Doll: Instant Noodles with Sesame Oil and Soup Base

Doll: Instant Noodles with Sesame Oil and Soup Base
Stars: *
Notes: These were chicken flavor stiff noodles with
a bit of sesame oil. Nothing real special.

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Hua Feng Noodle Expert: Favoury Pork Flavor

Hua Feng Noodle Expert: Favoury Pork Flavor
Stars: *
Notes: Aside from being 'favoury,' this wasn't really all that good. More like 'pork rancid favoury' if you ask me.

Hua Feng Noodle Expert: Spicy Instant Noodles - Spicy Seafood Flavor

Hua Feng Noodle Expert: Spicy Instant Noodles - Spicy Seafood Flavor
Stars: ***
Notes: This stuff's actually quite different - it comes in a round cake of noodles, and fits quite snugly
into the cooking pot. Afte cooking it, it really sucks up water and basically turned into a big bowl of seafood spaghetti! Wasn't too shabby with some roman peasant bread left over from mother's day.

Indomie: Chicken Cup

Indomie: Chicken Cup
Stars: **
Notes: A little too salty for my taste; was missing some important things like really tasty flavor and seasoning oil.
I suppose that's the trade-off when having a small cup-o-noodles style cup. However, one of the
coolest things in the ramen industry is the Indomie Folding Fork, which is included. It just folds and
snaps into place! Sturdy too. So yes, it's worth it for the fork.

Indomie: Chicken Curry Flavor

Indomie: Chicken Curry Flavor
Stars: ****
Notes: Ah now this stuff is classy. First off yes, it tastes like curried chicken. There's oil, cabe [chili powder], fried onions, and bumbu sauce [the powdered base]. Another fine Indomie product to be sure. Best with a couple small pieces of BBQ pork on the side, a fried egg on top and some pickled ginger garnish.

Indomie: Curly Noodles With Grilled Chicken Flavor

Indomie: Curly Noodles With Grilled Chicken Flavor
Stars: *****
Notes: This has to be the penultimate achievement in the ramen producing world. Fist off,
these noodles are great; they are flat and curly with an unsurpassed, fine
character. The package comes with a myriad of flavorings, including sweet soy,
bumbu sauce, seasoned oil, chili powder, and finally, an extra special packet.
After boiling the noodles and mixing with the seasonings in a bowl, you add 1/2
a cup of boiling water to this packet and stir - it's a soup base. This stuff is really
good - especially when you put two fried eggs on top of the ramen, then pour it
over slowly. Fried shallots on top of that with a bit of shedded pickled ginger makes
the scene complete. I can't recommend any ramen more than this one. This is top!

Indomie: Fried Noodles

Indomie: Fried Noodles
Stars:****
Notes: Another one of Indomie's great line of noodles. These are your basic variety of noodles -
just plain fried. Best with some form of meat/vegetable garnish.

Indomie, Hot Fried Noodles

Indomie: Hot Fried Noodles
Stars:****
Notes: Exactly the same as the above fried noodles, only this one has a bit of hot chili with it. It's quite hot and very good stuff - best with garnish, even better with fried eggs.

Indomie: Shrimp Flavor

Indomie: Shrimp Flavor
Stars: ***
Notes: Not a bad bowl of noodles, although a little salty. Of course quite good when made with a
bit of fried or scrambled egg on top.

Indomie: Jumbo BBQ Chicken

Indomie: Jumbo BBQ Chicken
Stars: ****
Notes: It's pretty good - a big bowl of noodles that don't really taste like barbecued chicken.
However, it's flavor is quite good and reminisent of the Satay variety.

Indomie: Jumbo Meat Ball

Indomie: Jumbo Meat Ball
Stars:***
Notes: Strangely enough, this did have a slight hamburger-like flavor to it. It's best quality is
that it's a jumbo pack - can't gete nough of this stuff! Basically very much like the regular fried noodles.

