Nakama Noodles Unboxing Review (Sponsored)

I love instant noodles. They’ve been a comfort food for me ever since I was a child, so when I got the opportunity to review a box of instant ramen shipped to me by Nakama Noodles, it was a no-brainer. Now, after two weeks of eating noodles, I’m ready to declare that while not a perfect service, Nakama Noodles delivers exactly what they say they’re going to and so much more.

Packaging:

The first thing that struck me when my box of ramen arrived from Japan was the packaging. Shipped in a large and sturdy box, all the ramen arrived safely. Not a single package was damaged in shipping, which meant all my noodles were in pristine condition when I opened the box and started checking out the goods.

One thing I expected to find inside the box was a pamphlet describing exactly what I was eating. Surprisingly, what I found instead was a sheet of paper with a QR code. While it was vaguely annoying to pull out my phone and scroll through it to find which ramen I was about to eat, overall, I can’t complain. I’m all for less waste in our landfills and because the pamphlet was downloadable, Nakama Noodles could pack it full of different tidbits about the noodles and Japanese culture. Did you know that the “test of courage” that we see kids in anime competing in all the time is called kimodameshi (literally translated as “testing one’s liver”) in Japan? Because I sure didn’t!

The Good

Let’s start with the pleasant aspects of this subscription box service. For around $40 (depending on how long of a subscription you sign up for), you’ll receive anywhere from eight to ten types of noodles monthly. For October, I received eight packages of instant noodles, ranging from the strongly bonito-flavored Nissan Donbei Oni Kaki-age Udon to the more traditional Maruchan Zubaaan Hakata Tonkotsu. There were also more exotic flavors, such as a spicy Tomato Carbonara and a salt-flavored package.

For the most part, these noodles were delicious! The Kaki-age Udon had an incredibly rich flavor. Some others were a bit more plain (such as the Hakata Tonkotsu or the Aizu Kitakata Shoyu) and required a bit more customization in order to make them as good as they could be. In particular, I found that having a bit of meat or some green onions to chop up added a lot to the more ordinary packages. Overall, I found that almost all the ramen was tasty and nourishing whenever I needed a late-night snack or a mid-afternoon pick-me-up.

The Bad

The service is not perfect, however. One option I wish had been offered to me before I received the box was to choose spicy or non-spicy noodles. My mouth is sensitive to spice, so it was disappointing to find at least two types of instant noodles in my box which were marked spicy. If I were living alone, I would’ve been stuck with these noodles (because I sure wasn’t going to eat them). With one box costing $43, that would’ve been equal to losing 25% of my value on noodles I couldn’t eat.

While it’s understandable that these subscription boxes are ‌“one size fits all”, not being able to eat all the food in the box would be very disappointing to someone in that situation.

Overall – Recommended

Nakama Noodles promises you’ll receive a themed box of instant noodles from Japan every month. Their shipping time was reasonably quick (I received my noodles within a week of the package being shipped) and the packaging was sturdy and reliable. While I was still disappointed because I couldn’t eat every package of noodles within the box, I was very pleased with what I could eat.

With just a couple of little tweaks to the service, I could see this being an amazing treat for the ramen lover in your life (or yourself). Even still, it’s a fantastic subscription box. It delivers on its promise to deliver tasty noodles from Japan. With the holiday season coming up, this could be an incredibly affordable and non-perishable gift to give someone who wants a taste of Japan without having to get on a plane and fly there.

Special thank you to Nakama Noodles for sponsoring this unboxing! Receiving a compensation and free box has in no way altered the opinions expressed in this article.