I’m sure ramen is safe until the next ice age, but most of these are already at their “best by” date, and the rest are right there. Now, if I had a bunch of voracious high schoolers sitting around the house, I’d get these and leave nothing else around for them to eat. But there’s only so much instant ramen the rest of us should eat in a short time frame.
@sfwineguy they’re pretty fantastic past their best-by date. In fact, as few months ago I found a case of pre-covid ramen at work that were at least 3 years expired (employee moved on) and still tasted just fine.
@caffeineguy Thanks, that’s actually very encouraging to hear (or read, I guess). It’s not like 100% of the ramen I eat is still in its prime, but I try to rotate my personal inventory so it’s close.
Left to my own devices, it’s possible I’d eat too much ramen instead of a balanced diet, probably to the point of scurvy.
Between meh, SideDeal, meh, I think I’m already at over $250 in past-best-by noods. The quattro packs are fantastic for WFH situations where you have cooking apparati. The cups/bowls are great for work.
I love these so far, but following a lo-carb diet I try to only have half of the noodles (then adding protein and vegetables) and half of the seasoning packet (And about a teaspoon of the chili oil for a kick), but I end up sacrificing a lot of that “cheesy” flavor I bought these vs regular ramen.
I don’t want to use more than half the packet because then I’ll have leftover noodles piling up. Does anyone else feel the “QUATTRO CHEESE” is overselling it? It’s really not that cheesy at all.
Don’t be surprised if your 20-pack Quattro is actually Best By 6/15 and not 6/23, they’ve listed it as 6/23 two other times they’ve sold it and 6/15 was received both times.
The Quattro cheese one tastes just like a spicy Mac and cheese. If you use the whole packet of spicy stuff then your mouth will be burning when you’re done eating.
I’d be in for 20 more but the best by date has me hesitating plus the fact I need somewhere to put it all
I don’t even like spicy stuff but I bought the quattro 20 pack from sidedeal and have enjoyed them. I just don’t use all the sauce. In for another 20 - for $4 less than last time. No way these are going bad any time soon.
ARTIFICIAL is not in big enough letters. Besides, I like the cheap Ramen noodles to remind me of college dorm days (especially when the cafeteria served Shephard’s pile, again).
@zacks I believe the artificial is related to the chicken broth, in that no real chickens were involved. When I sent my vegetarian friend the ingredients in a bid to get my friends to share in the 2x spicy experience, it was the trace fish/shellfish that killed the deal, not chicken.
Are these vegetarian? The closest thing to meat in the ingredients is “artificial chicken flavor powder” which contains “artificial flavor”, but not chicken.
I used to work with someone that was born and raised in the Soviet Union. He was giving away some chicken flavored ramen he had bought by mistake. It hadn’t even occurred to him that such a thing might contain actual chicken, because the Soviet stuff never had any.
Mmmm, flavors just like they had in the Soviet Union shortly before its collapse.
I tried my first cup of the cheese flavored. I started with just the cheese packet but there wasn’t enough flavor. Then I added a tiny bit of the oil and it was way too hot. So I threw it out and made a second cup with miso easy. It was good. The noodles have a better texture than the cheap stuff.
If anyone wants some packets I can save them for you.
@kdemo@sammydog01 Love this stuff. I bought the white cheddar one cause I didn’t know if the orange color was natural, but I need it to be orange, psychologically, so I add turmeric or annato. It is a really good product especially if you are GF like I am – I can approximate the original Kraft Mac & Cheese box in almost no time.
Good stuff! I just rip the top off completely, cover the noodles with water and microwave for 1:15, then let sit for five minutes before adding the packets. Works just fine.
I bought some of the “spicy chicken” from the meh-rathon for my daughter, who likes spicy food, and she said it was too hot! I’ll try making it with less of the oil for her. She said it made the outside of her mouth hurt. LOL
I’m in for another box of the Big Bowls! Bought these last time they were here for my sons (I’m “gluten sensitive”) who are home from college. They have been a HUGE money-saver. Perfect lunch for them and only a buck a pop (as opposed to the Trader Joe’s frozen Indian meals, which are now $4-5 apiece. My kids will sometimes throw a couple Purdue frozen chicken tenders in the air fryer and mix those into the bowl. Sadly, I can’t stock up on too many boxes, given the relatively close “Best by” date. I don’t care about that, but my one son is sort of anal-retentive (is that still a term?) when it comes to those dates.
