PHO PHACEOFF!

You knew it had to happen sometime. It's....
THE PHO FACEOFF!
Oh no! Anyway, here we go!
I'm a big fan of a nice steamin' hot bowl of Pho. Pho those of you who don't know, Pho is a Vietnamese noodle soup and is quite tasty. I've had a few bowls of it in some Vietnamese restaurants and man it is some tasty stuff. So here's two different kinds of instant Pho. Let's put 'em to the test and see who comes out on top!

 
So, from  Thailand, we have the MAMA Pho Bo (Bo means beef) in the yellow package, and from Vietnam, the birthplace of Pho, we have Vifon Pho Bo. The MAMA noodles are definitely in the better package if you ask me... the picture on the package looks downright tasty. Let's bust em open.

Here's the MAMA noodles ready to cook. The rice noodles are almost like vermicelli. There's a beefy smelling soup base and a pack of yellow goop in the package... so let's check it out.

I'm really impressed by how much this looks like a bowl of Pho you would get in a restaurant. There's no meat in it, of course, but it looks pretty tasty and smells like a genuine bowl of Pho. Now let's bring Vifon up to speed.

Here's the Vifon ready to cook. It's got an extra pack of just veggies and some fake meat pieces. Hmm... those noodles are also a lot thicker. So now in my microwave of death I'll cook this one up too...

Looks pretty tasty. The noodles really fattened up in the cooking process and the fake meat thingies look somewhat believable. So now, the taste test...

The MAMA noodles  are the closest thing I would expect to a real bowl of Pho to ever come from an instant noodle package. The soup tastes like Pho and the noodles are good quality. If you want tasty Pho noodles in three minutes, this is it.

The Vifon noodles are just too dang big and droopy for my taste and don't have a very pleasant consistency. If you've ever eaten Pasta Roni that's the consistency of these noodles. The fake meat pieces are tasteless and have the consistency of beef jerky. The soup itself isn't bad and tastes like a Pho soup, but it's just not as good as the MAMA noodles. MAMA wins this one hands down, in a startling hometown upset for Vifon.

Final Scores: Vifon: 6/10
                    MAMA: 9/10

Lucky Me! Pancit Canton Chow Mein Noodles

Country of origin: Philippines
Bought at: Super Oriental Market
Price: 49¢



Lucky me! I can't believe how lucky I am to have some more friggin' noodles to eat. Just kiddin'. I love my noodles and I love blogging about them... I'm really having fun with this in case you can't tell.
So anyway it was around 2PM and I wanted a snack... it was a good 3 hours at least until dinner. So I dug around in my ramen vault and noticed this one is a particularly small noodle block. Here, check it out:

Look at the cute little noodle block! It's about half the noodles of a big pack of ramen. Despite this, you still get three seasoning packs! The seasoning pack smells like it has coconut in it as well as some chicken flavoring. The white pasty stuff has a kind of sweet smell to it, and there's soy sauce too. Alright, let's get goin'!

Looks like Mi Goreng. It's even less noodles than an Indomie pack so don't expect this to be filling. They are, however, pretty tasty. Kind of a Thai-ish chicken flavor... you can definitely taste the coconut in here. These are pretty dang good and a good snack size noodle pack. It would probably take three of these to make a substantial meal but they do come in a variety of flavors. I've got a couple of the other ones so I'll be trying them soon. Overall, these are pretty tasty. 8/10

Nissin Cup Noodles PaniPuri Flavor

Country of origin: India
Bought at: Indonesian Food Market in Atlanta, GA
Price: 79¢

So when we were in Atlanta we also went to this little Indonesian food market. I was hoping they would have some Indomie noodles, but sadly they had none. None! Damn. They did have some other types of instant noodles, however, so I picked up some unique looking instant ramen from India. Nissin products are usually pretty good... I've eaten a lot of Top Ramen if my lifetime. I've actually eaten Pani Puri before at Indian restaurants and I am definitely  fan. It's a kind of dumpling that has potatoes and spices, sometimes it has chick peas in it as well. They are usually REALLY spicy. So let's see how this soup measures up.

