the ramen blog & other goodies!

Me: Guess what I’m reviewing next? Cup Noodles!
Wife: Cup…Noodles…is there *anyone* in the world who hasn’t had Cup Noodles before? Why would you want to review something *everyone* has had before?
Me: (silence…)
Wife: sigh…

First of all, I haven’t actually had Cup Noodles in quite a while. From what I remember though, only the smaller 2-packs of the Cup Noodles beef flavor had the tiny bits of beef in it. The large single-serving Cup Noodles only had beef powder. It was a pleasant surprise to find that the large version now also has beef bits! And look, zero grams of trans fat! Now I’ve never considered Cup Noodles to be instant “ramen” per se. That is, it’s nothing remotely like a bowl of Japanese ramen you’d get at a ramen place. But then again, Cup Noodles has never aspired to be anything but a …err…cup of noodles.

That said, it’s a good cup of noodles! It’s not fantastic, it’s not amazing, but it’s satisfying and fills you up. The noodles are a bit on the limp side, even if you time the boiling water exactly right. The soup tastes like beef-flavored water, but in a good way. And sipping the soup, with the little beef and carrot bits, and the corn and peas…there’s something about this concoction that just brings a satisfied smile to my face.

Billions and billions of people worldwide can’t be wrong, and I give Cup Noodles (beef flavor) a solid 7.

Ah yes…good old Nissin Cup Noodles. If you like Cup Noodles, you’ll enjoy the Souper Meal. It’s basically just an oversized Cup Noodles, with a special packet of “finishing touch flavor enhancer,” which sounds both scary and interesting at the same time. It smells like a packet of beef bouillon mixed with plenty of MSG. Mm-mmm goodness. The noodles are very typical Cup Noodles, a bit limp and not particularly interesting, but not bad. The soup is very “beefy,” probably due to the “finishing touch,” but the smell is a bit too *unnaturally* beefy. If you prefer quantity over quality, you’ll enjoy this. Overall, it gets a 6.

This is yet another “stamina-type” (garlic) tonkotsu ramen. See the pink packet on the left? That’s a full packet of minced raw garlic. Yum! The garlic and soup is actually mild, and not too garlicky, but flavorful. It’s quite good. The noodles are a bit on the doughy and hard side, but also flavorful. There’s also a bit of green onion flakes and a few scattered pieces of shinachiku. It’s well balanced overall and gets an 8.

Ho-ho-ho, ok I’m reviewing this special winter edition in May. It’s a garlic miso tonkotsu flavor, quite interesting. The noodles are skinny and a tiny bit hard but decent. The soup was really interesting…there wasn’t a dominant flavor, and the garlic flavor is pretty mild, but it’s good. It’s like a nice rich broth. Overall it gets a 7.5.

This is a decent ramen. Thin noodles that’re a bit bland but ok. The soup is a shoyu base and also just ok. There’re small slices of garlic, which is nice if you like garlic like me. There’s also some corn, a few bits of bamboo shoot, and a few slivers of onion. It gets a 6.

This very so-so tonkotsu ramen has skinny but decent noodles, sesame seeds, seaweed, and green onion. Unfortunately the soup tastes more like msg soup than tonkotsu. It gets a 5.