Disclaimer - I work here, so I’m biased. But figured I’d still give my quick review:
I’ve long thought of two signs you’re getting good ramen:
It is Korean
It comes with more than one packet
I’ve now added a third bonus criteria:
They splurged on the packaging lid to add perforated draining holes. Not that that effects the taste, of course, but it shows an overall sign of attention to detail I like.
Allow me to join the chorus of “wow these are hot!” - I’m glad I changed my mind from getting the 2x. But they’re tasty, and mixing things in as well as not necessarily using every last drop of the sauce pack helps.
My son and I love the 2X spicy so I was glad Meh eventually put some up for sale. Bought 2 boxes and now have 2 bowls left. They are 7/10 spicy for me. I like to add lime and fish sauce to mine to add another dimension of flavor.
@Jdub I like your style. When my daughter was three she had already figured out her alphabet. We set up a cipher on her easel and every night the ‘faeries’ would leave a code. She loved it and would check it out as soon as she got up. It taught puzzle solving, hand writing, fine motor skills and reading. My wife typically left the ciphers but every now and then, I got to leave one
Got the regular cheese ones last time and found them a little too weak (the cheesiness, definitely NOT the spiciness lmao), going for the quattro packs this time around.
@CzarCastic Truth. I do not taste cheese at all in the Cheese cups. I am totally fine with that though and will order max qty of them when/if they go on sale again for cheaper.
I got mini-cups & individual ramen packs before in an order.
Then Meh offered the 2× Spicy Bowls. Ordered as many as the site allowed in that order.
Now the individual ramen packs are back!
FOR 50¢/PACK?!?!?!?
OMG, they’re like Borg to me. I cannot resist. Definitely in. This pricing is a close match to when a not-too-far SoCal Costco Warehouse carried the packs for a short while. You know you got an a$$-kickin’ price when a price is as good as or cheaper than Costco.
An actual box/case from the manufacturer has 8 of the 5-pack. 4 placed on the bottom layer, & 4 placed on top of those. That means a Meh order, a 20-pack or 4×5-pack, is 1 layer of a manufacturer case.
This time, Meh is “restricting” an order to 10 units, instead of like 3–4. Would’ve went for it, cept the membership cost/S/H increases per pack cost. Settled on 3 cases, i.e. 6 Meh units, for 55¢/pack.
@bartsimpson What do you mean your membership cost/S/H increases per pack cost? If you’ve got a membership, shipping is free… and if you don’t, the more you order the less it becomes per pack! (Ya know… since our shipping fee is flat-rate per order)
@bartsimpson@troy Vagueries of English language.
I think comment meant that S/H increases the average cost per pack over the whole order (as opposed to no S/H cost), not that S/H increases per pack as you order more.
I bought them all.The flavor packs are horrible. There are two flavor packs in each. I tried both together, the oil alone and the powder alone and every variation is just horrible. HOWEVER, at less than a buck each it’s worth it for the ramen alone and add your own broth. The packaged one (not the cups) are ginormous. Way more than you get from the run of the mill ramen packs at Costco.
@thechinglish Yeah. Supposed to arrive here in DC for me by tomorrow. Unlikely, though, since it’s still being “processed.” I wonder who’s eating them now.
I just went and reviewed my meh and sidedeal orders… Between myself, and orders sent to about 4 friends/family I’ve ordered 26 cases of this stuff, LOL!
Anyone know how much tasty tasty MSG is too much in a week?
@caffeineguy@Kyeh Thanks for the reminder; I didn’t realize I’d been missing it since I rearranged my spices, and it was forgotten in the back. Of course, I use enough Tony Chachere in many cases to not notice the difference.
I was a fan of MSG under the brand name “Accent” for a long time after it first was advertised until I realized the generic was pretty much the same and a lot cheaper.
