This is part unboxing, part explanation of instant noodle subscription boxes, and part eulogy for ZenPop’s Japanese ramen service. I bought their final box, the July 2024 selection, before they discontinued their ramen and snack subscriptions. It’s a damn shame, because this was exactly the kind of service I wanted to explore more on Noodle Journey.
The box contained seven Japanese noodle varieties, including regional ramen, shrimp miso wonton noodles, and soba with duck and bonito broth. Below is everything that came in it, with links to the varieties I’ve since reviewed:
- Yamadai New Touch Sugomen Aomori Niboshi Chuka Soba
- Yamadai New Touch Nagaoka Shouga Shoyu Ramen
- Maruchan Gekimen Wonton Men Ebi Miso Aji
- TableMark Touhoku no Aji Yonezawa Ramen
- Myojo Charumera Cup Barikata Tonkotsu Ramen
- Acecook Sapporo Rich Miso Ramen
- Maruchan Mennosuke Tategata Kamodashi Soba
You can’t order this box anymore, but the video shows the kinds of products a Japanese noodle subscription could bring to your door. For me, the appeal was getting to try things I couldn’t find locally without hunting down every variety separately. Watch the unboxing for a closer look at each product and why I wanted to make this kind of video a more regular part of the channel. Rest in peace to ZenPop’s ramen box.
Notes since filming:
While conducting the review of the Acecook Miso variety that came out of this box, I found out that ZenPop botched the name of that product in their PDF. Their PDF called it “Nomihosu Ippa Gotouchi-hen Sapporo Noukou Miso Ramen,” (which I copied and pasted into this video as a title card when editing) but if you Google that, Google’s going to ask you, “Did you mean Ippai?” Yes, you did. Ippai, not Ippa. So if you’re ever on the hunt for that variety from a Japanese noodle retailer, I don’t know how much difference that one word makes, but you’re not going to find this product using the word Ippa.
