Mr. Min Authentic Korean Udon Fresh Noodles with Vegetable Broth

Bought in Carrefour, Marseille. Large tub, which contains a sealed packet of udon noodles - thick, floury and tasteless, a packet of soup broth - a thin and pleasant enough soy sauce, and a packet of dried vegetables - which remain dried and unpleasant, no matter how long you leave them to soak. When put together as instructed you end up with a waxed container with the floury and tasteless noodles sitting in a very watery soy sauce sprinkled with dried vegetables slices. Not an attractive meal; no matter how "authentic" it is meant to be, this is not an experience I want to repeat.

Mr Min is a Korean product designed for the French market. The packet also contained instructions in English, though I've not seen it in the UK yet.

The best beef flavoured instant noodles

Beef is a popular flavour for UK noods - especially Pot Noodle, who do a number of variations. It is also used by Asian noodle companies for the Asian market, but not as often as other flavours. Most companies use a beef flavouring rather than real beef - I suspect this is more to do with cost than morality, though some manufacturers might feel that as the taste can be easily and cheaply replicated, there's little sense in alienating a large and growing sector of the marketplace.

Nissin Cup Noodles Beef Flavour

 Hot Marmite drink with vegetable pieces. Veggie. Score: 8

Mama Instant Chand Noodles Beef Flavour (Pho Bo)

 Savoury, not beefy. Rice noodles. Veggie. Score: 8

A-One Pho Bo Beef Flavour Rice Noodles

 65g for 32p. Veggie. Rice noodles. Not very beefy. Lime and coriander.   Score: 7

Pot Noodle Mr Chu's Golden Noodle No.7 Sticky Rib Flavour

 Beefy. Score: 7

Nongshim OoLongmen Beef Flavour

Veggie. Onion.  Score: 7

Indomie Instant Noodles Beef & Lime Flavour

 Veggie. Onion. Score: 5

Golden Sunrise Instant Noodles BBQ Beef Flavour

Veggie. MSG. 70g for 20p.  Score: 5

Aldi Make in Minutes Instant Noodles BBQ Beef Flavour

 Veggie. Peanut butter. 108g for 18p. Score: 5

Koka Beef Flavour

 Veggie. Marmite.  Score: 5

Chung King Instant Noodles Beef Flavour

 Floury beef. Veggie. Score: 4

Lidl Newgate / Vitasia Speedy Noodle Beef & Tomato Flavour (cup)
 Floury tomato ketchup. Veggie. Score: 4

Pot Noodle Chilli Beef

 Hot chilli sauce. Score: 4

ASDA Beef Flavour Noodles

 XXX Meat. Score: 3

Lidl Vitasia  Beef Flavour (packet)

Veggie: Score: 3

Batchelors Super Noodles BBQ Beef

 Mushy curry flavour. Score: 3

Pot Noodle Beef &Tomato

 Tomato ketchup. Score: 2

Mug Shot BBQ Beef Flavour


Veggie. Score: 2

Indomie Mi goreng Rendang Spicy Beef Flavour

 Spicy peanut butter. Veggie. Score: 2

Sawadee Beef Casserole Flavour

 Wishy-washy beef. Score: 2

Batchelors Super Noodles Roast Beef & Onion

 Score: 1

Chung King Instant Noodles Beef Flavour

Four for 99p in a 99p store. Floury but acceptable noodles in a savoury sauce. Beef flavoured, but all veggie. It tastes like yeast extract. This is the noodles equivalent of Marmite on toast. OK.

Score: 4

Beef flavoured

Nissin Soba Japanese Fried Noodles Chili (packet)

Very yummy. Lots of onion and Worcester sauce flavour, with just enough chilli heat to make it lively and interesting, but not so much as to burn. Firm and tasty noodles, and a nice thickness to the sauce. I enjoyed these.

Score: 7/10

Nifty Nissin noodles

Lidl Newgate / Vitasia Instant Noodles Curry Flavour

The new brand name for these Lidl noods is Newgate. Veggie ingredients. No info on where they are made. 108g. The curry flavouring is very mild and sweet, but pleasant enough. I enjoyed these and wouldn't mind having them again.

