Myojo Chukazanmai Japanese Style Noodles Oriental Flavor

Country of origin: Japan
Bought at Korean Market in Homewood, AL for $1.49

So these are the first noodles from Japan I've reviewed! The land of the rising sun, the birthplace of ramen, at least in instant form. Mr. Nissin (the Top Ranen guy!) invented it a little after World War II as a cheap, easy and portable way to eat delicious noodles anywhere, anytime. Pretty much. These are some I picked up at the Korean Market, which is supposedly also home to a Korean BBQ restaurant, even though every time I've been by there the store is open but the restaurant is closed. So I guess we'll see later on.
Anyway, these noodles come in some neat packaging and look pretty dang tasty in the picture. They also come in a variety of flavors. I picked up a spicy variant as well so if these are good then I'll be excited about those! Here we go.

It's a single layer block of noodles like those MAMA ones were but there are still a good size amount of noodles here. It's a 100g noodle block as you can see on the package, the average size ones being about 85g and the Samyang ones being about 120g. You also get a big pack of soup base which smells like Chinese food and a pack of soy sauce with sesame oil. Sounds good.

These came out pretty well. I cooked them for 5 minutes to get the consistency about where I like it. The package said 4 but they just didn't seem done. They taste pretty dang good, similar to the sesame chicken ramen because of all the sesame oil, even though there's no chicken in here. When this soup cooks some it really is a lot more noodles than it looks like at first. These were pretty good and I would definitely eat them again. I can't wait to try some other flavors! 9/10

Ummm.... Aritifical Beef Flavor Ramen?

Country of Origin: China
Bought at Super Oriental Market for 59¢

I think I'm gonna call this one Mystery Beef, because the only English on this package is ARTIFICIAL BEEF FLAVORED INSTANT RAMEN NOODLES. Well, at least you know what you're eating. Everything else is in Chinese from my best guess. How do you say "Open Sesame" in Chinese?

We figured it out. Inside the pack you get a really cool round noodle block like Shin Ramyun, a decent size pack of veggies and a soup base with 03 emblazoned on it with a red stripe like a race car.The veggies are onions and carrots and the soup base smells beefy as can be so let's check this one out.

Here's the finished product. I microwaved this one for 4 minutes based on the quantity of noodles here and it came out great. These have a stanky smell that you notice when you take it out of the microwave... just push on through because these are some tasty noodles. These have a kind of sweet taste to them, maybe some ginger or something? They are pretty good overall, and have a beefy flavor and pleasant taste. I'm giving this one an 8/10. Kudos to whoever makes them, if I could read Chinese or Japanese I'd tell you. I'm proud of myself for trying them anyway even though I have only a slight idea of what these would be like. Came out good though. I'd definitely try these again.

SEMI NON RELATED NOTE: I don't type nearly as well as usual when I've been drinking and have taken Ambien. Time to head to bed. Good night!

Paldo Chicken Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Korea
Bought at Super H Mart in Atlanta, GA

Some more I picked up at H Mart on our trip down there. I'd heard of Paldo noodles before but never seen any before so I decided to try 'em. The extremely happy cartoon chef on the package is reassuring that these will be delicious. What'm I waitin' for?

It's a bigass block o' noodles with two packs of stuff. Soup base has a garlic and pepper smell to it and there's a pack of flakes with green onions, carrots, and these other things that I have no idea what the hell they could be. The ingredient list on the package was no help as the few words of broken English are garlic, carrot and noodle.

I had to cook this one for about six minutes to get the noodles to the texture I wanted them. I think it may have been a little bit stale. See those square things? Those are the things I'm talkin' about. No earthly idea what they are. I ate some of em and they taste like the rest of the soup and have a chewy texture. This soup is very very average stuff. It has a lot of noodles which is good if you're hungry and it's really not bad... just nothing special. I'd say it's about as good as chicken Top Ramen with some veggies added. I rate Top Ramen a 5/10, so I'll give this one a 6/10.

Top Ramen Curry Flavor (Smooth Noodles!)

Country of origin: India
Bought at Indonesian Market in Atlanta, GA

I've had some pretty damn bad luck with Indian noodles. I love Indian food as I've said time and time again but this ain't no chicken tikka masala. I'm willing to keep an open mind for this one though. I mean look at all the words of encouragement on the package! Spicy AND tasty? Whoa! No added MSG... I actually consider this a downside... I mean MSG is tasty stuff. The cake taker in this case though is the claim that these noodles are smoooooooooth... I mean smooth like peanut butter... smooth like Barry White. I'm getting carried away, so let's check these out.

When I opened the package a whiff of curry powder hit me in the face. I expected that, though, but man it was kinda intense. Must be the TASTE MIX. The taste mix is pretty much just curry powder as far as I can tell.

Looks nasty. Smells like Indian food. Tastes like butt. This stuff is seriously nasty tasting. I'd expect something that's called Top Ramen to at least be average... this one is getting a 2/10 from me. Definitely not smooth either!

Nongshim Kimchi Ramen BIG Bowl!

