Noodle War: Maruchan Roast Chicken vs. Nissan Chicken Flavor
These cheap noodles cast a tall shadow when placed in the right perspective.
Today we are going to be reviewing two cups of Noodles by pitting them against each other.
The Nissin Chicken Cup Noodles and the Maruchan Roasted Chicken Cup Noodles.
Obviously this is a highly anticipated matchup and a lot is at stake. I will judge them on 5 criteria and then give an overall score and then I will declare a winner. Pretty straightforward. So, let’s jump in…..
I think that will function as a heading.
So we’re having these (The Nissin Original Cup Noodles-Chicken flavor with natural and artificial flavors) first. Am I stoked about it? Well, they are expired. So that really affect the entire experiment. But, if they’re really good in spite of possibly being old, that would be a boost.
So let’s see:
I open it and there’s some stuff in here. Corn, maybe a some carrots.
I poured the water in and it perked up a lot obviously. The carrots looked like carrots more and some parsley floated up. It seems cool.
Cooking away currently…
It’s ready.
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Holy shit that’s a lot of salt.
FLAVOR: C
This is good. It’s not very good. It relies a lot on salt. It’s tastes kind of dirty by default, which was something I had forgotten about. The chicken doesn’t really come through, but the flavoring does okay for the noodles and they’re not bad. There’s a scant hint of chicken in this mostly salty, flavored water. But somehow I don’t hate it. I could see why someone might eat this or like this. The noodles get better as they get sme time to absorb the soup’s flavor.
TEXTURE: C-
This soup is like super salty water that also looks kind of soupy. The noodles are lifeless and the dried corn feels and looks dead. DEDED. It’s not an ideal situation.
PRESENTATION: B
It’s a cup of ramen so it looks a little sketchy always. But there’s also a certain novelty to it that I enjoy. I didn’t eat much ramen til I got to college and even then I didn’t need to I was just too lazy to walk to the cafeteria.
VIBE: D
I’m quirky so this was fun, but there’s really nothing endearing about this. This thing is loaded with sodium. Like, my heart is nervous. And I still have to try and eat another cup after this.
BRUTAL HONESTY: C
Being brutal honest there’s very fews pros to eating these. Like, it would be healthier to eat McDonalds to eat the rest of your life, it would taste better too and it would not feel as soul crushing as eating these noodles. However, they are a food item that many enjoy or rely on. I enjoyed them, I just thought it was a little bit too gritty of an experience to feel comfortable saying it’s good food.
OVERALL SCORE: C+
It could be much worse. I’m glad I did it. But, the next time i voluntarily eat ramen, I will avoid these.
This piece is sort of ruined by how much better this is. The thing is, the Nissin one was expired but I actually think that no effect. The Maruchan one is just better.
FLAVOR: B+
There’s some salt in here, but this tastes like a real soup. The roast chicken cuts through beautifully while the other flavorings still are present. The noodles are much tastier and are kind of creamy. It’s actually great. It feels a lot like chicken noodles soup but done very easy and cheap. But yes, very flavorful, good flavors. Passes the test.
TEXTURE: A
The noodles are excellent and absorb the soup well. They’re thicker than the Nissin ones. The soup has a bit of texture to it, especially compared to Nissan’s thin salty soup. There’s actual chicken in this (how?) that goes great with the noodles.
PRESENTATION: B
I mean, I like the design of the Maruchan logo and overall cup more. The noodle block itself looks better. The dried vegetables seem more full of life. The larger noodles make the overall meal look fuller.
VIBE: C
It’s very much like the vibe of eating the Nissin noodles, but at least there’s some solace in that this noodle cup is actually pretty good.
BRUTAL HONESTY: B
This is cup ramen noodles man. I don’t expect a Michelin star experience. This is about as good as you’ll probably get for a price point you would want to normally buy cup ramen at.
OVERALL: B+
These are overall what you would expect from a ramen cup, but that goes for good ways too. The noodles themselves are nice, the soup is flavorful and the vegetable and chicken mix ins are tasty and well balanced. I would eat this again actually, or be willing to try a different flavor.
WINNER:
I think it’s obvious the winner of this matchup was the Maruchan Roasted Chicken Ramen Cup. It’s just better in basically every way, from the noodles to the soup, to the cup itself. Even the quirky picture of the chicken on the cup were some points towards this Maruchan cup. Overall, it’s just much, much better. I wouldn’t bother with the Nissin if given the choice between those and the Maruchan. It’s just not that deep.
