Facebook PixelUmai Crate Subscription Box Review + Coupon - July 2017 | MSA
My Subscription Addiction
My Subscription Addiction
Our reviewers research, test, and recommend the best subscriptions and products independently; click to learn more about our editorial guidelines. We may receive commissions on purchases made through links on our site.

Umai Crate Subscription Box Review + Coupon – July 2017

Taryn Lowman
ByTaryn LowmanJul 26, 2017 | 4 comments

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Umai Crate
4.8 overall rating
4 Ratings | 0 Reviews

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 collectible!

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

My Subscription Addiction paid for this box. (Check out the review process post to learn more about how we review boxes).

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

The Subscription Box: Umai Crate

The Cost: $25 a month + free shipping

ACTIVE DEAL: Save $3 off your first box
CODE: MSADD3

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.

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

The booklet that comes with this box is an extremely helpful resource to use while you navigate through each noodle package! It starts with a hashtag you can use to share and see how other subscribers prepared their noodles this month, and then a really cool description of two anime characters! It comes with a fun ‘how to’ section that you can use when preparing your noodles from this month’s box, the steps are depicted by our featured character Ike. Each product description provides a brief description, what you could try it with as an add on, and then directions to get cooking!

Let’s get tasting!

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Yamadai - T’s Restaurant Tantanmen

The booklet notes that this ramen was a collaboration with T’s Restaurant, a popular vegan eatery in Tokyo. While preparing this dish you can really smell the peanut and that continues through tasting into a rich peanut mixed with sesame flavor. The broth has a little bite to it, which I loved, and then you get some sweet from the sesame. The noodles are long and skinny and there are little pieces of veggies throughout that add some great color. This was hands down one of my favorites from this month because it was so hearty and tasted like an authentic noodle dish!

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Yamamoto - Small Shrimp Teniri Soba

When you are preparing this ramen, you are instantly hit with a strong fish smell but it went away quickly when mixing everything together. One of the packets was tiny shrimp that looked maybe breaded or dried that, to be honest, didn’t look very appetizing to me. They had a weird texture once they absorbed the broth but had a great shrimp flavor to it. The noodles had a wheat like texture to them and were so yummy mixed with the seafood broth. Overall, this dish was my least favorite probably because of the small shrimp but I still loved the flavors in the broth and ate all of it!

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Yamamoto - Umakaro Chinese Noodles - Miso

This noodle dish is vegetarian-friendly and oh so yummy! The broth is very rich, perfect for a cold evening dinner, and has a strong miso flavor. The booklet notes that the noodles draw on cabbage, corn, leeks, and garlic. If you love garlic like I do, then you will love this dish because you really get those leeks and garlic flavors that the noodles bring out into the broth. For a little crunch, there are small pieces of cabbage. I could have eaten two more helpings of this dish!

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Yamadai - Tamarisato Amume Shomosomen

I was a little surprised by the flavors in this dish because it was very sweet. Some of the ingredients include plum, two kinds of kelp (Yaizu and Rishiri), and then a small faux plum flower. The flower was beautiful and created an added brightness to the plum colored broth, but it was so sweet and just too much for me. The broth had a strong floral flavor and smelled almost like a sweet tea. The noodles added another layer of beauty to the look of this dish as they were very light, long, and skinny. I could see this dish being great as a snack and paired with a hot cup of tea, but overall this one was just too sweet for me to fully enjoy. My husband, however, gobbled this one up!

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Itomen - Premium Yakisoba

This is fried noodle goodness! The noodles have a fruit scent and soy glaze that tasted to me like wonton soup broth. There wasn’t anything fancy about this ramen, and as the booklet describes, it is the type of food you can get at a summer festival. When you factor in the fried noodles and the rich soy flavors in the broth, I loved everything about this ramen!

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Itomen - Champon Noodles

This ramen had another packet of that dried shrimp that was a little off for me so I was nervous to taste from the start. I was wrong though, this ramen was my number one from this month! The noodles were light and fluffy, like butter! The broth had a strong shrimp flavor but mixed with the almost creaminess of the noodles it wasn’t overpowering. It also came with dried shitake that I wasn’t tasting in the broth, but it did have a hint of saltiness that might have been from the mushrooms. We fought over who got to eat this ramen in our house!

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Fujiwara - Chikara Crab Ramen

The crab flavor in this ramen was so strong, it was like biting into a crab cake and I am not complaining! The broth had a salty flavor to it that mixed nicely with the crab. The noodles were thin but there were a ton of them in the bowl. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this dish!

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Umai Crate by Japan Crate July 2017 Ramen Noodle Food Subscription Box

Bonus Item - Ms. Hen Spoon Clip

The bonus item for July is a spoon clip for your bowl called Ms. Hen! I am always fumbling between spoon and chopsticks when I eat ramen so I was really excited to see this bonus item. It is matte rubber so it stays securely on your bowl while holding the weight of your spoon for when you are ready to enjoy your broth.

Verdict: We eat a lot of ramen in my house, fresh bowls that I make on my own or the instant packs from the store. My expectations for the Umai Crate were very high and they were definitely met! I received 7 ramen packets that lasted through a few dinners and lunches! With around $3.50 each in value, the monthly cost is absolutely worth it for how much food you get. I loved the hashtag and cooking instructions in the booklet, and the bonus item really rounded out the whole experience. There were more seafood options than I would have liked so I would love to see a bit more variety next month, but overall I really enjoy trying each of the 7 ramen dishes!

What was your favorite ramen dish this month from Umai Crate?

Starting at $49.95
Active Deal
Save $3 off your first box
Use Coupon Code MSADD3
Subscribe Now
Umai Crate is a monthly Japanese noodle subscription box! Each month’s crate includes 8-10 noodles with a culinary bonus item, exclusive recipe card, and guide with translations & instructions for $30/month.

The Japan Crate family of subscription boxes includes Japan Crate (candies... read more.
Taryn Lowman
Taryn Lowman
Taryn's passion for subscription boxes started when she was gifted a monthly Birchbox. She is excited to discover more Mom and baby boxes to share with her family!

Join the Conversation

Please do not enter your email address in the Name field or in the comment content. Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *. Remember to post with kindness and respect. Comments with offensive language, cruelness to others, etc will not be approved. See our full comment policy here.

4 comments

Michelle

Hi Taryn, the way to have the yakisoba is to pour away the water after the noodles are soaked for 3 min and then add the powder packlet and stir. The name yakisoba is stir fried noodles and it has rich and sweet soy sauce taste. Yakisoba instant noodles is very good with a touch of mayo. If you get more yakisoba next time please don’t forget to try that

Reply ButtonReply

Taryn Lowman

Thank you so much for the great advice! I can’t wait to try it that way next time!

Reply ButtonReply

Zo

I miss this sub so much but I wasn’t eating that much ramen every month. I went to a larger Wegmans recently and I was pleasantly surprised to see the amount of space dedicated to just ramen. There were more varieties than the Asian grocery stores near me. And many of the varieties were from past umai crates. Nice discovery.

Reply ButtonReply

Taryn Lowman

What a great discovery!

Reply ButtonReply