@dglazier The only dates you really need to stay on top of are “Use By” dates. “Best By” dates are NOT expiration dates, they are mainly used by retailers to track stock & by manufacturers to have a cut off for freshness guarantees, etc. They are perfectly safe to eat, and in most cases won’t even begin to show any noticeable signs of staleness for a long time to come. Certain foods, like potato chips, will start to show those signs sooner than others, but will still be safe to consume. So, if you’re fine with wasting perfectly good food, you do you, i guess.
Quattro cheese and carbonara are great. I have a pretty high tolerance for spice, I’ve been told on occasion by Chinese and Indian friends at work while sharing my homemade Asian cooking, that I could probably dial back the hot peppers a bit. Key point though is that I differentiate between spicy, and hot. Both are great! But it’s like a car being quick, or fast.
I find the spice level of the carbonara using the full packet to be a little intense, but overall extremely pleasant, flavorful, unusual for the lovely stank cheese flavor from the carbonara powder, and on the whole just a joy. THe quattro cheese is a little more intense, but the cheese flavor is more intense too, to the point where if you’re in the mood for something totally mild, you can almost get away with just the cheese packet and a pinch of salt. It has the same salty, savory, and very orange tasting cheese notes as an American commercial boxed macaroni and cheese product but with the stronger wheatier flavor of the instant ramen noodles. I will generally use about half of the paste packet in either and I find that makes for a lovely snack or meal. ANd I want to emphasize that both have ample (read: intense) heat but a good flavor to go with.
The regular old cheese, though, I find… Perplexing. The spice was nonexistent but the heat was off the chart.
THe cheese flavor is so minimal as to be nonexistent. The paste packet is just confusing to my palate. It’s offensively, deeply bitter to the exclusion of any other discernible flavors or tastes, and so overpoweringly hot that mixing the entire packet of cheese with a tiny little test splurt from the paste packet into the bowl caused me intense physical pain on my tongue. And like… THat’s all there was. No savory notes, no salt, no delicious MSG umami, no garlic or onion or vinegar or smoke or anything. Just offensive chemical-fire bitterness and the sensation of several small needles poking the top of my tongue. I think they were made to export to the jaded weirdos whose aspirational diet consists entirely of sports bar chicken wings brined in foaming bear mace, fried, and then tossed in oven cleaner. Dunnow what to do with the rest of them. THey were cheap, so I’m not really upset. If not for the fact that they were painfully intense on my well-seasoned and borderline calloused palate, I might dump them in the break room at work, but I think I’m just gonna save them to use with my own hot chili oil and some cubed spam. THe noodles, characteristic of Korean brands, have an outstanding texture.
Specs
Product: Samyang Buldak Hot Chicken Ramen (16, 20 or 24-Pack)
Condition: New
16-Pack: Samyang Hot Chicken Ramen Big Bowls
20-Pack Quattro Cheese Spicy Chicken Packs
24-Pack: Samyang Hot Chicken Ramen Cups
What’s Included?
OR
OR
Price Comparison
Carbonara Big Bowl: $79.89 for 16 at Amazon
Cheesy Big Bowl: $111.94 for 16 at Amazon
Quattro Cheese Pack: $59.84 for 20 at Amazon
Carbonara Cup: $83.96 for 24 at Amazon
Cheesy Cup: $99.76 for 24 at Amazon
Warranty
90 days
Estimated Delivery
Thursday, Jul 6 - Monday, Jul 10
All hail our new pasta overlords!!
@yakkoTDI You mean overloads?
Gonna keep buying this until it’s all gone. That Quattro Cheese Hot Chicken is fantastic!
@Dynamik Yeah, I do 2x when I want to suffer, but Quattro is a good everyday spice.
When do we get NON-spicy ramen?
@PooltoyWolf
It’s still this.
Add season packet.
Don’t add hot sauce packet.
Success.
@RogerWilco I simply don’t like wasting part of the product. Heh
@PooltoyWolf @RogerWilco how many wasabi packets from grocery store sushi do you have in your fridge?
@PooltoyWolf @RogerWilco Keep them for friends who like spicy sauce. They’re so good!
