Detailed instant noodle reviews and ratings – watch, read, and discover your next favorite.
This review marks my first experience with jjajangmen, or black bean sauce noodles, starting with Nongshim Chapagetti. You might recognize this from the movie Parasite, where it was combined with Neoguri and steak to make the now-famous “Chapaguri” (or “ram-don”). I actually tried that hack myself before starting the channel, but I never tasted Chapagetti or Neoguri on their own until now. Nongshim has since released a bowl version of Chapaguri, which I’ll check out if I find it.
In this review, I'm taking a look at Paldo Namja Ramyun, a Korean red chili and garlic soup with a very bold marketing campaign. “Namja” translates to “man,” and Paldo has leaned into that with a hilariously over-the-top commercial you can find if you search on YouTube. Thankfully, anyone can enjoy this soup regardless of how masculine they feel. I’ve had good luck with Paldo’s Premium Gomtang before, so I'm hoping this one would also deliver.
Time to up my spicy street cred. This episode covers Samyang’s 2x Spicy Buldak Hot Chicken, the viral challenge noodle that gained a reputation for destroying people at double the intensity of the original Hot Chicken flavor. I'm not eating this to prove anything, I just want to see whether the hype is deserved, and more importantly, whether it's still actually edible. I’ve already covered the original Buldak and the Carbonara, both of which I enjoyed, so I'm going into this one with a decent idea of what to expect from a flavor perspective, but not from a spice perspective.
Time to dive into the one that started it all: Samyang Buldak Hot Chicken Ramen, the pack that kicked off a thousand spicy noodle challenges and an entire subculture of people shoving noodles into their tear-stained faces for the enjoyment of others. I’m not here for the Internet clout, just a proper review of a famously spicy stir-fried noodle. I’ve already tried the Carbonara version and loved it, so it was time to see how the base flavor holds up without the creamy powdered cheese to tone it down.
Today we're diving into Samyang’s original orange-packaged ramen, simply called "Samyang Ramen," a product that’s been around since 1963 and is often regarded as the blueprint for red chili Korean instant soups. Given how much I enjoyed their Buldak Carbonara, I’m curious to see how this more traditional offering stacks up. This is the company’s flagship noodle product, and it seems like every major Korean instant noodle brand has their own take on this style, including Nongshim Shin, which I referenced heavily in this episode as a benchmark.
There are actually two versions of Paldo’s Gomtang on the market: a standard variety in more gold-colored packaging and a “Premium” version. This review focuses on the premium one, which is supposedly a step up in richness and depth. Gomtang itself is a traditional Korean soup made by simmering beef bones, brisket, and other cuts for hours to create a rich, milky broth. It’s not spicy, but it’s comforting, the kind of soup you reach for when you're sick or need something mellow and warm. It leans heavily on garlic and beef flavor, and it’s usually served with rice, noodles, or both.
Samyang Buldak Carbonara Ramen is one of the most talked-about instant noodles on the Internet, constantly recommended in Reddit threads, YouTube challenges, and noodle circles of all kinds. I picked mine up as part of a Korean ramen combo box from Cokoyam (RIP), but you can also find it on Yamibuy and Amazon.
After opening the series with Nongshim Shin Ramyun, it only felt right to follow it up with the so-called “premium” version, Nongshim Shin Black Ramyun. This one has a bit of a reputation online as the Rolls Royce of Korean instant noodles, but there are a few things to be aware of, especially when it comes to the version you're actually buying.
Nongshim Shin Ramyun is where this all started for me. I had instant noodles in my pantry for years, but it wasn’t until the pandemic hit that I started digging into the world beyond the 30-cent supermarket bricks. Shin Ramyun was one of the first I tried without any clue what I was getting into, and it set the bar high enough that I still use it as the benchmark for spicy Korean ramyun.