Indomie: Satay Fried Noodles

Indomie: Satay Fried Noodles
Stars: *****
Notes: This is the stuff that really got me into ramen. First off, five seasoning packets.
Second, by displaying sunny side up eggs on the packaging, I of course had to
try it for breakfast and quite enjoyed it. This is truly the alpha and omega of
the ramen hunter's holy grail. The first ramen I found that required the noodles
be drained, then added to the dry bowl with the seasonings/oils and stirred. An
extremely spiritual experience.

Indomie: Special Chicken

Indomie: Special Chicken
Stars:****
Notes: Beats the living hell out of the domesticated 'Top Ramen Chicken' flavor. Although
it does lack a soup base as do all of Indomie's products but the special curlies, it's very
chickeny and great with eggs and even better with a bit of chicken.

Kim Ve Wong Brand Jaopai Series: Vegetarian Instant Noodles Mixed Flavor Bowl

Kim Ve Wong Brand Jaopai Series: Vegetarian Instant Noodles Mixed Flavor Bowl

Stars: ZERO
Notes: Never thought it possible to give a zero star rating to noodles, but this one gets it for sure.
Sometimes, the noodles I try are almost too hot to eat, but I eat them anyways. However,
these noodles weren't at all palatable; they were horrid. A bowl with a retort pouch and a
sesame oil packet and base. Very nasty, due to the low quality retort pouch innards. I
wouldn't wish this stuff on my worst enemy. Perhaps tasting the food they make prior to allowing it to leave the factory might be a good tip.

Kung Fu: Chicken Flavor

Kung Fu: Chicken Flavor

Stars: *
Notes: Well, as far as this stuff goes, I can truthfully say NOTHING SPECIAL GPING ON HERE. I really
was hoping I would be able to beat up bad guys and work it like Jackie Chan after eating it, but
this was not even remotely the case. Basically a bowl of chicken flavor noodles. Very much like
your standard Americanized noodles you'd find in a big supermarket.

Little Cook: Pork & Mustard Stem Bowl

Little Cook: Pork & Mustard Stem Bowl

Stars: 1/2
Notes: This stuff is bad - very bad. Boasting great flavor because of fresh meat and
vegetables [retort pouch], the freshness wasn't there. As with many bowl noodles,
the ramen's quality is overlooked and the retort pouch is added. The pok was
spongy, like wet pork rinds and had a bitter, almopst sour coffee taste.

Lucky Me: Pancit Canton Chili Mansi Flavor

Lucky Me: Pancit Canton Chili Mansi Flavor
Stars: ***
Notes: This is like the Kalamansi [Lime] flavor, but with a little kick. Perfect noodle to
go with gin and tonics.

Lucky Me: Supreme Bulalo Flavor Bowl [Beef Marrow]

Lucky Me: Supreme Bulalo Flavor Bowl [Beef Marrow]
Stars: ***
Notes: This stuff was really decent - tasted like good beef broth and the noodles stood
firm and potent. What this bowl needed was perhaps a packet of dried onions
with it - would have pobably earned it another star.

Lucky Me: Pancit Canton Citrus Flavor

Lucky Me: Pancit Canton Citrus Flavor
Stars: ***
Notes: This was something new for sure - citrus ramen? Well, it didn't taste all that
extremely fruity. I ate it without any adulterants [veggies, chicken, eggs etc]
and found it to be quite good - was like the way lemon juice highlights a good
salmon dish. Was definitely lime juice doing all the marketing here.

Lucky Me: Pancit Canton Hot Chili Flavor

Lucky Me: Pancit Canton Hot Chili Flavor
Stars: ***
Notes: I was quite ill with horrible seasonal allergies when I tried this flavor, but
it was about perfect. What I found odd was that since ramen packs that
say hot chili usually live up to the name - not this one - not hot at all. I
suppose it could be due to the fact that I was sick and couldn't taste much...