@brainmist @PooltoyWolf
I made bean dip with one packet the other day.
It was hot.
@caffeineguy @RogerWilco I don’t eat geocery store sushi, so none.
@PooltoyWolf have you ever been to a grocery store
@thechinglish Is there a reason to respond that way? >.>
@PooltoyWolf Use about half the packet for a more bearable spice and sodium level. You can also use light chicken stock instead of water.
@PooltoyWolf @RogerWilco They all say “with extremely hot chicken.” So does all of the spiciness come from the oil, or is the sauce spicy too?
@lisagd @PooltoyWolf @RogerWilco
Some of Paris Hilton’s friends? Did seem kind of artificial.
I miss PastaDrop.
Maybe, in its own way, Meh does, too.
@heartbleed meh hasn’t locked this down to only 3 items, so ramen drop a friend or two!
@caffeineguy @heartbleed This is some very tasty ramen, especially dressed up a bit, and great for a quick lunch, so honestly, that’s not a bad idea.
I’m sure ramen is safe until the next ice age, but most of these are already at their “best by” date, and the rest are right there. Now, if I had a bunch of voracious high schoolers sitting around the house, I’d get these and leave nothing else around for them to eat. But there’s only so much instant ramen the rest of us should eat in a short time frame.
@sfwineguy they’re pretty fantastic past their best-by date. In fact, as few months ago I found a case of pre-covid ramen at work that were at least 3 years expired (employee moved on) and still tasted just fine.
@caffeineguy Thanks, that’s actually very encouraging to hear (or read, I guess). It’s not like 100% of the ramen I eat is still in its prime, but I try to rotate my personal inventory so it’s close.
Left to my own devices, it’s possible I’d eat too much ramen instead of a balanced diet, probably to the point of scurvy.
Mama mia, that’s some spicy chicken!
Between meh, SideDeal, meh, I think I’m already at over $250 in past-best-by noods. The quattro packs are fantastic for WFH situations where you have cooking apparati. The cups/bowls are great for work.
In for another 20 pack of the quattro.
Take my money.
@RogerWilco I’m right behind you in line. This stuff is addictively good!
I love these so far, but following a lo-carb diet I try to only have half of the noodles (then adding protein and vegetables) and half of the seasoning packet (And about a teaspoon of the chili oil for a kick), but I end up sacrificing a lot of that “cheesy” flavor I bought these vs regular ramen.
I don’t want to use more than half the packet because then I’ll have leftover noodles piling up. Does anyone else feel the “QUATTRO CHEESE” is overselling it? It’s really not that cheesy at all.
@Vladiator yes but in the little packet of mixed powders and evil magic, it says there are 4 different kinds of cheese-flavored-substance.
@Vladiator the fuck would you buy these if you’re low carb
@Vladiator I bought some of these, and the cheese is too much for me. I know others are saying it’s perfect, but even my kids aren’t eating them.
@thechinglish Why so grumpy?
Apparently they couldn’t dump these last month. That’s a lot of carbs & sodium
Oh, and a post-it on the fridge a few days ago:
“Good Morning!
[Mini me] requested spicy cheese noodles, no spicy, for lunch.
Love, [Wife]”
He’s 5 and wants cheesy ramen for his daycare lunch. He even helped me make 'em and brought them in a thermos.
Don’t be surprised if your 20-pack Quattro is actually Best By 6/15 and not 6/23, they’ve listed it as 6/23 two other times they’ve sold it and 6/15 was received both times.
It’s still fine to eat, just pointing that out.
The Quattro cheese one tastes just like a spicy Mac and cheese. If you use the whole packet of spicy stuff then your mouth will be burning when you’re done eating.
I’d be in for 20 more but the best by date has me hesitating plus the fact I need somewhere to put it all
I don’t even like spicy stuff but I bought the quattro 20 pack from sidedeal and have enjoyed them. I just don’t use all the sauce. In for another 20 - for $4 less than last time. No way these are going bad any time soon.
/giphy bizarre-bright-feast
If Meh is now Buldak West HQ, does a tattoo of Hochi count as Meh-related art?
