the ramen blog & other goodies!

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.

This tonkotsu ramen has skinny noodles and lots of goodies, with sesame seeds, onion, seaweed, meat and even ginger. The meat was actually pork-like. Overall this was a mixed bag…I absolutely hate ginger (so I didn’t add any) and I’m not crazy about the skinny noodles. On the other hand, the noodles were nicely chewy, and I liked all the accoutrements. The soup was just decent. Overall it gets a 7.

Very average ramen with skinny so-so noodles and decent shoyu soup. You get a piece of mystery meat and some green onions and that’s it. This gets a 6.

So is it shoyu or tonkotsu? Unfortunately, it doesn’t really matter. So-so noodles and so-so soup makes this a very average nondescript ramen. It gets a 6.

This is the shio version of the last Maruchan semi-fresh noodles I had a few days ago. The noodles are the same skinny but good and chewy ones. The soup is a light and clear shio flavor. Not particularly exciting to me, but if you like shio, it’s decent, like eating noodles in a bowl of fresh sea water (not as bad as it might sound!). Overall it gets a 7.

Wow…everyone’s favorite college-student-cheap ramen has a semi-fresh ramen! It’s made in the U.S. and I found it at our local 99 Ranch (Chinese supermarket) so it should be relatively easy to find. And guess what…it’s actually pretty darn good! The noodles are a little bit skinny but chewy and tasty. The soup is a decent shoyu base…nothing magnificent but solid. This gets a solid 8.