Maruchan Yakisoba, teriyaki flavor

Hiiiiii.

I'm here to review a ramen I never really planned to. I've already done the chicken flavor, and as you can read for yourself, I was rather disappointed. I got a varied response, ranging from agreement to quasi-indignation. (No, you're not supposed to dump out the water. Don't be silly.) There was also a warning that it "tastes like spicy maple syrup. In a bad way."

...

This is a challenge. I've eaten plenty of bad ramen. I can stand to eat some more, even those whose ingredients include "pineapple powder (pineapple, sugar)" and such toxic-sounding chemicals as disodium guanylate and silicon dioxide.

First I decided that if I was going to die, I'd at least have fun beforehand. Hereare the standard packaging photos, except they're themed.

To begin, yakisoba as a snotty recent MBA grad. (Use your imagination.)


Yakisoba ready for a night on the town.


Yakisoba preparing to go out into the elements. (Bonus: If you see someone wearing these exact same not-exactly-matching winter garments, ask about ramen and they can probably yap your ear off.)


Finally, yakisoba reading a cheap (legal) photocopy of Steve B. Howell's Handbook of CCD Astronomy.


I put in the water, put it in the microwave for the recommended four minutes blah blah.



Again it came out smelling strongly of vegetables. Here's the thing: Like I said before, I eat vegetarian now; I have since early September, I think. So now, vegetables smell good, because unlike before, vegetables are actual food. So this, to the hungry Reviewer, was a plus. (Coincidentally so is this: +)

Also, the top of the brick wasn't fully cooked, so I gave it a good stir and let it sit. It never really reached a uniform color, though.

Then I stirred in the seasoning. It smelled like... well... cheap dehydrated teriyaki. Emphasis on the "cheap."

First bite: Yes, it's kind of overly sweet. It's also very mildly spicy- not enough to notice while eating, but it makes my lips tingle. That could be the salt, though. (Or the silicon dioxide- who knows?) And unfortunately, the sweetness means that the vegetables, while not altogether horrible, don't really mesh well with the teriyaki flavor.

There's still a little bit of water in the bottom, but it's not splashing everywhere. This could be due to my being alone in my room, though-- I can be as undignified as I like and eat with my face two inches away from the conveniently included bowl.

A bite with corn in it was considerably less teriyaki-like and significantly more corn-y. I only found this strange because the corn was originally dehydrated and didn't expect it to have this much flavor.

In general, I've become terribly inconsistent. Sorry, Reader. On the plus side, I can see myself actually finishing this one, something that doesn't happen much 'round these parts. HAHA I profit and you don't.

If you'll excuse me, I'm off to nom on some pretty good instant noodles.

(Oh do you want a score? On a scale of 1-3, it's a 2. Edible but not excellent.)