I took a picture of the lid of the cup also, which is adorned with pictures of the dumplings it's named after. I really like the cup this soup comes in, it just looks really neat. Time to cook!

***SEMI NON-RELATED REVIEW NOTE***
Shit! I didn't even think about the lid of this cup being metal before I popped it in the microwave. 30 seconds hadn't passed before I saw sparks a flyin'! After putting out the flames I took the top off the cup and continued cooking.

So here's what I ended up with. You can see the black part on the top of the cup where it burned... I'm going to take a class on microwaving stuff before I start any more fires. On to the soup. It is spicy, but it doesn't taste anything like the Pani Puri I've had. As in not very good. The soup does contain a few whole chick peas and a lot of carrots, but the noodles are exactly like any other Top Ramen I've had, nothing special. The flavor is just not something I like. Other people may like it, but I just don't. Bottom line: cool packaging, be careful not to start a fire, and tastes nasty (at least to me). 1/10

Nongshim AnSungTangMyun

Country of origin: Korea
Bought at: Super H-Mart in Atlanta, GA
Price: 89¢

Say that name five times fast. It's a damn mouthful. AN SUNG TANG MYUN!
Okay, so anyway, this is a noodle soup made by Nongshim, the people who make Shin Ramyun. This is the only other one of their offerings I've tried, because it's the only other one of their offerings I've been able to find. If it's anything like Shin Ramyun it should be pretty good, so let's check it out.

 
This is a big noodle block... Samyang size or really close to it. There's only one seasoning pack and it's a soup base that smells kinda spicy. There's definitely some chili powder in there as well as some green onions. Other ingredients listed on the package are seaweed and cabbage, but I didn't see any. Time to cook!

Looks pretty good! Still no sign of any cabbage or seaweed so I guess it's ground up in the soup base. It was pretty far down on the ingredient list. It tastes a LOT like Shin Ramyun. Emphasis on LOT. It's not as spicy, and doesn't have the chunks of mushroom and other stuff that Shin Ramyun has. The best way to describe this one is "Shin Toned Down Ramyun." If the Shin is too spicy for you you may like this one better. I still prefer it to this soup, but it wasn't bad. I'm giving it a 7/10.

Samyang Sutah Spicy Beef Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Korea
Bought at: Tokyo Asian Food in Hoover, AL
Price: 99¢

Time to take a break from Indomie, but I suppose we'll focus on another brand of noodles I really like, Samyang. Sutah comes in a neat looking package and advertises itself as being hot & spicy. Sounds good!

The noodle block is the same good quality noodle block that comes with the other Samyang ramens. You also get a pack of FLAKE and a pack of SOUP. The FLAKE contains carrots, mushrooms, cabbage, red pepper and green onions. The soup base smells spicy, it definitely contains some chili powder. The directions on this one say to cook it 4-5 minutes, so I cooked it 4 minutes. It didn't seem as done as I like so I cooked it for six minutes total and the noodles were the perfect consistency. They absorb a lot of the soup and therefore a lot of the flavor.

The soup has a pleasant dark color and smells pretty spicy. So how is it? Really good! They aren't messing around when they say this one is hot and spicy. It's not as hot as Shin Ramyun, but it's definitely up there. The noodles are great quality and as I said before they soak up a lot of the flavor of the soup while they are cooking. The vegetable pieces plump up a great deal when they are cooking as well, the mushrooms especially. You still don't get big pieces of them like on the package, but they are definitely there so it's not entirely false advertising. Since this is a Samyang pack it of course comes with a big noodle block so it's more filling than other ramens out there. If you like spicy ramen, definitely don't miss this one. 9/10.

Indomie Curry Chicken Flavor Noodles

Country of origin: If you don't know where these are from by now then you haven't been reading.
Bought at: See above.
Price: Not sure why I even list the price anymore. Ramen is one of the cheapest things you can buy.

Not trying to sound too cynical, just contemplating changing things around a little bit. Not sure how much, but we'll go from there.
Anyway, y'all know how I feel about Indomie in spite of their recent noodle conspiracy. I also love curry, and believe it or not, I love chicken, too. This sounds like a package of awesomeness! So let's get started.

