Nongshim Big Bowl Noodle Kimchi Flavour

112g in a very big Styrofoam bowl. Kimchi is the Korean national dish, of which they are very proud, and which has been given UNESCO Cultural Heritage status. It is a picked cabbage. In South Korea it is spiced with chilli, in North Korea it is not. This is a very tasty, if rather pique, dish. I like the noodles, and I love the flavour. Mildly sweet tomato with onion and other flavours. There's veggies in here, so a range of flavours and textures are offered. Damn fine. There's dried fish cake, other than that, it's veggie safe.

I enjoyed this. And it reminds me of just how good Asian noods actually are when compared to British floury nonsense.

Score: 8

Nongshim

Naked Noodle Cantonese Style Hoisin Duck

  

Another redesign of the packaging. These are now Cantonese "Style" (so I've adjusted the title of this post). The Egg Noodles has been moved to the bottom of the name. 

The noodles are rather thin and worm like for our taste - we'd prefer bigger, more satisfying noodles. The sauce is pleasant enough. OK. 

Date: Feb 2023   Score:   5 

Three years since I last had these, and the pack is the same but "Egg noodles" have been added to the title. I don't think there has been a change in recipe as they were egg noodles in 2015, but I certainly enjoyed these more than I did back then. I did cook them for longer - putting them into the microwave after I'd poured on the boiling water. The noodles themselves are small, and the advised amount of water to add makes this a little bit stodgy, but I found it comforting and pleasantly savoury. Still veggie. There's no duck in this.


Date: Jan 2019    Score: 5

Hoisin is a sweet sticky sauce. This doesn't taste sweet or sticky. It just tastes unpleasant. Not my thing at all. Veggie. The noodles are made with egg, but are so small you can't really taste them anyway. This is marketing over taste.


Date: Nov 2015   Score: 3

***

Symington's

Batchelors Super Noodles Limited Edition Proper Tasty Steak & Ale Pie Flavour

Soft, bland noodles. Nice idea, and the flavour is almost there. Comforting and easy to eat. Contains no steak and no ale. Flavoured with Marmite and onion. Veggie.

Crap.

Score: 3

Super Noodles are crap

MAMA Instant Noodles Moo Nam Tok Flavour

Moo Nam Tok is a Thai pork dish, it's name means pork waterfall. As with other Mama noods, the noodles themselves are fine, but the flavouring tends to be too thin and use too much chilli for my taste. I don't add the extra chilli, and it is still hot. It simply burns. The underlying flavour is soya and onion, so it's not that great anyway. The pork flavour is artificial, so it's veggie safe.

Score: 3

MAMA's best

Lidl Newgate / Vitasia Barbecue Beef Flavour (packet)

Cheap but not cheerful. There's a lot of chewy noodles, but not much flavouring. Could do better.


Date: November 2015  Score: 3

 As part of Lidl's rebranding these are now marketed as Newgate Instant Noodles. The ingredients are veggie - the flavouring comes from onion and yeast extract. It tastes of onion. Needs a little bit of extra seasoning. It's acceptable. Nothing to write home about, but edible enough. Doesn't say where they are made.

Date: May 2016   Score: 4

Beef flavoured

Naked Noodle Thai Tom Yum

The noodles are too small. The taste is OK, with some lime, but just a bit too much tomato,  and a little too much heat for my personal preference. They're OK, but not my thing really. Reminded me of some of the Polish noods - sweet, tomato flavour with thin noodles, and too much heat. Not enough depth and body, but edible.

Date: Nov 2015  Score: 5

***

Most yummy Tom Yum

Symington's

Mug Shot On The Go! Oh Soy Saucy Chow Mein Noodles The BIG One!

It's edible, but it does taste like rehydrated British soup. There's a fair amount of onion in this. If you like the taste of rehydrated onion and flour water, then this is fine. It's edible, and it's savoury, but it's not actually a delight.

Score: 3

***

Symington's

Best instant noodle chow mein

Mug Shot On The Go! Satisfying Cheese & Ham Pasta The BIG One!

Made in the UK. Uses pieces of reformed pig. Tastes horrid. Not an experience I would like to repeat.

Score: 1

Symington's

Naked Noodle Vietnamese Beef Pho Flavour

Veggie. Made in the UK. Bought from Tesco as part of a multi-deal for 90p - normally £1.19.  This is a savoury nood - mostly onion and soy sauce flavouyrs, but pleasant enough. A little warmth, but not too much. An enjoyable British nood - a little floury, yes, but that's OK. Sometimes I like a bit of floury. Think Pot Noodle, but slightly better.


Score: 7

***

Beef flavoured

Symington's

Mug Shot On The Go! Magnifique Bolognese Pasta The BIG One!

Normally £1.09 for 85g - bought in Tesco as a multi-buy for 90p. Veggie. A decent enoiugh but unremarkable herb and tomato sauce on pasta. You can eat this, and then forget it. Not one to stick in the mind. It's OK. That's it really. Job done.

Score: 4

Symington's

Mug Shot On The Go! Mighty Spicy Madras Noodles The BIG One!

Normally £1.09, but picked up in Tesco as part of a multi-buy deal for 90p. This is a Pot Noodle clone, and it works well on that level - sticky and floury paste, with a British curry flavour. Quite warm, made me sweat, but a good warmth - not like some of the biting Asian spicy foods which are little more than chilli. Sweet and largely tomato flavoured this is very edible, though eaten side by side with Symington's Naked Noodle Curry, I found the greater range of flavours of the Naked Noodle more appealing. But there is something very comforting and dirty about this . A very close Pot Noodle clone.

Score: 6

***

Best curry flavour instant noodles

Symington's

Naked Noodle Malaysian Laksa Curry

Normally £1.19, bought for 90p in Tesco as part of a multi-buy deal. Priced at around the same price as Pot Noodle, but aiming for a more upmarket audience, I bought this at the same time as the company's (Symington's) Mug Shot cup, which is priced slighter lower (£1.09) but available on the same multi-buy deal at 90p. This is a typical floury UK nood, but the packaging and the finished product look good, and the product is quite tasty and flavoursome with some subtle lenongrass flavours and a gentle spicy warmth. I have previously slammed the Naked Noodle brand, and the Naked Noodle Laska product in particular, so I wasn't expecting much of this, but I ended up liking it quite a lot. Eating it side by side with the Mug Shot Madras, the similarities are obvious, and I enjoyed both, but this Laska Curry is more to my liking.

Score: 7

***

Best curry flavour instant noodles

Symington's