Date: May 2016    Score: 4


There's not a lot going on here. More noodles than flavouring. And the flavouring is barely noticable - some chip shop curry flavour which needs enhancing with salt. Edible, but not brilliant.

Date: Jan 2016   Score: 3

Tasty enough. Decent noodles, firm and chewy, with a decent curry flavour. Nothing exciting, but it does the job.

Date: Nov 2014    Score: 4

Comparisons

Lidl Curry V Sainsbury's Curry

Sainsbury's is the winner.

Date: March 2017   Score: 3

Lidl Curry v Asda Curry

Lidl is the winner.

Date:  Nov 2016   Score:  4

***

Best curry flavour instant noodles

Nissin Demae Ramen Prawn Flavour

The noodles are delicious. Plump, soft, and very fresh tasting. The flavour is delicate and pleasant, though could be a little more assertive. At times this feels too much like eating plain noodles, though the quality is such that it tastes so fresh you could be at a noodle bar.

Nice.

Date: Oct, 2014   Score: 6

Nissin are excellent value for money noods - you get 100g for between 20p and 45p. The noodles are fleshy and tasty, and the flavourings are generally very tasty. These prawn noods are a trifle disappointing. The flavouring is a little vague, and a little harsh, and a little artificial. Add a bit of butter to soften it, and it's fine, but otherwise it can leave a slightly unpleasant aftertaste. Veggie.

Date: Sept, 2015   Score: 4


Overall score: 5/10

Other reviews
*RamenRater

Nifty Nissin noodles

Aldi Make in Minutes Instant Noodles Curry Flavour

Looks to be better value than the Asda  Smart Price Curry Flavour - it's bigger, cheaper, and the noodles look tastier. But when eating, the difference really comes to the fore: it's very bland. The Asda noods are positively savoury and yummy in comparison.

Score: 3

Aldi Instant Noodles

Best curry flavour instant noodles

Ko-Lee Taste Sensation Classic Chicken

There's no chicken - just good veggie flavourings. This is a very yummy nood - the noodles are a little thin and perhaps lacking in impact, but the flavourings are good. Robust and strong, but not overwhelming. Fresh and natural tasting. 85g pack is a decent size. I like this a lot.

Score: 8

Kohlico

The best Chicken flavour instant noodles

Ko-Lee Taste Sensation Creamy Shrimp Tom Yum

I enjoyed this. Creamy with good sweet and savoury notes. There's tomato, sharp lime, warm spice. It all works well. Very yummy. Top nood.

Score: 9

Kohlico

Samyang Sutah Ramen Hot & Spicy Flavor

A decent amount of noodles, though the noodles are a bit bland. Sauce is sweet, tomato based, with a lot of warmth, but certainly tolerable. It's OK, but doesn't shake the tree.

Samyang is a Korean noodle company formed in 1961. Products are veggie.



Commercial.

Morrison Savers Tomato and Onion Pasta & Sauce

The pasta here is not instant so this needs cooking for over 10 minutes. It's not worth the effort. Regular pasta cooked with chopped onion and then mixed with tomato sauce or pesto would be as quick, not much more effort, and way tastier.

A-One Instant Rice Noodles Chicken Flavor

Like eating strips of plastic. Faint savoury dish water flavour that hints at fake chicken flavour, but doesn't quite assert it. Not good.

Score: 2

The best Chicken flavour instant noodles

A-One

Batchelors Cup a Noodle Spicy Sweet & Sour

Typical bland British noodles - these are quite small, which makes them feel like an addition to the recipe, rather than central. The sauce is sweet tomato with some vinegar and an overall spicy warmth. It's edible, but feels wrong, as though something were missing. It's like eating warmed up ketchup - it's edible, but not quite right.

Batchelors

Batchelors Super Noodles Sizzling King Prawn

Yeah. I ate this, and it wasn't crap.

Score: 2 

Super Noodles are crap