Standard Indomie noodle block with three packs of stuff. Usual chili powder and BUMBU SAUCE!!! with a pack of yellow seasoning stuff, looks like curry sauce. I'm getting a little too excited about this for my own good, so let's cook it up so nobody gets hurt.

It's noodletastic! Don't try to tell me that's not a word, I'll only use it more often. These are really damn good. I swear I'm not being paid by Indomie...in fact I'm trying to find one that I don't like. My only complaint is that their standard noodle pack just isn't enough noodles, and as far as I'm concerned this one still gets a tasty 9/10. Get some!

Nissin Demae Curry Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Hong Kong
Bought at: Super H-Mart in Atlanta, GA
Price: 89¢

That's right, bought at H-Mart in Atlanta. We took a trip over there a couple weeks ago, not JUST for the express purpose of buying ramen but I admit it was a part of the plan. I went to an H-Mart for the first time. If you've never been there it's a bigass Asian grocery store, like almost as big as Wal-Mart. We don't have them in Alabama, the closest thing being the Super Oriental Market which you can see I have bought a ton of noodles from. We tried to go to another store called 99 Ranch Market but it had closed down recently. There seems to be a whole Asian section of Atlanta though, full of restaurants and authentic looking Pho places... we will definitely go back.
So here's one of the ramens I picked up in Atlanta, Nissin Demae curry flavor. Nissin is the company that makes Top Ramen if anyone out there didn't already know. I had heard good things about the Demae ramen. It comes in a variety of flavors but this one is the only one the H-Mart had in stock at the time. Curry flavored ramen sounds pretty good, though, so let's give it a try.

Standard looking if not kind of bleached white noodle block and one, count 'em, one pack of seasoning. Maybe this is going to be a lot like the American stuff? Let's find out...

To me, there's just something cool about a square bowl. There's a lot of noodles in this pack o' ramen, almost as much as a Samyang pack. They seem to be good quality noodles and have a good consistency and the flavor is most definitely curry. The smell will smack you across your face as soon as you open the microwave. It smells kind of like some stuff I've had in Indian restaurants which is no surprise and is pleasant if you like curry. Imagine eating noodles in a curry flavored soup. I know that sounds redundant, but that's really the best way to describe it. If you like the taste of curry, you will like this soup. Personally I thought it was pretty good and would definitely eat this one again. This is the first type of curry ramen I've had but I've got a couple more to try out that I picked up recently so I will be reviewing them shortly. I get the feeling that this one comes down to the individual, whether you like the taste or not is up to you. Personally I think they were pretty dang good. 8/10

Indomie Mi Goreng Satay

Country of origin: Indonesia
Bought at: Super Oriental Market in Homewood, AL
Price: 59¢

Okay, so y'all know by now that I love Indomie noodles, but have you heard about the trouble they've gotten themselves into recently in Taiwan? Check out THIS article. Evidently Indomie has been using some preservatives, or too many preservatives that are banned in Taiwan. The food ministry there has since come out and said that the noodles are safe to eat and you guys all worry too damn much.A couple weeks back, though, they were yanking them off store shelves like expired baby aspirin. So to show my support for Indomie who makes a delicious bowl of instant noodles I'm reviewing a new (to me) one of their selections, Mi Goreng Satay. I've enjoyed both of the Mi Gorengs I've reviewed so far so let's get this train wreck a rollin'!

One thing I've always loved about these noodles is that you usually get a bunch o' seasoning packs and this one is no exception. You get FIVE packs of stuff as with the BBQ chicken noodles: soup base, chili powder, soy sauce, seasoning oil, and chili sauce.
I'm not going to post a picture of the finished product (pauses for gasps and shouts of "TRAITOR!" or similar) because it looks exactly like the other Mi Goreng noodles. The taste, though. Oh, the taste. These are so damn good. According to Wikipedia, Satay is basically a type of meat, could be steak, chicken, fish or tofu or what have you that's been grilled and put in some kind of sauce. It's popular in Indonesia, Singapore, and other Asian countries near there. That sounds really good so I'm sorry to say I've never had the real thing, but these noodles are really, really, really good. They have a pleasant meaty flavor with some sweetness from the seasoning and a good amount of heat from the chili powder. I'm going to cut the crap and give these a 10/10. Get some of these. They are just ridiculously good.