Country of origin: Korea
Bought at Tokyo Asian food for $1.99

Damn! That's a BIG bowl! It actually is a big ramen bowl, weighing in it 114g. It's probably got twice the noodles as the smaller bowl I reviewed several reviews ago. I came home from work at about 2 AM and wanted something quick and easy to eat and I saw this bigass bowl just sitting on top of my ramen stash. It called to me... saying "I'm a bigass bowl of ramen. You should eat me." So I did.

Here's another pic of the bowl so y'all can kind of gauge just how big the BIG bowl is. It also comes with...

a bigass seasoning pack! It really is big. Easily the size of two and a half, maybe three standard soup base packs. Remember, hands off the microwave for this one unless you want to start a fire.

So here's the end result. The soup is nearly identical to the soup in the smaller bowl. No surprise there. As I said before this bowl has about twice the noodles as the other bowl as well as a bunch more vegetables. It's chock full of mushrooms, green onions, carrots and cabbage. The noodles soak up a lot of soup while they are steaming so they are very flavorful and tasty. Nongshim noodles are usually good quality and these are no exception. If you're hungry for a bigass bowl of kimchi ramen, definitely pick this one up. Three minutes to happiness. 8/10

Tiger Tiger Easy Snax Rice Noodles with Satay Sauce

Country of origin: Thailand
Bought at Big Lots for $1.50

So these are some more of the closeout noodles I got at Big Lots the other day. I was really happy with the Nongshim noodle bowls I picked up for 75 cents each and here's some new stuff I've never seen before. It comes in a cool Chinese take out style box and says that there's no water or anything required, just mix it up, heat it up and eat it up.Could be good... right?

Well I followed the directions and here's what I got. Looks like a box of brains to me... I'd call this stuff zombie chow. The awesome thing about these though is it comes with a spork! Not a fork. Not a spoon. A spork! Like they give prison inmates. Here's a pic of my wife enjoying the spork:

It is pretty cool. But that's where the coolness ends. This stuff tastes like butt. There's just no nice way to say it. I took one bite and was disgusted. It really seems to me what eating brains would be like. Chewy consistency and not in a good way, goopy sauce and nasty ass taste. Avoid these like the plague. Which begs the question, how did one avoid the plague back in those plague days? I'm pretty sure eating this nastiness wouldn't help. I'm giving it a 1/10 for the spork and the cool packaging. Everything else here sucks.

Ve Wong Kung-Fu Vietnam Beef Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Vietnam
Bought at Super Oriental Market
Price: 59¢

So here's another KUNG FU noodle from Ve Wong. Ve Wong noodles tend to be either really good or not good at all. This one is "Vietnam flavor" according to the package. Tastes like war, or communism maybe? Anyway, most Ve Wong noodles are from Taiwan, but these are from Vietnam. Maybe they're made by someone else? Well, their website is in Chinese so I guess we'll never know. On to the noodles!

Regular ol' noodle block with a bigass veggie pack with carrots, corn, onions and fake beef thingies, soup base, and some soy sauce. Usually fake beef thingies don't taste good, but I'm willing to give this one a shot. Here goes.

Well, it's ok. It's got a lot of noodles for sure, and a little bit of spicy flavor, but not much. The fake meat thingies are better than some others I've had... they actually do have taste to them and have a decent texture. The noodles in this one seem to be a little bit better quality than other Ve Wongers, also. The soup itself tastes like pretty standard beef ramen with a little bit of spice. There is a lot of oil sitting on top of the soup and if you mix it up it still settles back on top. So if you don't like oily or greasy ramen, don't get this one. I thought it was ok though, I'm giving it a 7/10.

MAMA Duck Flavor Ramen

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

I've never actually eaten duck. I've only seen it at Chinese restaurants around here but I know it's widely eaten in Asian countries. I hear it's kind of like eating chicken but less dry and more flavorful. Sounds good! So here's some duck flavored ramen from MAMA. I've been happy with their noodles so far, so let's check this one out.

It's kind of hard to tell from this picture, but it's a really small block of noodles. I'd say it's about half the size of a standard size block. It still comes with three packs of stuff, though. Soup base, seasoning oil, and a little pack of another powder that smells kind of like paprika and chili powder. Time to cook!

This is some really good stuff. Tastes similar to chicken ramen and it's just a little bit spicy. Overall I liked it and would definitely eat it again. The only downside is the small noodle block. These went quick and I was still hungry. I'd call the small block a kid's menu size. I'm giving this one an 8/10.

Lucky Me! Pancit Canton Chow Mein Citrus Flavor

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

I liked the other Pancit Canton noodles I had the other day so I decided to try these. The picture on the left on the package says "Kalamansi Flavor." I looked this up and a kalamansi is a type of citrus fruit that grows in places like the Philippines where these noodles are from. Apparently it's a kind of cross between a lime and an orange and is very acidic with a sour taste. Mmmm.... sour.

Small noodle block just like before. The greenish colored paste in the package on the right has a strong lime smell and the soup base pack has a strong citrusy smell too. And also, soy sauce. Of course.

Looks almost just like the other noodles. These have a very strong citrus taste and a very stanky smell. I mean, they straight up stank. They taste pretty good though, but I still didn't like them as much as the original chow mein flavor. I'm giving these a 7/10.

