Here’s all the noteworthy noodle news for March 2025! This month we’ve got more Buldak discontinuation news, a new product line from Samyang, a farewell to yet another ramen subscription service, and a detailed breakdown of a couple of new ramen subscription services.
Read more: Noodle News Roundup: March 2025Buldak Jjajang Not Actually Discontinued?
So despite the news a couple months ago from a Redditor who emailed Samyang and got a response that Buldak Jjajang was being discontinued, all signs point to it not actually being discontinued. Samyang’s own Buldak product page shows it very much still available, and there have been multiple sightings of new stock populating Asian grocery store shelves as much as it ever did. Was the Samyang customer service rep mistaken? Did it get spared due to the outpouring of support from the Buldak lovers around the world? We may never know, but for now, it would appear there’s no reason to stockpile this if it’s one of your favorites.
But Maybe Buldak Curry Is Being Discontinued?
So in the same vein as the reporting about Buldak Jjajang, take this one with a HUGE grain of salt. Another Redditor has claimed that Samyang America confirmed via email that Buldak Curry has been discontinued now. While I have seen some people saying it’s been harder to find than it used to be (not where I live though), once again it is still very much visible on Samyang America’s Buldak product page. Is it actually discontinued? Is this another mistaken customer service rep? Who knows. If you enjoy this flavor like I do, there’s no harm in stocking up just in case it’s true. But this time, I don’t think I’ll believe it until it’s actually removed from the product page.
Samyang Rolls Out MEP in Global Markets
Yes indeed, more Samyang news. It looks like a formerly exclusive-to-South-Korea product line from Samyang has started appearing in American Asian grocery stores. Originally called “MapTang/MapTaeng” in South Korea and launched in 2023, this is a product line that Samyang has said it hopes to be its “second Buldak,” combining spicy noodles with new flavor profiles. For release in the US and Japan (and possibly other export markets), Samyang opted to rename the brand “MEP,” with the two currently-available flavors being Garlic and Clam and Black Pepper and Beef. I had been keeping an eye on this product line since last year with the goal of importing them myself eventually, but now that they’re here in the US, I hope to review both flavors very soon. A third flavor, Cheongyang Red Pepper and Green Onion, is still available in South Korea but doesn’t appear to have made the cut for the US market, so if you want to try that flavor you’re going to have to import it.
Goodbye Nakama Noodles…
Those of you who follow the YouTube channel may recall the post-mortem I filmed for the final ZenPop Ramen subscription box last year. At the time, I had mentioned that I was looking to reach out to one of the many noodle subscription services out there to showcase their products. I didn’t say it then, but at the time, the plan was to reach out to Nakama Noodles since I thought they had the most impressive balance of noodle selection, quality, and price. Well, that didn’t happen because little did I know that they’d be closing up shop about a year after launching. If you want to order one of their boxes for yourself, they’re doing a clearance sale on their remaining boxes until April 15. If you’re a fan of Japanese ramen, you may want to check them out and see if their final month’s selection is to your liking; pretty much everything in those boxes was impossible to find outside of Japan unless you imported it. Puzzlingly enough, they have discontinued their Naniwa snack boxes as well, even though it only launched a couple months ago. Frustratingly for its customers, no reason was given for either discontinuation.
…Hello Noodle Bomb and Noodle Ninja
With Nakama Noodles going away, I’ve been keeping an eye on a couple other noodle subscription boxes that have started popping up in my Facebook feed: Noodle Bomb and Noodle Ninja. Before I get into my thoughts about either company, let me make it clear that I am in no way endorsing either of these subscription services at this time. I’m still very much in the information-gathering stage regarding the variety of noodles provided by both services vs. the monthly price vs. their, for lack of a better term, legitimacy. If you choose to subscribe to either one of these companies, please let me know your thoughts and what you received.
Noodle Bomb Breakdown & Analysis
Noodle Bomb is the cheaper of the two services, with a basic plan priced at $29.99 (marked down from $44.99 on their site, which is probably a marketing tactic) and a “premium” plan priced at $39.99. What makes them a little interesting is that their boxes, at least the cheaper one, come with a bottle of their sauce, which appears to be a slightly-spicy garlic umami sauce you add to your noodles. I can’t seem to find an ingredients list anywhere, so I can’t say what’s in it, but if this is something you’d like me to review, I’m happy to reach out to them and see about getting a sample.