Vifon Mi Bo Beef Flavor Noodles

Country of Origin: Vietnam
Bought at: Super Oriental Market in Homewood, AL
Price: 49¢

I have eaten some Vietnamese food before but I've never had Pho, or Mi Bo, or most other Vietnamese cuisine. Usually when we go to our local Vietnamese restaurant we stick with basics like curry chicken with rice noodles or chicken or beef with rice or something similar. I'd love to expand my experience with the stuff though, cause a lot of it looks pretty dang good.
So here we have some instant Mi Bo noodles. According to Wikipedia Mi Bo is a beef and noodle soup, usually made with egg noodles and raw steak or something similar (kind of like what is on the package, which would be some pretty jazzed up ramen). Let's take a look inside.

What? No carrots cut into the shape of a four leaf clover? No raw meat? No cabbage even! The packaging on this one definitely stretches the limits of the legal phrase "Serving Suggestion" found on most food nowadays. So anyways, you get a standard if not kinda funky colored noodle block, soup base which smells very strongly of beef bullion and garlic, and seasoning oil which is a sickly kind of yellow color. Let's cook it up!

So here's what I ended up with. Pretty standard bowl of ramen from the looks of things. You can definitely tell it's beef flavor from the smell. When I ate these I immediately noticed a very strange if not unique sweet taste to the noodles and the overall soup. I looked at the ingredients and noticed that sugar is an ingredient in the noodles as well as the soup base. Kind of odd... I don't think most ramen has sugar in it, at least not this much. These noodles aren't bad, though. They are very thin and vermicelli-like and have a good consistency. The flavor is strange to me because of the sweetness but it still tastes better than beef Top Ramen to me. The strong garlic flavor helps cancel out some of the sweetness and me being a huge garlic fan is what keeps this soup from getting a bad score. I'm giving this one a generous 7/10 because of the garlic flavor canceling out some of the sweet flavor. I probably wouldn't get them again just because there are so many better beef ramens out there, but this one is worth a try for something unique.

Samyang Beef Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Korea
Bought at: Tokyo Asian Food in Hoover, AL
Price: 99¢

Ah, Samyang. I haven't had a Samyang product that I didn't like yet.This is their flagship brand of ramen and from what I gather it's a huge seller in Korea and other Asian countries. Check out this ad from Korea with the Samyang girls:

Ramen as far as the eye can see, along with some pretty Asian girls and a VW bus. Just doesn't get much better does it? Buses full of hot Asian chicks eating ramen aside...

Here's what you get in the package. Standard Samyang bigass noodle block, a big pack o' seasonin', and a packa veggies. The veggies are mostly green onions with some carrots and these little fake beef thingies thrown in. Sounds good...

That's a tasty lookin' bowl o' noodles... and the flavor lives up to expectations. This is possibly the best beef flavored ramen I've ever had. The spices all go well together and while it's not spicy in any regard it is very delicious. The beef things (I dunno what to call 'em) are somewhat believable also, and taste quite good. I will definitely be eating more of these later on and you should definitely try these out. These are available at just about any Asian store. I don't think I've been in one that doesn't carry these. You won't be disappointed! 9/10.

Unif-100 Spicy Beef Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: China
Bought at: Super Oriental Market in Homewood, AL
Price: 59¢

Unif-100. Don't ask me where the name comes from. It's a ramen from China, and comes in a bunch of different flavors. Spicy beef flavor sounds pretty good, so let's get down to business.

Cool! Standard size noodle block and three big ol' packs of stuff. The veggie pack has cabbage and red peppers, and there is also a big pack of soup base and some seasoning paste which contains soy paste and red peppers. Time to cook!

Looks pretty good and smells really spicy. The cabbage smell from this one will hit you in the face while it's cooking. This one didn't disappoint me. It's actually spicy, due to the large amount of chili peppers and red peppers contained in almost all the ingredients. I'm not a big cabbage fan but the spiciness mostly conceals the cabbage flavor. In the picture it looks more like a soup but the noodles seemed to absorb most of the soup while I was eating them, so it's more like eating a bowl of noodles than a soup.Overall I liked these and would definitely eat them again. I'll be on the lookout for other Unif-100 noodles! I'm giving these an 8/10.

