Tesco Everyday Value Spicy Curry Flavour Noodles (pot)

Cheap. Edible. Bland. The noodles take a while to soften, and when they do they are more texture than flavour - rather doughy and flavourless. The curry sauce is very mild and again quite bland. I added some salt in order to give it flavour, and then it became acceptable.

Date: Feb 2016  Score: 3


 While agreeing with my review from last year, I do find them quite acceptable and enjoyable. A little bit of salt brings out the chip shop curry sauce flavour quite pleasantly. Quite British - floury sauce and bland, chewy noodles, but I wouldn't object to having these again.

Date: Jan 2017   Score: 4

***

Best curry flavour instant noodles

Tesco noodles

Aldi Snack Noodle Spicy Curry Flavour

39p for 90g. This is nice. A proper British pot noodle. Roughly similar to Lidl's cup noodles at the same price, and Sainsbury's cup noodle at a higher price.  This really challenges Pot Noodle. I could stock up on these at this price. Well, either these or Lidl's. I'll try a side by side taste test to see which is the best. At the moment I have the Lidl at a higher score, but in truth they are probably fairly equal.

Date: Feb 2016   Score: 6

Aldi Instant Noodles

Best curry flavour instant noodles

Aldi Asia Specialities Teriyaki Microwaveable Asian Noodles

89p for 250g from Aldi, Made in Thailand. Veggie. You snip off the corner and heat it up in the microwave while still in the bag, The finished product is quite dry and lacking in flavour. Teriyaki generally means a sweet and savoury sauce.  This one is simply dull. I had to add moisture and seasoning to make it edible.

I won't be getting these again. Though, to be fair, I have not liked any Teriyaki instant noodles I have tried, including Naked Noodle and Home Bargain's Chef Hou brands.

Score: 2

Aldi Instant Noodles

Aldi Snack Noodle Chicken & Mushroom Flavour

39p for a 90g pot is good value. And it's very tasty. Plenty of flavour, and quite pleasant tasting. Yes, it tastes artificial, but in a cheeky Pot Noodle way so it's OK. You're not this to get an authentic Asian cuisine flavour, especially as it's a very British chicken and mushroom flavour with bits of sweetcorn. It's veggie, and I love it. What's to complain about? Nice one Aldi. This is probably made in the UK. Probably in Wales.....


Score: 8

The best Chicken flavour instant noodles

Aldi Instant Noodles

Homebargains Thai Delight Pad Thai Noodles with Pad Thai Sauce

Another Homebargains noodle box. Cheap to buy and easy to make, they are quite filling, and there is a pleasant peanut butter flavour along with a warmth from the chilli. Eating them from the box works fine, and is a slightly different idea for the UK, though not unique. I can't recall how much I paid for these, and can't find any info online, so I'll check out next time I'm in Homebargains, and see if they have any other flavours.

Pad Thai is rice noodles - the sauce doesn't seem to be very specific though tends to include fish.


Score: 5

Homebargains Thai Delight Hokkien Noodles with Peanut Satay Sauce

Cheap from HomeBargains. Looks and sounds good. Made in Thailand. All veggie.  Easy to make. But rather disappointing. Not really a very good peanut satay sauce, tasted more of tomato ketchup than peanuts. The noodles were fat, floury and tasteless. Could have done better by just putting tomato ketchup and peanut butter on some instant noodles. Don't think I'll be getting these again. Though I don't mind trying other flavours.

Score: 3

Itsu Thai Yum Yum Crystal Noodle (Cup)

I had the Itsu Noodle[pot] Thai Original Flavour in January 2014 and absolutely hated it, and so did everyone else.  The company have made adjustments and relaunched. The new range was on offer at Tesco for a £1 (normally twice that), so I bought three. The company still has the silly pink spork, but at least now they have a tasty sauce - it tasted fresh, authentic, and warmly spicy. The noodles were not so good. Wiry tasteless plastic. When made up it takes a while before it is cool enough to eat. The instructions suggest adding cold water, and that's a good idea. It's not that the sauce (or soup) is hot, it's that the noodles are really tricky to get into your mouth, and you sort of burn your lips and chin. Not nice. On the whole this doesn't really work because the noodles are so inedible and awkward to eat. Throw away the noodles and drink the soup and it works. But then it's not a cup noodle, it's a cup of soup.