Lucky Me: Itnok

Lucky Me: Itnok
Stars: ***
Notes: This is some really decent stuff. A very tasty chicken broth and very curious noodles
round out this small bag. It seems this may be a childrens style of ramen also. I wonder what Itnok means - could it be the sound of the chicken emoting sheer joy being told it will be ground into a flavorful spice sack and packaged with a smiling likeness of itself? I'm hoping so, as if it were an unhappy chicken, Bock Bagok would be the name,

Mama: Oriental Style Instant (Chand Clear Soup)

Mama: Oriental Style Instant (Chand Clear Soup)

Stars: ***
Notes: This stuff ain't too bad. Definitely rice noodles. The broth was extremely good - a little spicy, but clear as it purports. Tasted like a celery soup. Did just fine with it even
though I have a severe unrelated gut-ache.

Product Website: http://www.yifanmall.com/english/product.asp?id=102

Maruchan: Noodle Soup - Shrimp Flavor

Maruchan: Noodle Soup - Shrimp Flavor
Stars: **

Notes: I don't know why, but the ramen companies that cater to the U.S. customer really dropped the
ball here - there's only one packet and the noodles are of very poor quality. However, this type of ramen's
saving grace is it's ability to be used to make a bastardized version of 'Spaetzel," a Scandinavian dish.

Product Website: http://www.maruchan.co.jp/index2.html

Mi Hai: Crab Flavor and Prawn Flavor

Mi Hai: Crab Flavor and Prawn Flavor

Stars: *** 1/2
Notes: This is some really decent stuff - not a whole lot to it, but definitely tastes like crab and prawn.
The noodles are better than expected too. One note though, it does tend to give me extremely bad
heartburn. I don't like that.

Product Website: http://www.ramencity.com/asian/asianm21.htm

Myojo: Ippeichan Yakisoba Japanese Style Noodles

Myojo: Ippeichan Yakisoba Japanese Style Noodles
Stars: ****
Notes: This stuff was way cool - it cxomes in a box with four seasoning packets. So ya take em' out and fill it up to the line with boiling water for 3 minutes. Then, you drain it [the lid has very keen drain spouts] and mix in the flavors. There's vegetables, nori, soba sauce and this very odd packet of mustard mayonnaise. Wish that dijonnaise tasted halfd as good. So yeah - very good box of ramen, and lives up to it's claim of being japanese style.

Myojo: Special Duck Flavor

Myojo: Special Duck Flavor

Stars: *
Notes: This stuff is nasty. It does live up to being duck flavored, as it's VERY gamey and really stinks. Will NEVER eat this again.

Product Website: http://www.mama.th.com/TMFoods_Profile.htm

Namchow: Tom Yum Shrimp Bowl

Namchow: Tom Yum Shrimp Bowl

Stars: *** 1/2
Notes: Just polished it off a minute ago. Not extremely complicated but a very satisfying bowl.
Upon opening the packaging, the consumer is greeted by two small but very clear pouches
of which one contains a mix of chili oil/seasoning oil, and the other a base with
dehydrated meat ad vegetables. After leaving it to steep with some boiling water, the
end product is a bowl full of bright red broth and some really greasy noodles. Wasn't a
really hot bowl; on the contrary, it was very citrussy flavored. But very very greasy. I
aan't begin to describe how greasy it is! A worthy bowl of noodles on it's own.

Nissin: ORIGINAL - 1958

Nissin: ORIGINAL - 1958
Stars: *****
Notes: This is where ramen noodles all began. In fact, this is what
really got me into noodles. A long long time ago, I was able to get
Nissin brand 'Roasted Ramen' noodles at the normal supermarket.
For ages I tried to find it again, but finally found it at the local
oriental grocery. This stuff is awesome - it's got the seasoning in the
noodles. You can also eat this stuff uncooked - like potato chips,
or sprinkle it on salad etc. This is a score - try it!

Nissin: Curry Demae

Nissin: Curry Demae
Stars: ****
Notes: Oh sweet elixir of life that brings exquisitely painful heartburn, curry be thy name. This stuff was excellent - very good curry flavor! The 'demae' variety is what we call Top Ramen in the United States. The character depicted on this pack is called 'Ching Chai,' and there's a big following for this little guy in Japan. Really good with some sliced hard boiled egg on top of fried egg with runny yolk makes the broth richer.

