You know I love me some noods so when Kelly Loves asked me if I wanted to try their instant kimchi ramen noodles, I of course said YES!
Kelly Loves is the brainchild of entrepreneur and food lover Kelly Choi. She’s a serial food entrepreneur and the brain behind Sushi Daily which you’ll find in Waitrose, Asda and on Deliveroo all over the place as well as several other food companies.
She was born in Korea and studied in Japan before coming to Europe and her website sells some really lovely East Asian food products, including this sushi box which we tried out a few weeks ago.
Back to the noods
With fresh noodles versus dried and a big old kimchi block rather than little bag of freeze dried veggie bits, I knew this would be tasty. What I wasn’t expecting was the depth of kimchi flavour with that fermented heat the good stuff brings. It was the closest I’ve had to that real tangy kimchi taste and warming heat in an instant form. Genuinely really delicious and very impressive from a freeze dried block.
At £3.35 a pop, these are more expensive than your regular instant noodles (and noodle cups) BUT I think well worth the money because of the quality and depth of flavour. I mean, you can’t even get a supermarket meal deal for that price anymore and this was way more satisfying. Yesterday I had a Pret baguette which was tasty sure, but cost £4.99 FOUR NINETY NINE. And I was hungry two hours later whereas the noodles and broth filled me up for the whole afternoon at my desk.
Unlike a lot of instant noodles, these are also palm oil, GMO and msg free. I mean, MSG isn’t the big bad wolf people say it is but I like the fact that there isn’t GMO or palm oil in there. Certainly a downside with a lot of instant foods.
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Scores on the doors
As a reminder, I score every instant noodle I try on three metrics (flavour, texture, ease of making). There are 10 points available for each metric and the holy grail of 30/30 has not yet been achieved.
Flavour
It’s pretty clear already that I think these are fantastic. The most ‘kimchi’ tasting instant kimchi ramen noodles I’ve ever had. Going in high with a full 10/10 (for the first time ever!)
Texture
Excellent. Chewy noodles and a hearty broth. Solid 8/10.
Ease of making
Noodle cups are great for the office. Just fill em up from the kettle and off you pop. This Kelly Loves noodle cup was slightly trickier to make though, because it required hot water and a stint in the microwave. All in all though, it still only took a few minutes for them to be ready. 7/10 for not having to use a saucepan!
In conclusion
A very decent score of 25/30 and a HELL yes to buying again. In fact, I’m off to buy their variety pack (£8.99 for three) so I can try the other flavours!
Get £5 off your first order and try for yourself.
Simply use this link and you’ll get a fiver off your first order from Kelly Loves. Enjoy!
Dave