Kansai-exclusive takoyaki Cup Noodle lives up to half of the expectations its name produces

Thankfully it’s the most important half.

Cup Noodle is loved in every part of Japan, but in each of those parts, there are also certain foods that the locals are especially fond of. That’s the basis for Cup Noodle maker Nissin’s Regional Cup Noodle (or “Gotochi Cup Noodle”) series, and the latest part of Japan to get a special instant ramen salute to its culinary culture is Osaka.

Osaka has a number of famous foods, but none more so than takoyaki. The bite-sized octopus dumplings are an Osaka street food staple, and the inspiration for the brand-new Takoyaki Flavor Cup Noodle, which went on sale this month.

These are exclusive to the Osaka area, but luckily we stumbled across a display for them inside Itami Airport. You get four servings in a box for 1,080 yen (US$7.30), with each of those servings being 33 grams (1.15 ounces), smaller than the standard 78-gram Cup Noodle size, so these are positioned as more of a snack than a full meal.

Another key difference is that these Cup Noodles don’t come with cups! Their full, official name is Regional Cup Noodle to Eat in a Bowl-Kansai Souvenir Takoyaki Flavor, and inside the box (which is decorated with popular images of the Kansai area such as stand-up comedians and a tiger) you’ll find four sealed packets. Each of those, in turn, contains a serving of dried noodles and the broth base and topping packets.

With no cup included, you’ll need to put the noodles in a bowl of some sort, but from there the cooking process is pretty much the same as regular Cup Noodles. Pour on the broth base and toppings, then add 160 milliliters (5.4 ounces) of hot water and let everything cook for three minutes without stirring. Unlike standard cup ramen, though, you don’t need to cover the bowl while the noodles cook.

With no included cup, though, we couldn’t help feel like takoyaki Cup Noodle was off to a slow start meeting the expectation we’d gotten from its name, but all would be forgiven if the takoyaki taste was there. But as always with ramen, you smell it before you can taste it, and sure enough, it really does have the mix of sweet, starchy, and seafood-y scents that a batch of freshly cooked takoyaki has.

Then it was time for our first taste, and we’re happy to confirm that not only does takoyaki Cup Noodle smell like its inspiration, it tastes like it too!

We were especially impressed by how pronounced the flavor of katsuobushi (bonito flakes) is. Katsuobushi are sprinkled across takoyaki right before they’re served, with a flavor that’s strong but yet somehow doesn’t overpower the other members of the takoyaki flavor profile, and that’s true with this ramen broth too. Along with katsuobushi, we could taste aonori (powdered seaweed), beni shoga (pickled ginger) amd mayonnaise, all also major takoyaki condiments.

And of course, because this is Cup Noodle, there were bits of Nissin’s famous mystery meat floating in the broth, which also tasted like takoyaki, and the noodles themselves were just as reliably tasty as we’ve come to expect from decades of eating Cup Noodle.

So in the end, while it may not actually come in a cup, aside from that takoyaki-flavor Cup Noodle is exactly what it says it is, and totally worth picking up as a souvenir for friends, family, or your own ramen-loving stomach the next time you’re in Osaka.

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