RAMEN OVERLOAD!!!

Holy crap! I've got so much ramen I'd have to eat ramen every day for a year to eat it all. Well, not really, it just seems that way. Check out my ramen stockpile:

I guess I'll be ready if there's a world wide noodle shortage. I better get to eating some of these... they aren't gonna review themselves! That ladybug that snuck into the picture is checking them out in a peculiar way... better keep an eye on him.

Vina Acecook Funny Chef Chicken Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Vietnam
Bought at: Super Oriental Market in Homewood, AL
Price: 59¢
Possibly one of the best names I will ever see for a pack of ramen. Acecook Funny Chef. I really hope the people in Vietnam that made this have no idea what it says. On the other hand it might be funnier in a way if they do. Also, they take the time to proudly state at the top right of the package that these noodles are “MADE WITH JAPANESE TECHNOLOGY.” What the hell? I figure most things are made with Japanese technology nowadays. But I digress…
This is an Indomie style packa noodles so it’s not a soup. Lessee what we got here…

Nifty looking noodle block with the rounded edges there. Must be that Japanese technology. There’s a soup base pack, an oil pack, and a veggie pack. The veggies look mostly like green onions and since the ingredients merely say “dehydrated vegetables” I guess we really have no idea. Those crafty Vietnamese…. oh well, let’s cook it up!

Looks pretty tasty. There’s a good amount of green onions here that have a slight flavor and add a little something to the noodles. The seasonings all seem to blend pretty well, also. It’s not bad, but it leaves a weird aftertaste in your mouth. Kinda like a “maybe I just ate something that wasn’t actually food in there somewhere” aftertaste. I can’t put my finger on it, but it’s just strange. These aren’t bad but Indomie noodles are way better for my ramen dollar. I’m giving this one a 6/10.

Indomie Mi Goreng Fried Noodles

Country of origin: Indonesia
Bought at: Super Oriental Market in Homewood, AL
Price: 59¢
I was really happy with the first Indomie noodles I tried so I figured I’d try out some other types. The BBQ chicken noodles I reviewed earlier were also called mi goreng and they are the same type of noodles in this pack. The difference is in the seasoning.

Indomie is known for including a lot of spices with their noodles and this one is no exception. It’s got soy sauce, chili powder, seasoning oil, and seasoning powder. The seasoning powder smells good, kinda reminds me of oriental flavor Top Ramen. Let’s cook it up.

Doesn’t look like a whole lot of noodles, does it? Well, it’s not. These noodles were very good and I enjoyed the chili powder mixed with the soy sauce and the noodles have a very pleasant texture. The only problem is that there just weren’t enough of them. Indomie does make a JUMBO pack of these (and the BBQ chicken ones!) that elude my capture around my city. If you’re having these for a meal be sure and make two packs or you will still be hungry. I’m giving these a 9/10 for being so tasty.

Samyang Kimchi Ramen

Country of origin: Korea
Bought at: Tokyo Asian Food in Hoover, AL
Price: 99¢
Kimchi flavored ramen… sounds delicious right? Actually I’ve never eaten kimchi, and until recently I had no idea what kimchi actually is. Turns out it’s the potatoes of Korean food, and goes with just about any Korean meal. It’s pickled vegetables, usually cabbage. Doesn’t exactly sound good, but I do like vinegary tasting stuff, so we press on!

One thing I really like about Samyang noodles is that you get a bigass block o’ noodles in most if not all of their ramen packs. The noodles are always good quality, too and have a pleasant texture. In this package you also get a package of soup base which smells very peppery  and is the color of paprika as well as a package of “FLAKE.” Man, some flake sure sounds good right now… it’s flakes of dehydrated cabbage and scallions. Alright, let’s give it a try. When you’re cooking these the noodle block is bigger than normal so I microwaved this one for 4 1/2 minutes and the texture of the noodles was about perfect. Just a bit of advice.

