I’ve written about eating instant noodle bowls before, at that time it was the Kung-Fu Vegetarian Noodle bowl. This time it’s Annie Chun’s Vegan Noodle Bowl which I received a couple of samples to review. The name isn’t quite as exciting as Kung-Fu but the taste is much better.
I tried the Korean Sweet Chili flavor first. The sauce that comes with it is pretty good. There’s quite a bit in the enclosed pouch and it’s not searingly spicy but it has good flavor. I used almost all of it. But the included dehydrated veggies is negligible; they’re such small pieces and there’s just so little of it. Basically, it’s a bowl of noodles.
So when I tried the Garlic Scallion flavored one, I threw in a few leftovers to make it little more interesting (as suggested on the back of the package). I topped the noodle bowl with seitan and spinach for a little protein and some greens. But even though I used the entire sauce pouch, there wasn’t really a strong garlic or scallion taste. It’s more subtle. Smelled really good though.
The directions said to drain the water from the bowl after 2 minutes but I left it in and made it into a soup instead. Apparently, I’m incapable of following simple instructions. Happily, they were just fine as a soup.
Overall, the noodle bowls are good, quick and convenient. Better if you can add or top it with other ingredients or leftovers. And useful if you’re stuck at work, on a trip or in an emergency disaster kit.
I just got the miso one at my co-op because I had a coupon for a free one–it definitely doesn’t look too interesting, but I’m adding it to the “in case of emergency” pile on my shelf in the grad lounge!
wow those look amazing! i gotta try that! :)
The taste is good but I always worry about the sodium. Are these high in salt?
Jes – Good idea, you never know when it might come in handy.
Julie @ Peanut Butter Fingers – Thanks!
Andrea – Unfortunately, they are high in sodium, one is 980mg and the other is 830mg for one serving. There’s 2 servings in each bowl. It’s probably mostly in the sauce, which you can control how much you pour into the bowl.
I too got these bowls… Really, I found them uninspired at best. I would rather just take the time to cook up real noodles and add real veggies, because as you said, those included hardly count
I’ve tried several different flavors of these and there aren’t really any that are good tasting. They are fine if there’s nothing else to eat, but for the price (around $2.50 – $3.00/ea) they aren’t worth it. I would compare it to eating out of the dumpster behind an asian restaurant because the taste of everything, especially the noodles, is like eating almost rotten asian food.