Detailed instant noodle reviews and ratings – watch, read, and discover your next favorite.
Way, way, way back in episode 9 on the channel, I reviewed a classic from Samyang: their plain old original flavor ramen in the orange packaging. And it was really good. At the time, I made a note to myself that I would like to try the South Korean version of Samyang Original Ramen someday to see how it compares to the export version, so lo and behold that day is now! This product dates all the way back to 1963 and seems to be pretty much a staple in South Korea.
There's no denying that Samyang's hype machine with their Buldak product line has been a major force in the noodle industry throughout the last several years. For a while, you couldn’t scroll through social media without seeing someone demolishing a bowl of the original Hot Chicken flavor (or 2x or even 3x nowadays). While it seems like that trend has calmed down a bit, Buldak has done something that very few Korean brands had managed to do before now: infiltrate non-Asian grocery stores. Even those big-name supermarket chains that, a decade ago, would've pointed to Frank's RedHot as the spiciest thing in their aisles are now selling Buldak noodles to unassuming consumers. So as with most things with this much hype and exposure, the inevitable backlash has already been in full swing for a couple years now. When something becomes more of a dare than a dish, it stops being about taste and starts being about spectacle, and I feel like that's pushed many consumers into the realm of false assumptions about what Buldak is or isn't.
Samyang Buldak is such a popular brand that its fans try to seek out every single flavor that has ever existed to make sure they can try them all. A while back on Reddit, I started maintaining an active list of all known flavors and their status. You can now find that list here, along with links to my reviews of each one I've tried. This list does not include offshoot products like tteokbokki, dumplings, or hot sauce, but rather only focuses on noodle products.
Today I've got something super interesting from Samyang: Samgyetang Ramen Soup. This is super interesting to me because I love trying new things as you may well know and this product is Samyang's take on Samgyetang, which is a South Korean soup typically made with ginseng, garlic, and chicken. As I filmed this review, I was a little bit hoarse, so a hearty bowl of chicken soup sounded really good at the time.
Here's all of the noteworthy noodle news for January 2025!
For the first review of 2025, things kick off with something a little different and a little harder to find. This is Samyang Buldak Basil Cream Udon, a flavor that was already elusive when it was new and may have been discontinued shortly after. Even so, it is interesting enough that it deserves a proper review on the books in case it ever turns up again.
I wasn't planning on doing another Buldak review so soon, but something pretty cool happened, and I was just able to get my hands on Samyang Buldak Korean Fried Chicken Flavor after months of searching. This is a flavor that came out earlier this year and is sold by Samyang in China and possibly other spots in Asia; I can't confirm for sure either way. I have been looking for this since I learned it existed because I love most Buldak flavors, and I want to review everything I can that is Buldak-related.
The American export version of Samyang Buldak Yakisoba Ramen recently made its way to the USA in one of the most unlikely of retailers, having been available in other countries like South Korea and Australia for over a year. Out of the blue, it started showing up at Target stores in the USA just a couple of weeks ago. That's right everyone, at the time of this filming, I couldn't find a single other American store that stocks this flavor in packs, not even my local Asian markets.
Today I’m checking out Samyang Buldak Mala with Flat Noodles, a bowl version of the mala flavor that I previously reviewed in its Indonesian pack form in Episode 164. That earlier review covered a lot of the background behind this particular variation of Buldak, so for today’s review I’m mainly focusing on how this bowl compares in flavor, texture, and overall execution. I already know the noodles are very different, and the recipe itself isn’t exactly identical, so I’m curious to see how closely this aligns with that hard-to-find pack version.
I’m checking out Nongshim Vegan Curry Noodles, a new bowl that has been showing up in Walmart and Sam’s Club stores across the US. I’m always interested when Nongshim America releases a new flavor, because that’s how we ended up getting Shin Gold, Shin Green, and the tonkotsu bowls, all of which turned out really well. This vegan curry flavor is a new addition to that lineup, and the packaging doesn’t specify what kind of curry it’s trying to emulate. Since the ingredient list doesn’t offer many clues, the only sensible path forward is to cook it and find out.