7/11 Premium Tomita Cup Noodles - Seafood and Pork Bone Flavour

7/11 Premium Tomita Cup Noodles - Seafood and Pork Bone Flavour

Thursday, October 29, 2020

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A Review: 7/11 Premium Tomita Cup Noodles - Seafood and Pork Bone Flavour. All photos taken by Natalie & Hai.

Brand: 7/11 Premium

Flavour: Seafood and Pork Bone Flavour (includes dried pork)

Origin: Japan 

Size: 65g / 400ml

Cooking Time: 5 minutes and cooked with boiling water 

First Thoughts: You know what, 711 Premium is superior cup noodles. This is like our third one and it has not disappointed~ Even the cup quality is good. Cup is thick and retains heat!

On the cup includes this information: "Tomita" is a popular procession shop with extra-thick noodles and ultra-rich soup that make the best use of the ingredients.

Seasonings: Dried pork pieces are included with cute naruto, bamboo shoots and spring onion. Includes an orange satchel with 'special' sauce which resembles miso mixed with oil

Noodles: Noodles were top notch - thick wheat noodles, silky and smooth. I think we should just be ambassadors for 711 cup noodles at this rate.

Flavour: Hai said: The broth was thick and filling with a strong flavour that would make you think it was slow cooked for 20 hours. I say: "It's full bodied with a classic unami flavour"

Conclusion:   I will never get over how good the noodles texture is from the 711 premium snack range. When I eat cup noodles here in Australia - and so far we've had alot of Nongshim/Ottogi/Ichiban, the noodles aren't as soft and chewy (but more on that later). 

And - we are aware we have been posting alot about Japanese noodles lately. Rest assured, we have other noodles that we absolutely cherish. I can't wait to blog about Nongshim's range or Indomie Migoreng for example (and also packet noodles and not all cup noodles!)

Natalie's Rating: 4.5/5
Hai's Rating: 4/5

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Family Mart Collection Cup Noodles - Shrimp Tempura Soba

Family Mart Collection Cup Noodles - Shrimp Tempura Soba

Tuesday, September 15, 2020

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A Review: Family Mart Collection - Shrimp Tempura Soba. All photos taken by Natalie & Hai.

Brand: Family Mart Collection

Flavour: Shrimp Tempura / Soba Noodles / may contain sesame seeds and fish meat paste

Origin: Japan 

Size: 75g / 300ml

Cooking Time: 3 minutes and cooked with boiling water 

A Back Story:  Family Mart (the other famous Japanese convenient store), home to delicious snacks and drinks also have their own collection of instant noodles. We already ate through their yummy oden, onigiri and fried chicken. Impressed, we decided to give Family Mart a go.

Opening the pack: On top is a pretty Tempura prawn flavoured cake with pink sakura decorations. This is made from flour, green onions and fish meat paste.

Noodles: It has a three minute cooking time. The noodles are fried buckwheat soba - thin and flat. When cooked, it had the classic grainy texture and was on the firm side. But it was too grainy, with no balance in the texture. I was not a fan as these soba noodles because they definitely not restaurant quality. I know these aren't meant to reach that quality but it definitely tasted like what we paid for. 

Flavour: The Tempura cake instantly soaked up the water and became soggy straight away and breaks up into the broth. It eventually becomes hard to grab with chopsticks, starts to soak up the broth and become gluggy. Eat fast! It became so gluggy, most of the tempura stayed at the bottom of the cup when finished.

The broth was reddish brown with a shrimp flavour but more on the salty side.

Conclusion: Well, this wasn't one of our favourites. I find these soba noodles, as it was not cooked fresh was a disappointment because the texture is so firm and grainy. Definitely tasted like underwhelming convenient store food. Hai said "it isn't inedible". The texture of the tempura really distracts from eating the noodles, but we will give points for presentation.

Natalie's Rating: 3/5
Hai's Rating: 3/5

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7/11 Premium Udon Cup Noodles - Kansai-Style Sweet Beef

7/11 Premium Udon Cup Noodles - Kansai-Style Sweet Beef

Sunday, August 23, 2020

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 A Review: 7/11 Premium Kansai-Style Meat Udon with Sweet Beef. All photos taken by Natalie & Hai.