As far as the value of each box, they posted a reel on Facebook showing what was in it, and you’ve got 5 packs of noodles, a bowl, a bag of some sort of dried topping that I can’t identify, a bag of Yangban roasted seaweed with sesame oil, and a bottle of their sauce. The sauce costs $11, the seaweed costs $1.25 per pack ($15 for a 12-pack on Amazon), and I have no idea on the cost of the dried topping or bowl. But the noodles specifically show single packs of Pulmuone Crab Ramen ($2-$4), Mama Pad Thai (typically less than $1), Ve Wong Kung Fu Beef Flavor (also typically less than $1), Indomie Mi Goreng (yep, also typically less than $1), and Mama Shrimp Tom Yum (Surprise! Typically less than $1). So that’s maybe $8 worth of noodles, plus an $11 sauce bottle, plus a $1.25 pack of seaweed snacks, totaling shy of $20 not counting the price of the bowl or dried topping. Is that worth $29.99 to you? Obviously Noodle Bomb needs to make a profit – that’s not in dispute – but it’s honestly not a terrible value (certainly not the worst I’ve seen), and assuming you like the variety of noodles/snacks and don’t have access to an Asian market near you that stocks these products. The stock image of the basic subscription box shows some more expensive varieties compared to the Facebook reel, like Samyang Sutah, Paldo Bibimmen, Nongshim Shin Black, and Nongshim Kimchi, which again might be worth the price if you don’t have access to those flavors locally.
The premium box doesn’t have a Facebook reel (yet), but its stock image does show some potentially more interesting varieties. There’s a Sapporo Ichiban Eevee Pokemon Noodle cup (seafood flavored), Itomen Odashi Soy Sauce Ramen, Itomen Odashi Miso Ramen, Itomen Black Champon, Yamamoto Seifun Oyaji Yakisoba, Yamamoto Seifun Spicy Tonkotsu, Maruchan Hiyashi Chuka Soba (cold noodles), and Sanpo Soy Sauce Chicken Ramen cup. Now that is a compelling selection of Japanese noodles. If it’s accurate to what you’d actually receive for your 40 bucks, then that works out to be around $5 per cup/pack, which is not crazy expensive for Japanese-only noodles including shipping. While I haven’t had any of these specific varieties before, they’re all good brands.
Noodle Ninja Breakdown & Analysis
Noodle Ninja is the more expensive of these two new services, and whereas Noodle Bomb seems to focus on noodles from multiple countries (at least in its basic tier), Noodle Ninja is devoted solely to Japanese ramen. Because of this, Noodle Ninja looks like it could potentially fill the void left by Nakama Noodles. They currently list three monthly subscription plans at $50/$70/$100 (!!!), with only the $50 plan being available at the time of this writing. For $50, you get 6-8 cups/bowls/packs per month, making it a bit more pricy per serving than Nakama Noodles was ($45 for “at least” 8 cups/bowls/packs). Their March box showcases the Japanese version of Sapporo Ichiban’s Shio ramen, Nissin x AFURI Yuzu Shio ramen, Nissin Cup Noodle Chili Tomato flavor, Nissin Men Shokunin Miso ramen, Nissin Men Nippon Hachioji Onion Shoyu ramen, and Nissin Curry Meshi Beef rice cup. Is this worth it? If you were to order these varieties from someplace like Japanese Snacks Republic, it would run you about $35 shipped (technically $53 because you’d need to buy the Sapporo Ichiban Shio in a 5-pack, but I’m arriving at the $35 total based on the cost of a single pack). So that extra $15 is the packaging and convenience fee for Noodle Ninja to curate this selection for you every month. Is that worth it to you? For me, I’m not quite decided yet. You can head on over to their Facebook or Instagram pages to see what January’s and February’s offerings were, if you’re curious, but they were more or less about the same value. I’m going to be very curious to see what their mid- and top-tier subscription boxes contain when they launch.
That’s all the noteworthy noodle news I saw for this month. If you have any news to add, leave a comment below!