@djslack
Outlook good
/8ball
ARTIFICIAL is not in big enough letters. Besides, I like the cheap Ramen noodles to remind me of college dorm days (especially when the cafeteria served Shephard’s pile, again).
@hchavers “Shepherd’s Pile”? Here’s an approaching squall on Shepherd’s Pile:
The carbonara from the last deal has been pretty great but hot as, so for $10 a gamble on the expired but milder quattro is hella worth it~
The cheese bowls have a sweetness that I really don’t like. I haven’t seen anyone mention that so I thought I would. It’s hot, sweet, cheesy.
Yes, these are the new Stroopwafel, but those were the new Candy Corns.
ProTip: Use leftover spice packets on raclette.
/image raclette
Bull Dyke??
What? These things steal margaritas?
@Kidsandliz They’re spicy enough to make you reach for the 'rita and toss it back without noticing that you did.
What exactly is artificial spicy???
@zacks I believe the artificial is related to the chicken broth, in that no real chickens were involved. When I sent my vegetarian friend the ingredients in a bid to get my friends to share in the 2x spicy experience, it was the trace fish/shellfish that killed the deal, not chicken.
Today’s deal has much more potential to power something up that yesterday’s!
Samyang is the new stroopwafel? I’m not giving these out for Halloween, pal
@xarophti If you gave it out on a college campus for Halloween you’d likely to popular.
Are these vegetarian? The closest thing to meat in the ingredients is “artificial chicken flavor powder” which contains “artificial flavor”, but not chicken.
I used to work with someone that was born and raised in the Soviet Union. He was giving away some chicken flavored ramen he had bought by mistake. It hadn’t even occurred to him that such a thing might contain actual chicken, because the Soviet stuff never had any.
Mmmm, flavors just like they had in the Soviet Union shortly before its collapse.
@hamjudo They are halal, therefore likely don’t contain chicken but fish/shellfish and derivatives are allowed
I can’t stop buying these… you know my weakness, meh, and you’re taking advantage of it!
/image photogenic-barred-bat
I tried my first cup of the cheese flavored. I started with just the cheese packet but there wasn’t enough flavor. Then I added a tiny bit of the oil and it was way too hot. So I threw it out and made a second cup with miso easy. It was good. The noodles have a better texture than the cheap stuff.
If anyone wants some packets I can save them for you.
@sammydog01
Did you know about this?
@kdemo @sammydog01 Love this stuff. I bought the white cheddar one cause I didn’t know if the orange color was natural, but I need it to be orange, psychologically, so I add turmeric or annato. It is a really good product especially if you are GF like I am – I can approximate the original Kraft Mac & Cheese box in almost no time.
@brasscupcakes @kdemo Looks good, I’ll check it out.
@sammydog01 - I didn’t know about miso easy. I have the reduced sodium version in my Amazon cart now.
@kdemo The low sodium one was too mushroom-y for me. Hope you like it!
@sammydog01 - Ohhh. Thanks for the advice, will reconsider.
I wonder what artificial chicken flavor is made from? Perhaps sebaceous gland squeezin’s from an adolescent Yak. I hear they taste just like chicken.
I’m a big fan of both of these flavors and that’s a pretty decent discounts over the prices I usually pay.
/giphy callous-lucrative-rum
Some are already out if date
@rongaron That’s why it’s cheap.
/giphy lilac-judicial-hose
oops i did it again
/giphy distracting-cavernous-tuna
Good stuff! I just rip the top off completely, cover the noodles with water and microwave for 1:15, then let sit for five minutes before adding the packets. Works just fine.
I bought some of the “spicy chicken” from the meh-rathon for my daughter, who likes spicy food, and she said it was too hot! I’ll try making it with less of the oil for her. She said it made the outside of her mouth hurt. LOL
I’m in for another box of the Big Bowls! Bought these last time they were here for my sons (I’m “gluten sensitive”) who are home from college. They have been a HUGE money-saver. Perfect lunch for them and only a buck a pop (as opposed to the Trader Joe’s frozen Indian meals, which are now $4-5 apiece. My kids will sometimes throw a couple Purdue frozen chicken tenders in the air fryer and mix those into the bowl. Sadly, I can’t stock up on too many boxes, given the relatively close “Best by” date. I don’t care about that, but my one son is sort of anal-retentive (is that still a term?) when it comes to those dates.
