The Noodle Journey Rating Scale: How I Rate Instant Ramen

Like any reviewer, occasionally I get asked why I rate something the way I did. Most of the time, I will explain in each video or written post how something comes across to my palate and why I scored it the way I did. But, I admit sometimes that may not be clear. To clear things up, the Noodle Journey Rating Scale is here to assist you with what my score system means and where my personal biases lie.

Scores at a Glance:

Score	Noodles	Spiciness	Overall
10	Elite: Outstanding chew & taste	Insane: For the 3x Buldak brave	Perfect: A masterpiece of quality and flavor
9	Great: Nearly perfect texture	Very High: Ghost Pepper/2x Buldak	Excellent: A frequent favorite
8	Solid: Great gauge & texture	Hot Standard: Original Buldak	Strong: Regular pantry staple
7	Good: Deteriorates slightly fast	Very Spicy: Average enthusiast’s limit	Good: Tasty but not enthusiastic
6	Mid-Tier: Fry taste or thin gauge	Tolerable: Original Shin level	Decent: Needs a “recipe hack”
5	Average: Serviceable/Basic	Medium: Shin Black or Green	Mediocre: Inoffensive pantry backup
4	Subpar: Soft texture or oily flavor	Mild-Plus: Above US supermarket hot sauce	Weak: Significant flavor/balance issues
3	Poor: Major texture issues	Mild: Standard Tabasco/Frank’s	Bad: Likely went in the trash
2	Barely Edible: Mush or undercooked	Negligible: Barely noticeable heat	Awful: Only one positive element
1	Inedible: Total mush/Bad flavor	Micro-Spice: A potential hint of red or black pepper only	Irredeemable: Do not recommend
0	The Abyss: No redeeming qualities	Nil: Completely mild	Offensive: Send it to hell

A Deeper Explanation

Noodle Score:

My favorite noodles are air-dried/non-fried noodles with an al dente texture once cooked. A medium or thick gauge with a supple chew is what I seek out in most products, unless there is a specific reason for using a softer, thinner noodle (e.g. in a more delicate broth). Additionally, I expect a great noodle to have a good or neutral flavor that doesn’t negatively impact the flavor of the sauce or broth it’s in. The noodle should also have a solid cling to the broth or sauce after cooking. The scale below should help understand why I give noodles particular scores.

10 – A medium or thick gauge with an outstanding chewy texture, accompanied by a fresh wheat taste, such as air-dried Taiwanese noodles.
9 – A great texture and gauge, but something keeps it from perfection, such as being fried.
8 – Still a great gauge and texture, but doesn’t hold up as well in a broth/sauce after several minutes.
7 – Still a great gauge and texture, but deteriorates faster than an 8 in its broth/sauce.
6 – Approaching mid-level, a noodle that has some issues. Stronger fry taste, thinner gauge, less chewy, less clingy to the broth, etc.
5 – Perfectly average noodles, not particularly my favorite gauge or texture, but serviceable and unremarkable. Nissin Cup Noodles fall into this category.
4 – Still serviceable but with some bigger issues. Too soft, a noticeable oil taste, inability to cling to the broth/sauce, and so on.
3 – Edible, but not good. Major flavor or texture issues.
2 – Barely edible. Following the instructions yields a noodle that feels mostly undercooked or complete mush.
1 – Inedible. A combination of being completely uncooked or total mush after following the instructions, along with bad flavor in the noodle itself.
0 – A noodle with no redeeming qualities that has earned it a special place in hell. To date, immi noodles are the only recipient of a 0 score.

Spiciness Score:

This one is much easier to quantify than the noodle score. When I started the channel, Buldak Hot Chicken was at the top of my spice tolerance, however I knew that 2x and even 3x existed, so I had to leave a little extra room at the top of the heat scale. So original Buldak Hot Chicken earned a score of 8 for spiciness, and the rest of the spiciness scale sort of goes from there.