O crap, I just looked at the ingredients, and it's mostly decomposing chicken. Yugh! Come on folks, it is possible to make edible food without using dead farm animals.

Score: 3

Batchelors Super Noodles Taste Adventures Zingy Peri Peri Chicken

Second one in the Taste Adventures series, this one is a "New kid on the block", so I assume it's a flavour that Super Noodles have not used previously. I didn't follow the instructions - I just poured on boiling water, stirred and waited. No need for extra boiling. The taste is savoury with onion and tomato notes, then comes in some lime. It's sweet, yet warm and spicy with growing heat that never quite burns. Noodles are soggy and floury even though not cooked as per the recipe. I've joked about Super Noodles are crap for years, but to be honest they are growing on me. You get a decent portion, and even though it's more noodle than flavouring, and the noodles are bland and floury (air-dried rather than deep-fried as Asian noodles are), and sometimes - as here, the flavouring is OK. The touch of lime is a nice touch - quite modern that. No lime in the ingredients, but they do use lemon and citric acid, so that's how they're getting it.

I'm not going to lie. This was OK.

Date: Jan, 2016  Score: 4

Cooked per the instructions and the result was a stodgy mess. It's savoury and has warmth, but it's stodge. Quite edible, but ready my previous experience, it seems it's better just to pour on the boiling water and wait.

Date: July 2017  Score: 3

Super Noodles are crap

The best (and worse) Chicken flavour instant noodles

Batchelors Super Noodles Taste Adventures Aromatic Thai Green Curry

A new series from Super Noodles: Taste Adventures. Picked this up on offer, and I have to say it's not bad for a Super Noodle, though not that good in general. The instructions have you boiling it for a long time in order to get a kind of sludge. Not sure why you'd want to do that, and if were ever to eat this again I would simply prepare the classic way. The flavouring is mostly chilli, but while spicy it isn't savage, and does have a feel for Thai Green Curry.

Edible.

Score: 3

Super Noodles are crap

Best curry flavour instant noodles

HomeBargains Chef Huo Eastern Range Express Noodle Bowl Spicy Kung Pao

A bit better than the Sesame Teriyaki because of the spicy warmth and added flavour, but still tasting mostly of plastic and chemicals.


Score: 2

HomeBargains Chef Huo Eastern Range Express Noodle Bowl Sesame Teriyaki

Never again. Tasted like plastic and chemicals. Yugh.

Score: 1

Micro Noodles Chicken Flavour

Ugly looking pot which creates an ugly looking and not tasty mess. The noodles are the main flavour, and they are small and jelly like - a bit like buckwheat or pearl barley. The MSG flavouring barely makes an impact. Chicken? Escaped the roost I think.

The brand is owned by Unilever. It doesn't say where they are made - I assume the Pot Noodle mine in Wales, as Pot Noodle is another Unilever brand.

This is not nice. Worse even than Super Noodles - and that's really saying something!


Date: Feb 2014   Score: 1

59p for a 100g pot, from Home Bargains. Veggie.

This is even worse than the curry one. Really bland and stodgy. Best avoided.

Made by Unilever, who own the Knorr brand, but this product is unbranded.

Date: Jan 2016   Score: 2

The best (and worse) Chicken flavour instant noodles

Micro Noodles Curry Flavour

59p for a 100g pot, from Home Bargains. The idea is to make them in the microwave, but it doesn't work as they suggest. It's more effective to pour on boiling water and then cook for three minutes in the microwave, than to pour on cold water. The printing on the pot is very cheap and blurry - rather like a pirate video case in the '90s. There is a fill line printed on the outside, but it's hard to see when looking inside. But, even so, if you fill to the line the water gets absorbed and you end up with a very dry sticky mess. Best to use more than suggested. And then at the end it's too lightly flavoured, so it's mostly pasta you taste. Put in some onion salt and it tastes better. But, pretty crap product really. Veggie.

Made by Unilever, who own the Knorr brand, but this product is unbranded. Doesn't say where they are made. The noodles are not deep fried, so it's unlikely to be Asia - probably somewhere in Europe.