Disclaimer - I work here, so I’m biased. But figured I’d still give my quick review:
I’ve long thought of two signs you’re getting good ramen:
I’ve now added a third bonus criteria:
Allow me to join the chorus of “wow these are hot!” - I’m glad I changed my mind from getting the 2x. But they’re tasty, and mixing things in as well as not necessarily using every last drop of the sauce pack helps.
My son and I love the 2X spicy so I was glad Meh eventually put some up for sale. Bought 2 boxes and now have 2 bowls left. They are 7/10 spicy for me. I like to add lime and fish sauce to mine to add another dimension of flavor.
Hey, Meh!
Over $100 for a chicken bowl???
@Chakolate Seven bucks each for big cheesy bowls of ramen in a quantity expected to make you so sick of them that you don’t finish them all.
All your pack/bowl/cup are belong to us
@Jdub I like your style.
When my daughter was three she had already figured out her alphabet. We set up a cipher on her easel and every night the ‘faeries’ would leave a code. She loved it and would check it out as soon as she got up. It taught puzzle solving, hand writing, fine motor skills and reading. My wife typically left the ciphers but every now and then, I got to leave one 
Got the regular cheese ones last time and found them a little too weak (the cheesiness, definitely NOT the spiciness lmao), going for the quattro packs this time around.
/giphy eaten-renewed-vacation
@CzarCastic Truth. I do not taste cheese at all in the Cheese cups. I am totally fine with that though and will order max qty of them when/if they go on sale again for cheaper.
Trying it.
I got mini-cups & individual ramen packs before in an order.
Then Meh offered the 2× Spicy Bowls. Ordered as many as the site allowed in that order.
Now the individual ramen packs are back!
I cannot resist. Definitely in. This pricing is a close match to when a not-too-far SoCal Costco Warehouse carried the packs for a short while. You know you got an a$$-kickin’ price when a price is as good as or cheaper than Costco. 
FOR 50¢/PACK?!?!?!?
OMG, they’re like Borg to me.
An actual box/case from the manufacturer has 8 of the 5-pack. 4 placed on the bottom layer, & 4 placed on top of those. That means a Meh order, a 20-pack or 4×5-pack, is 1 layer of a manufacturer case.
This time, Meh is “restricting” an order to 10 units, instead of like 3–4. Would’ve went for it, cept the membership cost/S/H increases per pack cost. Settled on 3 cases, i.e. 6 Meh units, for 55¢/pack.
Typical reactions upon ingestion:
Oh yeah.
@bartsimpson What do you mean your membership cost/S/H increases per pack cost? If you’ve got a membership, shipping is free… and if you don’t, the more you order the less it becomes per pack! (Ya know… since our shipping fee is flat-rate per order)
@bartsimpson @troy Vagueries of English language.
I think comment meant that S/H increases the average cost per pack over the whole order (as opposed to no S/H cost), not that S/H increases per pack as you order more.
yeah i had this brand, another “spicy” flavor and they were SPICY. caveat emptor, bon appetit, and happy independence day!
I bought them all.The flavor packs are horrible. There are two flavor packs in each. I tried both together, the oil alone and the powder alone and every variation is just horrible. HOWEVER, at less than a buck each it’s worth it for the ramen alone and add your own broth. The packaged one (not the cups) are ginormous. Way more than you get from the run of the mill ramen packs at Costco.
Fucking wild that my order is still processing
@thechinglish Yeah. Supposed to arrive here in DC for me by tomorrow. Unlikely, though, since it’s still being “processed.” I wonder who’s eating them now.
C’mon Meh, I need my fix!
I just went and reviewed my meh and sidedeal orders… Between myself, and orders sent to about 4 friends/family I’ve ordered 26 cases of this stuff, LOL!
Anyone know how much tasty tasty MSG is too much in a week?
