Nissin Cup Noodles Souper Meal w/Shrimp, Tomato & Garlic (4.3 oz.)

Item Purchased: Nissin Cup Noodles Souper Meal w/Shrimp, Tomato & Garlic (4.3 oz.)
Location Purchased: 7-Eleven / 1350 S. Halsted / Chicago, IL
Price: $1.59 + tax

Review: I must be on a Nissin kick. Only a week ago, I purchased Nissin's Original Chow Mein lunch dish. This week, 7-Eleven began stocking a new Nissin product which, according to the label information, packs only 0.3 oz. more product, but comes in a container the size of half a fried chicken bucket. Most of the increased dry weight comes from the double-sized packets of dehydrated toppings (I think I counted 6 tiny shrimp this time) and flavor powders. The primary difference from last week's meal was the amount of water I added to this behemoth of a digestive percolator. After filling this container five sixths full of water, adding the pungent flavor powder, I popped it into the microwave for a full six minutes. Six minutes! Nothing takes six minutes in a microwave! That's like two minutes inside of a nuclear reactor! The last time I microwaved something for over five minutes, I ended up running to the back of my apartment with a flaming bag of popcorn which I threw out our fire escape (appropriate, no?). Of course, our microwave is like a Shih Tzu, small and mean.

Of course, I've gotten off track. Where was I?

Ah yes, six minutes. Six minutes later, I pulled this steaming vat of noodles and broth from the radiation chamber and added "The Finishing Touch." That's what it is called, "The Finishing Touch."

"The Finishing Touch" is a small foil package filled with a brown oil that turns the already cloudy noodle broth a deeper and cloudier brown. This "Finishing Touch" is supposed to be a flavor enhancer and must be a top selling point of these Souper Meals because, while the other two packages of dehydrated additives are packaged inside of the cup, this tiny foil envelope is left on the outside between the cellophane and the cup itself for the discriminating consumer to clearly see. Since the package also says that one should "Microwave For Full Flavor," I'm not convinced that this "Finishing Touch" is all it purports to be.

After slurping down all of the noodles and guzzling down all of the broth, my stomach felt a bit like I imagine a baby cub feeling when its mother is taken away from it. Gassy too. They should call these noodle cups "methane cups." That's what you get when you spend less than two dollars on lunch I guess. For $1.59, the Souper Meal fills you and oddly satisfies.

Gurgling can be a sort of satisfaction.

Sometimes.

Rating: 3.25 / 5