Last Call: Instant Ramen Power Rankings For The Grocery Store Gourmet

Think of it like a 100% savory Baskin Robbins counter: the Los Angeles Times has published a mightily impressive feature on their (very official) instant ramen power rankings, measuring how 31 different varieties stack up.

The methodology sure looks sound to us. Food columnist Lucas Kwan Peterson explains, "I endeavored to cover a broad swath of the noodle spectrum and keep it to no more than three (3) varieties per brand," a process that has resulted in a "totally inarguable, airtight and utterly incontrovertible" ranking of dozens of widely available grocery store ramen packages. The four quadrants of the accompanying matrix provide a helpful illustration of where different brands and types fall: Do they taste very much, or not very much, like the flavor they're aping? More importantly, do they taste good, or like last month's leftovers?

The whole thing is worth a read; it might inspire you to step outside your classic ramen comfort zone, or at the very least, give us all something to argue about for the rest of the week. Hard to say yet whether it will be more or less controversial than the Times' previous fry rankings.