(Released in July, reviewed in August, published in September. That's the inevitable passage of time for you.)
No matter where you're from, one thing unites us: Japan's... unique... takes on our national cuisine.
'British pubs' in Japan just can't get fish and chips right, and that makes me very sad. I once asked an Italian person if they liked the Saizeriya restaurant chain, and they looked at me like I'd insulted their grandma. And don't get me started on what the concept of 'curry' means to different people.
Next on the hit list is the resident French population, as Nissin launched not 1 but 3 limited-edition Cup Noodles inspired by this ridiculous accent.
There was no chance of me fitting all of them into one shot in my tiny kitchen, so here's the official promo pic from the official release article.
From left to right: Omar shrimp bisque, chicken supreme sauce with truffle, and sea bream and scallop Provence-style bouillabaisse.
An important thing to note before I kick off the reviews is - I've never tried any of these actual dishes before. The closest I ever got was chicken supreme, but in the UK that stuff used to come in jars like pasta sauce. (Anyone remember Chicken Tonight?)
Seafood bouillabaisse (with seafood oil)
I decided to get this one out of the way first. There's already a seafood Cup Noodle on the regular roster.
The internet tells me that bouillabaisse is a jam-packed dish, with several kinds of fish and plenty of veggies. Nissin decided to give this Cup Noodle a tomato soup base, which is apparently not the culturally accurate choice? Tomato is a core ingredient, but not the main flavour (as far as I can tell).
And where the hell is the garlic? (Okay, that one's just personal preference.)
It's a perfectly reasonable fish soup. The amount of seafood in the mix is pretty decent given the size of the cup, but it could've done with more fish.
Verdict: 6/10. Needs a bit more more bass, if you ask me.
Prawn bisque (with prawn paste)
This time, I remembered to get a shot of the inside of the cup.
That's a bit more like it. Doesn't look the most appetizing yet, but give it some hot water and 3 minutes.
Before adding the water, the scent of the dry ingredients reminded me of prawn crackers. Anyone who's ever ordered from a Chinese takeaway in the UK will know what I mean by that...
As expected from the amount of powder, the soup turned out nice and thick. There are few things in life worse than a watery Cup Noodle. It wasn't as creamy as a bisque should be, maybe, but it was definitely rich enough.
Verdict: 8/10. If only I could've ordered a pancake roll at the same time.
Chicken supreme (with truffle oil)
It's difficult to go wrong with chicken, unless it's undercooked. Overcooked food is a problem, but raw chicken is a problem.
Reading up on chicken supreme was a bit disappointing. It just means a fillet of something? But we get that word from French anyway! It's just a skin-on chicken breast cooked however you like it? I was expecting something more... supreme.
That said, this Cup Noodle is clearly following a winning formula. It smells amazing when it's ready to eat - especially with the truffle oil. It smells like the kind of thing someone with more patience and a well-stocked fridge would've actually cooked.
Verdict: 7/10. Chicken kiev version with croutons and garlic next, please.