@caffeineguy
https://health.usnews.com/health-news/blogs/eat-run/articles/2018-10-10/scientists-have-known-msg-is-safe-for-decades-why-dont-most-americans
@Kyeh Thanks! So in other words… keep eating until its all gone!
@caffeineguy I guess!
@caffeineguy @Kyeh Thanks for the reminder; I didn’t realize I’d been missing it since I rearranged my spices, and it was forgotten in the back. Of course, I use enough Tony Chachere in many cases to not notice the difference.
I was a fan of MSG under the brand name “Accent” for a long time after it first was advertised until I realized the generic was pretty much the same and a lot cheaper.
Bought these when first up and they are HOT
! I regularly eat jalapenos, habaneros, and wasabi, and this stuff is HOTTER!
What’s the hold up?
@m00nshad0w They’re too busy to send us what we bought because they’re celebrating their birthday by hawking IRKs for what? Two hundred bucks now?
Got today. All of them are expired stock, "best by 5/15/23"
@dglazier the expiration’s in the details above. I’m not sure what you expected
@capguncowboy @dglazier “Best by” doesn’t mean you can’t still eat it.
Food Expiration Dates Are a Hoax and You’re Dumb to Believe Them
https://www.phillymag.com/news/2019/01/12/food-expiration-dates-hoax/
I think it’s deceptive to hide that under specs instead of putting it on the main page. definitely won’t buy anything edible from this site again
@dglazier the dates were next to each option upon checkout
@dglazier The only dates you really need to stay on top of are “Use By” dates. “Best By” dates are NOT expiration dates, they are mainly used by retailers to track stock & by manufacturers to have a cut off for freshness guarantees, etc. They are perfectly safe to eat, and in most cases won’t even begin to show any noticeable signs of staleness for a long time to come. Certain foods, like potato chips, will start to show those signs sooner than others, but will still be safe to consume. So, if you’re fine with wasting perfectly good food, you do you, i guess.
Quattro cheese and carbonara are great. I have a pretty high tolerance for spice, I’ve been told on occasion by Chinese and Indian friends at work while sharing my homemade Asian cooking, that I could probably dial back the hot peppers a bit. Key point though is that I differentiate between spicy, and hot. Both are great! But it’s like a car being quick, or fast.
I find the spice level of the carbonara using the full packet to be a little intense, but overall extremely pleasant, flavorful, unusual for the lovely stank cheese flavor from the carbonara powder, and on the whole just a joy. THe quattro cheese is a little more intense, but the cheese flavor is more intense too, to the point where if you’re in the mood for something totally mild, you can almost get away with just the cheese packet and a pinch of salt. It has the same salty, savory, and very orange tasting cheese notes as an American commercial boxed macaroni and cheese product but with the stronger wheatier flavor of the instant ramen noodles. I will generally use about half of the paste packet in either and I find that makes for a lovely snack or meal. ANd I want to emphasize that both have ample (read: intense) heat but a good flavor to go with.
The regular old cheese, though, I find… Perplexing. The spice was nonexistent but the heat was off the chart.
THe cheese flavor is so minimal as to be nonexistent. The paste packet is just confusing to my palate. It’s offensively, deeply bitter to the exclusion of any other discernible flavors or tastes, and so overpoweringly hot that mixing the entire packet of cheese with a tiny little test splurt from the paste packet into the bowl caused me intense physical pain on my tongue. And like… THat’s all there was. No savory notes, no salt, no delicious MSG umami, no garlic or onion or vinegar or smoke or anything. Just offensive chemical-fire bitterness and the sensation of several small needles poking the top of my tongue. I think they were made to export to the jaded weirdos whose aspirational diet consists entirely of sports bar chicken wings brined in foaming bear mace, fried, and then tossed in oven cleaner. Dunnow what to do with the rest of them. THey were cheap, so I’m not really upset. If not for the fact that they were painfully intense on my well-seasoned and borderline calloused palate, I might dump them in the break room at work, but I think I’m just gonna save them to use with my own hot chili oil and some cubed spam. THe noodles, characteristic of Korean brands, have an outstanding texture.