10 – The hottest thing imaginable, which is hard to quantify since chili pepper crossbreeders are constantly coming up with new, hotter peppers. I would imagine Buldak 3x or Culley’s World’s Hottest Ramen Noodles 2.0 would earn this score, though I’ve never tried them since they are likely way out of my tolerance.
9 – Still insanely hot. Buldak 2x and Daebak Ghost Pepper noodles are both in this range.
8 – The hot standard for me at the top of my comfort zone. Original Buldak, Shin Red, and some others have scored in this zone.
7 – Still very hot to what I would consider an average noodle enthusiast. A lot of Buldak flavors that aren’t quite as potent as the original end up here.
6 – Uncomfortable to many but tolerable to a spice fiend. The original Shin sits at this level.
5 – A medium spice typical of something like Shin Black or Shin Green. Easy enough for spice fanatics to handle, but may be uncomfortable for some.
4 – A little bit hotter than your typical American supermarket mass-produced hot sauce.
3 – Your typical big name hot sauces are here: Tabasco, Frank’s, Louisiana, etc. Only the most mild of Buldak flavors, like Cream Carbonara or Sweet, score this low.
2 – Objectively has a tingly, hot element, but would be barely noticeable to most spice fans.
1 – Extremely mild but still contains some amount of chili pepper in the ingredients, or possibly a bigger-than-average serving of black pepper. Probably not noticeable to most palates but scored at a nonzero for the most spice intolerant viewers/readers. I have also scored things with a high amount of acidity or garlic at a 1, because I do know some people who consider garlic to be “spicy.”
0 – Completely mild. No mention of chili pepper at all in the ingredients, and any usage of black pepper is well within what you might add to a meal at the table yourself.

Overall Score:

The overall score is how well everything comes together for me. It factors in the noodle quality, how enjoyable I consider the spice to be, how compelling the flavor of the broth/sauce is, the uniqueness of the recipe, the quality of the toppings (if any), and in some cases the cost/value of the product. There are times when the noodle quality is pretty average but the flavor and dried toppings are so amazing that they overcome the noodle mediocrity. Likewise, there are cases where the noodle quality is amazing but the flavor is basic, underwhelming, or downright bad. And in many cases, there are just some flavors I enjoy way more than others, and I’m usually very upfront about what they are.

10 – A product so good I could eat it every day. Amazing flavor with noodles in the 5-10 range, as I mentioned above. If it comes with toppings, those are outstanding. If it’s missing toppings, the flavor and noodles are so good that I don’t care. Spice level is appropriate to the flavor and not gimmicky or overpowering. Something that eats like a complete meal that I could get a great experience without adding anything.
9 – Something I could eat frequently but with some very minor issues. Lower quality noodles with great broth/sauce flavor, a strange lack of toppings, or a type of recipe that I love but just not in an everyday context – all of those products would end up in this range.
8 – I could eat this regularly but there are a few minor issues I can’t overlook, or it’s just not the kind of flavor I love as much as others. Possibly I’ve already reviewed a superior version of the same recipe.
7 – Still good, but maybe the noodle quality drags things down. Maybe the use of artificial flavorings was a bit pronounced. Maybe any included toppings were minimal quantity or low quality. Something I find tasty but am not enthusiastic about.
6 – Decent enough but with one or two issues. Possibly a good flavor but needs a lot of extra work or a recipe hack or add-ins to make it more compelling. Something I enjoy but don’t feel the need to ever eat or purchase again. Fans of the recipe style will still likely enjoy it.
5 – Pure mediocrity. Not bad at all, totally edible, but also not great and certainly not something I’m excited about. The kind of product you buy to keep on hand to satisfy your noodle crazes when you run out of better noodles in your pantry. Basic chicken and beef cup flavors from the major noodle manufacturers would end up here.
4 – Edible but with some major issues. Some examples would be: bad noodle quality with a somewhat flavorful broth/sauce, quality noodles with an absolutely boring, basic sauce I could make at home, things that veer too sweet/salty/acidic/artificial for my liking.
3 – Something I didn’t enjoy but I could see a subset of my viewership liking. Not the absolute worst quality, but a flavor that didn’t appeal to me at all and likely went right in the trash after the review.
2 – A product I found to be almost irredeemable but with maybe one positive element I would only recommend under a very specific circumstance. Also assuredly went right in the garbage after I was done reviewing.
1 – Irredeemably bad and lacking in appeal to all but the most stalwart of stomachs. Bad noodles, awful flavor, completely inedible. There’s no way I’d ever recommend it.
0 – Something so offensively bad I could barely get through the review. The classic combination of horrible quality and horrible flavor that ends up being such a terrible experience that I would question the opinions of anyone who liked it. Send it straight to the compost and burn it with fire.