A new hemisphere has revealed new chicken ramen, just waiting for my review. With no further delay…
Fantastic Chicken Noodles (1449 kJ, 18.6 g fat, 1090 mg sodium)
It takes bravery to name a product ‘fantastic’, and is this case it’s absolutely misplaced. The inclusion of desiccated peas and weirdly green spices gave me pause, but the strangely root-like noodles were the biggest deterrent.
I was hungry when I prepared it, and dove right in, but this product tasted of weeds and dank places. The noodles were the worst culprit, with a spongy cellulose texture and the taste of wood pulp. This was a shockingly bad ramen noodle, and I’d fly to the other side of the world to never have to eat one again. I’ll score it -8/10
Maggi Chicken Noodles (1290 kJ, 10.2 g fat, 1515 mg sodium)
I read this is Australia’s best-selling noodle product (not just chicken noodle, but overall) and I’ve reviewed the brick version here over a year ago. The cup contained fewer than the usual amount of noodles, and the veggie pack was only finely diced carrots!
As with the brick version this was… only ok. I’ve eaten forty-something chicken noodle products now and this would be squarely in the middle: enough to keep you alive but nothing to look forward to. I used to love this flavor as a kid, but now obviously my tastes have matured: 5/10.
Choice Chicken Noodle Soup (1350 kJ, 13.7 g fat, 1150 mg sodium)
This is (I believe) the Woolworths store brand and the least expensive ($0.75) of those tested here. It looks like Fantastic spices combined with Maggi noodles and I wasn’t expecting much.
To my surprise this was pretty good! The noodles were better than most, and the spice taste was slightly peppery and more chickeny than the two above. The more I ate the more I liked it, and if I were to eat more ramen here in Oz this – so far – would top my list. A solid 7/10.
So far, I’ve found nothing too special or unusual on the shelves here. But there’s more to come, so maybe the next post will reveal a surprise or two?