for a snack I'd give these an 8/10.

Myojo Chukazanmai Soy Sauce Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Japan
Bought at Korean Market in Homewood, AL

Soy sauce flavored noodles sound pretty good to me right about now. The Oriental flavored version of these noodles was pretty dang good so I'm expecting these to be the same. I also really like the packaging these come in. Looks nice and feels more sturdy, like maybe it keeps the noodles more fresh? Maybe it just looks cool.

Another thing I like about these noodles is that the noodle block doesn't really look that big (it's not as fat as a standard block, kinda hard to tell in the pic) but still has a good bit of noodles therein. There's a big ol' seasoning pack and a big ol' pack of soy sauce with some oil (I think a mixture of sesame and soybean) thrown in. I have to add this one to the interesting ingredients list also because listed on the package is "Seafood Extract" which is combined extracts of scallops, clams and oysters. Wow. How exactly do you extract that? Do I wanna know? Another ingredient albeit way down on the list is mackerel. Just there in the list like it's digludium bioxate or whatever the hell those chemicals are. Let's give this mackerel a shot.

This stuff is really good and you get exactly what is advertised. Soy sauce flavor noodles. There is a very strong soy sauce flavor but it's very satisfying at the same time. It's a little bit hard to explain, so you just need to try these. You won't be disappointed. I'm giving these a 9/10.

Nissin Demae Chicken Ramen

Country of origin: Taiwan
Bought at Sunrise Market in Knoxville, TN

So since I've been feeling sick recently I wanted something just kind of basic to eat. So I think, "hey, chicken flavor ramen sounds pretty good and basic." So I fished through my treasure trove of ramen and found this delicious looking pack of green goodness. I've been happy with the other two Demaes I've had so let's see how this one measures up.

Standard 100g noodle block, seasoning pack which has a nice kind of roasted chicken smell to it, and a pack of sesame oil. Sounds good.

Like my new bowl? I think it's the shiznit. Anyways, these came out pretty good, I'd say they are definitely a notch above the MAMA chicken ramen I had a couple weeks ago. These just taste better. Pretty basic overall, but still good stuff. I'm giving these a 7/10.

Unif-100 Stewed Pork Chop Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: China
Bought at Super Oriental Market


I know I've been a little bit lax here recently with my ramening... it's due to being sick for about 2 weeks and being really busy with other stuff. Excuses, excuses, I know. Anyway, here's some pork chop flavored ramen from Unif-100. Their noodles are usually pretty good so let's see how these measure up. Mmmm... pork chops.

There's a lot of stuff in this pack. It's a 120g noodle block like Samyang packs so there's tons of noodles, there's a veggie pack that is mostly green onions with some cabbage and carrots thrown in, a soup base that smells like pork bullion, and a pack of disgusting looking brown stuff. I think it has potential. Here goes.

Reminds me of hot & sour soup. And not that nasty ass bean thread stuff... the real Chinese soup. As far as taste goes it's not bad, has a definite pork overtone and the noodles are pretty good quality. I microwaved this one for 5 minutes rather than the 4 it suggested on the package and they came out great. I'm giving this one a 7/10. It was pretty good, but the pork flavor left a weird aftertaste in my mouth and to tell you the truth I don't know if the world is ready for pork chop flavored ramen. Not bad, though.

STREET RAMEN FIGHTER II TURBO!

HADOUKEN!!

I didn't make this image but damn, that's just funny as hell to me.

WeiWei "A" Series Chicken Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Taiwan
Bought at Sunrise Market in Knoxville, TN

It's been a little while since my last update, mostly because I've been busy with work and stuff and sick at the same time. I think I've either got the bird flu or SARS, not sure yet. Maybe these noodles I picked up in Tennessee will help me feel better? I picked these cause of the bright colorful packaging and also because WEIWEI is really fun to say. Let's check em out!

The stuff in the clear package is kind of a paste but it's hardened... I'm not sure if it's supposed to be that way or not... it was a pain to get it out of the package. The veggie pack contains some green onions and a LOT of cabbage. You'll see what I mean.

So here's the done deal. It's kind of a dark color for chicken ramen due to the brown paste-ish stuff that came in the package. There is a lot of cabbage here as you can see in the picture and one of the disappointing things about this one is I can taste a lot of it. It has a strong cabbagey flavor and I just don't like that at all. Bleh. The other disappointing thing is that it doesn't taste like much else at all. I wouldn't even call this chicken flavor because there's just nothing here that really tastes like chicken... and in a world where so much does taste like chicken that's pretty sad. I'm giving this one a 3/10. I don't think it's related to the last 3/10 I gave out to the WAIWAI noodles but they are just about as bad. Meh.

MAMA Chicken Ramen

 

Country of origin: Thailand

Bought at Super Oriental Market

So I got home from work the other night and wanted some basic ramen to eat before going to bed. I think I got a little too much of what I wanted. MAMA noodles are pretty good usually, like the Pad Thai and the duck flavor ramen that I reviewed a few months ago. Even if they aren't super great MAMA noodles still get points just based on the name. MAMA!!

So you get a noodle block which I believe has some spices in it already, hence the kinda strange coloring. There's also a pack of unappetizing goop and a pack of soup base. Looks like it has potential.

I think this one might have been a little bit stale because I ended up having to cook this one for five minutes to get the noodles to the point where they weren't tough and chewy anymore. That aside these aren't really anything special. It doesn't even taste as good as chicken Top Ramen to me which is a disappointment... this one definitely did not meet my expectations of MAMA noodles. Oh well, 5/10. Better luck next time.