Nissin: Soba Noodles w/Mustard/Mayo Squirt

Nissin: Soba Noodles w/Mustard/Mayo Squirt
Stars: ****
Notes: A very decent box noodle - lots of the squirty
mayo/mustard goop and the noodles tasted very much like
Sapporo's chow mein style. The best part is squirting the magical mayonnaise-mustard packet all over the place! It's very difficult to have the control needed to make the beautiful latticework as shown in the serving suggestion, so a picture of myself eating noodles was what I went for. Worth a try for sure.

Nissin: Spicy Flavor

Nissin: Spicy Flavor
Stars:***
Notes: This is the variety of noodles you see when you enter this site
and in the background. It lives up to its' name as it is quite spicy. My only
issue with it is that the noodles are of the rice-vermicelli variety. Way too thin for me.

Nissin: Spicy Seafood Flavor w/Chili Pepper

Nissin: Spicy Seafood Flavor w/Chili Pepper
Stars: **
This wasn't too bad at all, just not much really
special about it. As far as spiciness, nothing to sweat.

Nissin: Top Ramen Creamy Chicken Flavor

Nissin: Top Ramen Creamy Chicken Flavor

Stars: **** 1/2
Notes: As I have said before, dropped the ball here - really pedestrian. If you're looking for something
authentic, this isn't it. One thing though - this is the company that originated
ramen! This flavor caught my eye today as I feel under the weather and was
hungry. I threw a good tablespoon or two of minced onion [dehydrated] in it
and was pleasantly surprised. If I had another package of it, I would be hard
not to eat it right this instant. The high marks are earned for the flavor, but as far as adventure, it gets a single star.

Product Website: http://www.nissinfoods.com

Nong Shim: Ansungtangmyun Noodle Soup

Nong Shim: Ansungtangmyun Noodle Soup
Stars: ***
This stuff was very odd - I enjoy odd things,
so that's why the 3 stars. It was like an udon
style noodle first off, and came weith a
seasoning packet that was enormous. I ended
up haviong jalapeno bread with it because it comes
out more like a hot flavor spaghetti than anything.

Nong Shim: Champong Oriental Noodles

Nong Shim: Champong Oriental Noodles
Stars: **
Notes: First off, this was a pretty big package; more like very big. There was
a pack of dehydrated fish as well - octopus, cuttlefish, seaweed etc.
Also, the noodles were Udon style [extra thick]. After I made it, I
realized that the broth was quite dark and deep red. The octopus was
black too - and after the noodles, drinking the last bit of broth was
what I imagine a ton of fish blood and salt would be like.

Nong Shim: Neoguri [Seafood'n'Spicy]

Nong Shim: Neoguri [Seafood'n'Spicy]
Stars: **
This stuff is salty and weird. The noodles are nasty, but
the broth is very potable and potent. Becomes a
darkish red rust color and is strangely thick with bits
of octopus etc in it.

Nong Shim: Shin Ramyun

Nong Shim: Shin Ramyun
Stars: ***

Much better than the Neoguri but much the same.
This stuff's pretty spicy and salty, and the noodles
are a bit better than neoguri. Like Neoguri, they
are udon style and the noodles are in a condensed
round shape out of the package, easily dropped into
a small round pot.

Ottogi: Jin Ramen - Hot Taste

Ottogi: Jin Ramen - Hot Taste
Stars: ***
Notes:This is quite good - the noodles are pretty garden variety, but there's a nice quantity of them.
I made the noodles as per the instructions on the package, but I drained a good portion of the
water off before putting them in my bowl, adding the hot flavor soup base and the veggies. I put a
single fried egg on top and voila! A good, robust and filling bowl of ramen. Tasty stuff!

Quickchow: Pancit Palabok

Quickchow: Pancit Palabok
Stars: ** 1/2

Notes: This is an odd one. I have tried quite a few Filipino ramens, but I would have
to say Quickchow is probably the best. This is a rather dry rice noodle ramen. The flavor
is interesting. Only way I know how to describe it.