Brand: 7/11 Premium

Flavour: Kansai-Style Meat Udon (includes dried beef)

Origin: Japan 

Size: 65g / 280ml

Cooking Time: 4 minutes and cooked with boiling water 

First Thoughts: I remember picking up these cup noodles on the last day we were in Japan! Hai and I bought a suitcase and furiously went out to buy Japanese instant noodles. We of course went into 7/11, our favourite place for snacks. We had tried the famous Michelin-starred cup noodles from 7/11 (Seven Eleven Premium Nakiryu Tantanmen Noodles) a few days before but thought no way can 7/11 achieve the same level of deliciousness with their other noodles. We were dead wrong.

Seasonings: On top sits seasoned dried beef and chopped up spring onions. By having first glances at the beef, you can tell it is tender and is infused with the flavours well.

Noodles: We poured boiling water and let it sit for 4 minutes. The noodles were an udon texture -chewier, thicker and softer and on the flat side. Overall, it was so smooth and  silky! The noodles did not go mushy, which we absolutely dislike. Also - No Grittiness at all!

Flavour: The beef was seasoned so nicely and when cooked, was juicy and sweet! The broth had a classic mirin, soy and dashi flavour and was more on the sweeter style than we expected. The broth was light brown and delicate with a hint of oil at the top which we thought tasted like sesame oil.

Conclusion: This is one of the best cup noodles we have ever tasted!! The broth is truly delicious and the noodle texture was so silky and tasted like a restaurant style bowl of noodles. The beef pieces were seasoned so well and we think are better quality than the meat found in Nissan Cup Noodles (so far). We are now more excited to try more 7/11 cup noodles. Highly recommended and would eat again!

Natalie's Rating: 4.5/5
Hai's Rating: 4.5/5

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Nissin BIG Cup Noodle - Curry

Nissin BIG Cup Noodle - Curry

Monday, August 10, 2020

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A Review: Nissin BIG Cup Noodle - Curry. All photos taken by Natalie & Hai.

Brand: Nissin 

Flavour: Japanese Curry (non-spicy); includes dried pork 

Origin: Japan 

Size: 120g / 390ml (BIG serving) 

Cooking Time: 3 minutes and cooked with boiling water 

First Thoughts: In Japan, we stumbled into a 7/11 convenient store and found this BIG version of the cup noodle. We guess it's about 1.5x bigger than a standard cup noodle. The  first ever Cup Noodles were invented in 1971 by Nissin, so this is good introduction to Cup Noodle if its your first time.

Nat's favourite food is Japanese Curry with rice so this is one of the first noodle cups we picked up.

Seasonings: As soon as you unwrap the plastic, the smell of curry is very fragrant. The powder sits on top and included generous portions of dehydrated potato; dried pork and carrots. The potato softens up and eventually soaks up the flavour. Pork pieces texture was soft but were slightly chalky. 

Noodles: We cooked the noodles for the recommended 3 minutes. I'm personally sceptical with noodles turning out well because I prefer to cook my noodles over the stove. But with the 3 minutes, they were perfect! The shape is thick and flat. As you eat them, the noodles turn yellow as it soaks up the soup. It has a nice texture and isn't soggy so its satisfying to eat.

Flavour: Soup had a subtle sweet flavour of Japanese curry and was not over-powering. We would prefer it to be seasoned more. The soup thickens up as you eat because the dried potato starts to break down. The soup leaves yellow stains on your lips, so check the mirror after you finish =]

Conclusion: We thought: "If we had instant noodles like this all the time, we would be so spoiled" (Japan cup noodles are very well made). The iconic cup design catches your attention when you're in the store and the presentation of the toppings reminded us of visiting the Nissin Noodle Museum. When you create your own cup, the attendant places the toppings very neatly to make it very presentable.

Overall, this cup noodle was delicious and has a subtle curry flavoured soup that would suit alot of people's taste. The noodles are a great texture and very well made, and was fun to scoop up the toppings with every bite. The only small downside is the eventual chalkiness of the potatoes and dried pork starts to become distracting. Eat it quickly before the toppings become soggy~!

Natalie's Rating: 3.5/5
Hai's Rating: 4/5

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