First Review: Nongshim's Bowl Noodle Soup (Spicy Shrimp Flavor)

Nothing hits the spot like a bowl of ramen "bowl noodle" after having drinks with friends.  After I staggered home, I wasn't sure if I trusted myself near the stove, let alone handle a complex process like cooking ramen "bowl noodle."  Plus, I had to take pictures for the blog.


The beauty of Nong Shim's Bowl Noodle Soup series is its convenience married with its taste.  As a child, I loved the original flavor.  So when I saw this at my local grocery store, I gave it a whirl.  

Right when I opened this package, a very shrimp-y aroma filled my nostrils.  

Let's get cooking!  All that needs to be done is open the soup base, pour in boiling water, and wait three minutes.

Yes, I am serious about cooking the ramen "bowl noodle" according to the instructions.

Waiting is the worst part of this process...

Okay, I may have gone a few seconds over, but it was a camera error involving steam and dropping my chopsticks.  

And here is the aftermath.  All gone!

1. Noodles: 3 - The noodles were a little thin.  That in itself isn't a big deal.  However, even though they were prepared as per Nong Shim's directions, they were a little underdone.  Yes, one could just wait a little longer, but one was hungry three minutes ago.
2. Soup: 2  - This version tasted just like the original.  I mentioned earlier that I loved the picante flavor, so what's the issue?  Well, I paid for the shrimp flavor!  Not the "tease me with shrimp aroma and give me the original" flavor.  Being disappointed by the soup, I searched the extras for redemption among the extras.
3. Extras: 3 - I was looking for maybe little tiny shrimps (ultra-mega redundancy?).  Nope.  If memory serves, even the Maruchan Instant Lunch with Shrimp has little bits of meat-like shrimp flavored bits in it!  I give this today's product a 3 instead of a two because it doesn't require me to open another package (or create extra waste) and has peas (or in my case, pea) along with the typical freeze-dried green onion.  The peas give it a nice change of pace.
4. Overall taste: 4 - even though I didn't get any shrimp flavor, I still liked the spicy picante base.
5. Ease of cooking: 5 - It doesn't get much easier than open and pour hot water.  If there is a true Instant ramen "bowl noodle," it would have to react with air to immediate heat up and cook the product.  If that day ever comes, I'll give that product a six in this dimension.  A guy can dream...
6. Stand aloneability: 3 - Merely average in this respect.  I don't expect any packet of instant noodles to fully satisfy my man-sized hunger, especially after a few appletinis , I mean, whiskeys!  It could use a few real shrimps, but today's product is just okay on its own.
7. Healthiness: 3 - It's ramen "bowl noodle!"  It's not exactly organic or considered diet food.  With that being said, having 90% sodium, 18% fat, and 30% saturated fat of one's daily intake, it could be worse...  I've seen products where the sodium level is beyond 100%.  Don't forget to always take in the serving size into account!  Fool me once...
8. Originality: 2 - Extra point for the effort.  If it actually tasted like shrimp, I'd give it at least a three.  But it's too much like the original picante flavor.  
9. [Guest dimension] Green-conscious?: 1 - Who still uses Styrofoam?  The package isn't edible (ooh... idea for later), not bio-degradable, not recyclable, and designed to be used once and thrown away.  If I could reuse the bowl even once (putting rice in the leftover soup doesn't count), that would be much better than its current utility.  Oh well.

Overall, not a bad product.  Could use some more truth in advertising, but then again, you get what you pay for.  If you're drunk and want to smell something shrimpy, I recommend this product!  Thumbs up!  b ^_^ d