Umai Crate by Japan Crate focuses on bringing you Japanese-exclusive instant noodles. Each month, you'll receive 7-8 instant noodles to try, along with a bonus item!
My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).
The Subscription Box: Umai Crate
The Cost: $25 a month + free shipping
The Products: 7-8 Japanese-exclusive instant noodle dish + a bonus collectible
Ships To: Worldwide
Check out all of the Umai Crate Reviews to get more information on this subscription. Check out all of our Food Subscription Boxes in the Subscription Box List. Rate, review, and follow this subscription on the Umai Crate profile page.
The booklet that is included in this box is super helpful and in-depth. You will find all of the products listed inside, along with tips on how to cook them and the flavors you will find (since the packaging is in Japanese).
Mini Maru Soumen
According to the booklet included in the box, this is a noodle “that is generally enjoyed in the summer” and “has faint hints of yuzu” in the broth. Admittedly, I didn’t know what yuzu was, so I looked it up. It is a citrus fruit used in Japanese cuisine. I definitely could taste some citrus notes, as well as onion and some kind of cured meat flavor, almost like bacon. I didn’t like the smell of this, but it tasted good!
Fujisha Miso Ramen
This ramen was your basic package, filled with a square of dried ramen noodles and a packet of flavoring. I made this over the stovetop, which is how I prefer to make ramen. It cooked up great and tasted even better! The flavor was pretty mild, but did have a slight bit of spice to it right at the back of your throat. The powder flavor mix also had a few little dried scallion pieces and sesame seeds. I added my own chopped scallions to mine, as well, because I love them!
Kokubu - Nagasaki Prefecture’s Soy Sauce Flavored Dashi Ramen
One of the first things you notice on the packaging of this ramen is a picture of some anchovies in the corner. According to the booklet, in Nagasaki, they “tend to use rich oily fish in the broth.” I like some seafood, but pretty mild flavors, and I am very sensitive to the smell. This did not smell super appealing to me because of that, and the taste wasn’t much better for me. It definitely had a salty bite to it, but the flavoring was off for me.
Sakurai Food - Soy Ramen for Vegetarian
This ramen from Sakurai Food is “completely free of animal and seafood ingredients”. I didn’t add anything to this because I wanted my opinion to be based solely on the pure taste of what I received. It is suggested in the pamphlet that you add bean sprouts, scallions, and any other veggies you might like. I will definitely try that next time! The flavor of this was pretty mild, but very good and not too salty, which is what you typically find with the 10-cent ramen found in your local grocery store.
Acecook - Mini Tempura Shrimp Soba - Reduced Salt
As soon as I opened the package, I saw there were some dried shrimp tempura tails, scallions, and sliced radishes along with the noodles. The smell of seafood/shrimp immediately smacks you in the face, too. If you like that, then this is definitely the noodle dish for you. If not, then you might want to try something else. This was way too intensely fishy-tasting for me, so much so that I didn’t even finish it. Again, the smell really hit me hard and swayed me on the taste, too.
Itsuki Kumamon Udon
The flavor of this dish wasn’t too bad. It was a pretty mild soy sauce flavor, which is something I do like. The thing that I didn’t like about this ramen was the noodles. These noodles were much too thick for my liking. Again, the broth was nice, but the noodles were too much for me. The other packet included was filled with tempura pearls, which were basically little fried tempura breading balls. I liked it, but it wasn’t my fave.
Bonus Item: Hachi Set
This adorable little hachi set is awesome! This set includes a plastic spoon for slurping broth and a set of chopsticks, too. I personally love eating ramen with chopsticks, so if I ever decide to bring some to work for lunch, this would be the perfect set to bring along. Love!
Verdict: Despite losing one of my ramen dishes to U.S. customs, I still really enjoyed my first Umai Crate. I have always been a fan of ramen (yes even the cheap stuff from the local grocery store for a whopping $0.10). I ended up with 6 flavors of ramen for the cost of the box, plus a bonus gift, meaning each item would be around $3-$4 in value. I have recently begun creating my own ramen dishes at home using the noodles from those inexpensive packets, which has made me an even bigger fan of this noodle dish. I have discovered through this box that I do not like seafood ramen, but I do like most others! I think in the future I will tag in a friend who likes seafood to try these ones.
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