Product Website: http://www.pilipinomart.com/addcart.asp?productid=42&identifier=30

Samyang: Kalgug-Su (Spicy)

Samyang: Kalgug-Su (Spicy)
Stars: *** 1/2
Notes: A very good package of noodles. This one took quite a bit of looking around to find out
what brand/type it is. So the noodles are very much like Indomie's special - but they
are VERY wide - wide as egg noodles! Was a great bowl of soup with the
only exception being that it had some dehydrated mushrooms in it that were
extremely foul. I thought since the name Kalgug sounded like an overture to regurgitation, that word must refer to the mushrooms.

Samyang: Pojangmacha U-Dong

Samyang: Pojangmacha U-Dong
Stars: ** 1/2
Notes: These were some interesting noodles. First off, they are called 'u-dong' and not 'udon.' Second,
they had something called 'sea tangle.' I believe that the sea tangle is the true redeeming quality
of this package. As far as the flavor, it wasn't the best in the world. Wasn't really seafoody... I
dunno - didn't really taste different - just 'other' seafoody, and smelled good. I mostly enjoyed the very
exciting sea tangle.

Samyang: Hot

Samyang: Hot
Stars: *** 1/2

Notes: A pretty big, pretty good bowl of noodles. Make sure to cook it for extra long as it's not
good stuff, just not the best quality noodle. Dropped a couple eggs into it while cooking -
came out awesome. 2 packets of seasoning, one vegetables and dehydrated meat, one
just soup base.

Product Website: http://www.samyang.com/

Sapporo Ichiban: Chow Mein

Sapporo Ichiban: Chow Mein
Stars: ***1/2
Notes: Now this stuff is quite different - and quite good as well. It definitely
tastes like a greasy, heavily sauce laden noodle. The broth is dark brown
mainly because of all the soy, but it's not all that salty. It is quite good
and I highly recommend it. One of the more compelling packets in this one is a little cellophane pouch of 'green laver.' It's seaweed powder and adds a delicately mossy green shade to the concoction if added like pepper evenly to the top. This is a must for the adventurous and keen on the weird factor.

Sapporo Ichiban: Shrimp Flavor

Sapporo Ichiban: Shrimp Flavor
Stars: ** 1/2
Notes: Wasn't all that jazzed about this stuff - I do think I like the Maruchan Shimp a
tad bit better. Th difference however, is that this package of noodles is very
dense - lots of noodles! A plus, but not enough to make me stoked.

Six Fortune: Chicken Flavor Instant Soup Noodle

Six Fortune: Chicken Flavor Instant Soup Noodle
Stars: **
Notes: Your basic chicken flavor noodles. The only reason it got two
stars was that it had pretty good noodles.

Smack: Vegetable Beef

Smack: Vegetable Beef
Stars: * 1/2

Notes: Receiving the one and a half stars primarily because of its' bold daring name,
'Smack' is still even in this form not my drug of choice. An American Union
Made noodle through and through. Says it only takes three minutes, but the
noodles were dense and very spiteful. The flavor was a standard, unoriginal
vegetable beef which you'd find in a can of soup. Would only recommend this
brand to those who would just use the noodle for frying with eggs, and still I don't
Think eggs require that much punishment.

Product Website: http://www.unionfoods.com

Sutah: Cup Noodle

Sutah: Cup Noodle
Stars: **
Notes: What a strange little cup noodle... A deep red broth with some strange
little bits of something. Not sure what they are - possibly soto? Not sure. One
of the items I was happily able to purchase across the street at the Markette Deli
on State Street in Marysville.

Tung-I: Chinese Beef

Tung-I: Chinese Beef
Stars: ***
Notes: This was quite good - the base tasted like nothing I've tried before. Very much
like a mongolian beef sauce - was really good.

Ve Wong: Mushroom Pork

Ve Wong: Mushroom Pork
Stars: *
Notes: Yuck, This stuff smelled and tasted like mushrooms.
In fact it had bits of dehydrated mushrooms. I don't
really enjoy mushrooms all that much, especially
the ones that are slimy. The soup wasn't even edible.