Jin Ramyon Mild

Country of origin: Korea
Bought at: Korean Market
Price: 99¢

After that nastiness I needed something better to actually eat. I picked up Jin Ramyon at a Korean Market in Homewood the other day. It was a pretty nice store with a good selection of noodles and other stuff. I've never seen so much kimchi. Always fun to go to a new store with new possibilities. So, here's Jin Ramyon, at least the mild variant. I think I picked up the hot one, too, so I'll try it soon.

Pretty standard stuff here. It's a big Samyang size noodle block so there's a ton of noodles here. There's a soup base that smells paprika-ish and a pack of vegetables.

Looks good. Tastes deliciously average. Nothing special here. There is a lot of noodles, but these are just kind of bland and I'd rather eat Samyang any day of the week. I'm giving this a 6/10.

I forgot to mention that an ingredient listed on the package is cuttlefish. Granted, it is the very last ingredient, but I think we can all still let out a collective "eeeeeeeewwww" upon reading that. Don't know what a cuttlefish is? Look it up. Then you'll see why.

Baijan Hot & Sour Flavor Sweet Potato Thread

Country of origin: China
Bought at: Super Oriental Market
Price: 99¢

As delicious as hot and sour sweet potato thread sounds I have some serious doubts about this one. I saw hot and sour flavor in the store and picked this one up... just now seeing the sweet potato thread part. Then, I remember that I'm the ramenator, and while this isn't technically ramen I feel a sort of duty to my blog to review it. So here we go.

 The first thing I noticed when opening the package was this smell that seemed to flow out like a cloud of stank. It smells rotten... but anyway, there's a bird's nest looking ball of thread with a pack of soy sauce, soup base, and a pack of seasoning paste that looks like vomit. I don't know if my microwave will ever be the same again.

Tell me that doesn't look like someone puked in a bowl. The smell is terrible, too. This is the first bowl of noodles I've ever cooked that I actually didn't know if I could even try to eat. Suffice to say that I tried it, and it tastes as bad as it looks and smells. Avoid this stuff like the plague... I mean, it's just so gross I can't believe people actually eat this. -5/10

Ve Wong Kung-Fu Beef Flavor Ramen

Country of origin: Taiwan
Bought at: Super Oriental Market
Price: 59¢

Possibly one of the coolest names for ramen ever. KUNG FU! Hopefully it will make it so I can pull people's hearts out of their chests like in Indiana Jones, or walk on the ceiling and beat the everloving crap out of villains. This package is a nice bright orange color and even comes with a little window so you'll know there's actually noodles in the package.

 
Blogger isn't liking me right now so I can't get this damn picture to turn the right way. Well, you get the idea. Standard noodle block with soup base and a pack of seasoning oil, which is actually more like a paste. Here we go again on our own...

So here it is. It's a pretty standard beef flavor ramen. I'd say it's a step above Top Ramen. I'd eat it again, but there are definitely better ramens out there. I'm giving this one a 7/10. Cool name, but not much special here.

Indomie Special Quality Curly Noodles Grilled Chicken Flavour

Country of origin: Indonesia
Bought at: Super Oriental Market
Price: 99¢

Special quality, eh? They're regular stuff is pretty good, so I'm anxious to try the special quality kind. "Curly noodles" are what ramen noodles are called in some other countries, to differentiate between them and other types of noodles. These even come in special packaging to make them look more special. Looks pretty good in the picture, too. Let's check it out.

Hot damn! Indomie did not disappoint. There's chili sauce, a soy sauce and spice paste, two different seasoning packs and a veggie pack. Let's cook!

So here's the done deal. The noodles definitely are different than the ones in the regular noodle packs. They aren't a lot different to me, but they are good. Nice texture, and the sauce and seasonings mix together well, as well as the carrots and other veggies. This is one tasty bowl o' noodles. Definitely pick these up. 9/10

Nongshim Kimchi Ramen Bowl

Country of origin: Korea
Bought at: Big Lots!! Also available at Wal-Mart.
Price: 75¢

So I've gotten to where I really like kimchi flavored ramen. I didn't think I would, and I've still never actually eaten real kimchi, but kimchi flavored ramen is some delicious stuff. It's usually really spicy, which I like, and I've found that adding some cabbage to most any flavor ramen is a good way to add some "meat" to the soup... I guess make it more filling and feel more substantial. So I was in Big Lots the other day and I figured I'd just see if they had any noodles lying around. Well, they did! I got this bowl and a couple of others at a low closeout price.

After the fiasco with the other noodle bowl I decided to heed the "DO NOT MICROWAVE" label on this one and instead put hot water in the bowl and let it sit for a few minutes. It came out pretty well. The noodles have a good consistency and it tastes very similar to the Samyang kimchi ramen I reviewed earlier. I still like the Samyang better, but some would argue that its not a fair comparison because this one is a bowl and the other is a pack. Well, I'll be on the lookout for this one in a pack, because it's pretty tasty. I needed something to heat up quick while I watched the first episode of "The Walking Dead" the other night, and this did not disappoint me. I could see taking this to work for lunch as long as I had a way to heat it up without starting a fire. 7/10