Here’s the whole shebang. These smell really good! You can see some scallions in the picture and the soup has a nice color. So how does it taste? I like these. The noodles are good quality as all Samyang noodles I’ve had are and they have enough spice to call it spicy but not overly spicy, so don’t be afraid to try these if you aren’t a big fan of spicy food. As I said before I’ve never eaten kimchi so I don’t know what it’s supposed to taste like but if it tastes like this soup I may have to try it. I’m giving this one an 8/10.

OKF Aloe Vera King

 

Country of origin: Korea
Bought at: Super Oriental Market in Homewood, AL
Price: $1.99
The first non-ramen review! My wife picked this out the last time we went to the Asian store. She had heard that drinking aloe vera juice can have health benefits including lower blood pressure, improved circulation, and a boost to your immune system. Sounds pretty good. Check out this article for more info on that.
So now we know the benefits… so how does the stuff taste? Not bad! Has a cool feeling to it, and a light clean taste… kinda reminiscent of cucumber. It’s also got little chunks of aloe vera gel in it which take some getting used to, but they have a neat texture, similar to that of extra firm Jell-O. The chunks themselves don’t seem to have much taste to them but they add to the overall experience.  Overall the drink has a pleasant taste and texture and is definitely worth trying. The possible health benefits sound pretty good, too, although I’m not sure I’m ready to take stock in it just yet. I’ll do some more research.

WaiWai Oriental Style Noodles

 

Country of origin: Thailand
Bought at: International Market in Homewood, AL
Price: 49¢
WAI WAI!!! That’s really fun to say. Great name for a company, too! On top of that, it happens to be a company from Thailand that makes noodles. I love Thai food so I was anxious to try these. They come in a smaller than normal yet very colorful package with a little window in the bottom left corner so you know you are buying noodles (I guess?). From what I can tell Wai Wai is a sizable noodle maker and I’ve seen several varieties of their noodles at the various Asian stores I’ve been to. Let’s check it out!

 We got a smaller than your average noodle block, a blue packet of seasoning oil and a double packet of soup base and chili powder! Cool! Lots of stuff in this small package. I was curious about the color of the noodles and upon reading the ingredients I discovered that chili powder is an ingredient in the noodles themselves. Also cool. Let’s cook it up.

These smell very good after they are cooked… kinda a garlic and pepper smell, which are two things I love. So why can’t I taste any of it? These noodles are some of the most bland tasting I have ever had and the texture is extremely rubbery. I’m so disappointed… I really wanted to like these, but there is hardly any taste here at all! Eating these is like eating a bowl of rubber bands cooked in hot water. They are just flat out not good. I’m going to give these a generous 3/10 and that’s only because I didn’t gag when I ate them. I’d rather have a glass of water… it has more flavor.

Ve Wong Peppered Beef Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Taiwan
Bought at: Super Oriental Market in Homewood, AL
Price: 69¢
I had heard good things about this one. I wasn’t impressed with my first Ve Wong ramen but I decided to give them the benefit of the doubt and give this one a try. Peppered beef flavor sounds pretty good… kinda like beef jerky? Let’s open this very orange package up and see what we got inside…

Standard noodle block, big packet that’s half veggies and half soup base, and a pack of disgusting looking goo. Just looks so appetizing sitting there in its plastic wrapper, all brown and puke-like. Puke aside, the quantity of vegetables does not disappoint here. It’s got a generous quantity of carrots, cabbage, and others that really fluff up in hot water. I decided to be brave and open up the goop and found that it actually had a pleasant aroma of pepper and meat. Again, similar to beef jerky. Shows where my mind is, huh? Let’s cook this bad boy up.

Looks good. Smells good, too. Has a pleasant beefy soup smell and you can see chunks of stuff in it. For ramen, that’s pretty high class. Upon eating, I found that it even has these little chunks of fake meat (and I say fake because on the wrapper it says “artificial” beef flavor) that taste surprisingly good! Each part of this soup adds something to the overall flavor; the fake meat, the pepper (though it’s not overly spicy) and the veggies along with the soup base come together very nicely. My only complaint is the noodles do not seem to have a good consistency and were very droopy and soft. The taste of the soup makes up for this, however. I will definitely be trying other Ve Wong products. If the noodles were better I’d give it a 9/10, but they’re not, so I’m going to give this one a solid 8/10.