Score:2

Best curry flavour instant noodles

Knorr Taj Szamaj Slodko-kwasny

This a limited edition nood - the name appears to be something like "Taj schmaj" with the sub-title being "sweet and sour sauce". It's certainly very sweet. It's like a sweet thin tomato sauce. It's not objectionable, but it's a little one dimensional and way too sweet and boring.


Score: 4

A-One Instant Noodles Shrimp Flavor

Proper deep fried noodles - you get that wonderful savoury aroma as soon as the hot water touches them. Decent flavoured sauce as well. Not sure it's shrimp flavoured exactly, but it's enjoyable. It doesn't hit the heights, but does a good job. I liked this.


Score: 7

A-One

Knorr Nudle Doner Kebab

What a brilliant flavour idea for instant noodles - doner kebab! It's so filthy it works! It's the perfect noods flavouring!  These Poles know how to have a good time don't they? Strong beer and doner kebab flavoured noods. I wanna be a Pole when I grow up.


Interestingly British style - lots of floury paste. Perhaps this floury paste approach is more sort of European than just British. Perhaps Pot Noodle has influenced the rest of Europe. Be interesting to research into the history of instant noodles in Europe.

The flavouring in this is strong rather than anything else. There is no attempt at a providing a range of flavours that balance out, providing interest and stimulation, nor is there any attempt at making the flavour pleasant - this is just straight ahead filth, as appropriate for a doner kebab flavoured instant noodle. What more do you expect? What more do you want?

It's filthy, and I enjoyed it. Onion and Marmite is mostly what it tastes like. As a veggie I particularly like this, as the noods are veggie, so this is the closest I'm going to get to eating a doner kebab when I'm drunk on a Friday night.


Score: 7

Naked Noodle Singapore Curry

We had this alongside Mama Green Curry. The Mama noods blew these Naked noods clean out of the pot, but, to be fair, it was the Naked pot that I chose to finish because the Mama noods were just a tad too hot for my delicate mouth. Shame on me. (I don't like the noodles, but the juice is quite tasty, and I enjoyed slurping up what was left).


Date: Jan 2019   Score: 5

This is the last in the new Naked Noodle series from Symington. I liked this one. Rather floury in the style of good old Pot Noodle, with a chip shop type curry - slight warmth, but more about the curry flavour than the heat. It's not exotic, but the homely taste and familiarity is appealing. I am still not a fan of the stringy noodles, but this was quite edible and enjoyable. Though I wouldn't mind having another one, there are other noods out there that I prefer, so none of these Naked Noodles will find their way onto my shopping list.

Date: Dec 2015   Score: 6

Best curry flavour instant noodles

Symington's

Naked Noodle Japanese Teriyaki

Another in Symington's new Naked Noodle series. Made from proper egg noodles, though as they are air-dried rather than deep-fried, they taste a bit wooden and bland - though the noodles are here more for texture than taste, and for me I prefer my noodles a little bigger, and less string like.

Teriyaki is a Japanese sauce of soya and sugar. There's no meat in this, so safe for veggies. It's edible, but not that exciting. I don't like the noodle size of the Naked Noodle series, and despite the interesting packaging and concept, I find the flavours a little boring - mostly sugar, and with little range and contrast. This onme is like sweet soy sauce with rehydrated vegetables. Edible, but nit great.

Date: Dec 2015   Score: 3

***

Symington's

Knorr Nudle Amerikan Cziken

Green packet of Knorr noodles, possibly bought in local Polish shop. This is chicken flavoiured, and because the packet is in Polish with nio English text I can't tell if it's veggie, but it appears to be MSG. Lolts of MSG flavour and lots of salt. This is very strong flavoured, but it's not good strong, simply very, very salty with some MSG. Not nice.


Score: 1

Knorr Nudle Czar-dasz Gulasz (Limited Edition)

Typical packet nood, made in Europe by Unilver Poland. Can't remember where I bought that, but all the writing is in Polish, with no English translation at all. I think it's veggie, but I'll need to check. A very enjoyable nood. Good flavours - strong, but not overwhelming. A bit of warmth, but not too hot, Lots of paprika and some tomato with a savoury edge. I could do these again.

Score: 7

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