So what’s for breakfast?

For anyone who’s ever been on a budget, you’ve probably found your way to microwavable ramen noodles one time or another.   A cup o’ noodles?  Why not?  Who says you can’t get lunch for a dollar?  I’ve been a fan of the idea of lunch in a cup since seeing Steve Martin in 1979 living on the old stock of Cup o’ Pizza from the back of a truck in the movie The Jerk.  (I have a good recipe for this).  So how can we connect the dots between Steve Martin in The Jerk and Will Ferrell in the holiday modern classic Elf?  Nissin, the company behind one of the favorite ramen noodles brands, Cup Noodles, has done that for us.

For the past few weeks, Cup Noodles has been selling two limited products exclusively via WalMart.  Both switch gears on noodles for lunch to noodles for breakfast.

I will admit I was slow to the idea of savory oatmeal.  Oatmeal is for breakfast or oatmeal cookies.  Then I got my hands on the Firefly Big Damn Cookbook and haven’t turned back thanks to its Eggy Oaty Mush (I reviewed the cookbook here).  But noodles for breakfast?  That takes me back–and should take you back–to Will Ferrell’s Buddy the Elf.  In two scenes in that movie we get to see the Elf fascination for maple syrup.  Buddy brings out a bottle of maple syrup when spaghetti is for dinner and then he uses the syrup for spaghetti leftovers for breakfast the next morning (also take-along bags for the office).  The humor is something straight out of Harold Ramis–the juxtaposition of spaghetti and maple syrup is instantly funny.  Why?  It’s so weird most of us would never think to try it.

Cup Noodles have released its Cup Noodles Breakfast before on a limited basis as it has done again this year.  The cup tells us in big letters you’re getting ramen noodles in sauce, artificially flavored as maple syrup, pancakes, sausage and egg.  It really doesn’t sound as strange as the latest new introduction in its limited breakfast line: Cup Noodles Everything Bagel.  This ramen noodles in sauce product boasts “Everything Bagel with Cream Cheese, artificially flavored.”  So which sounds better?  Which sounds worse?

As I was pondering these at WalMart, another patron approached me, “you found them!”  I pointed to the end cap promotion showing a wall of both options.  Ten minutes later this stranger and I were still pondering the goods and bads.  I was wary of the Everything Bagel option for the same thing I don’t like Everything Bagels–onions are fine with turkey on a sliced bagel, just not baked into one.  My newfound comrade-in-arms was more concerned with the flavor of cream cheese and noodle soup–a good point.

We both left with one of each.  My verdict?  No wonder the Cup Noodles Breakfast version keeps returning.  Sure, noodles for breakfast is unusual to my palate.  But it didn’t take long before I could see carrying one of these on trips, or just grabbing one every few weeks.  Yes, maple syrup goes with pasta just fine.  I’ve been back twice for this one.  I’m amazed how far the pour-in packets succeed for flavor in normal ramen noodles, but the bits of eggs and sausage-like stuff worked here, too.  I can imagine this product on a freezing cold winter morning hitting the spot.

I wasn’t so convinced with the Cup Noodles Everything Bagel.  The problem wasn’t the cream cheese.  The flavor is good, but far more subtle than its maple syrup-flavored partner.  No, I didn’t think they’d include poppy seeds in the mix.  It was that texture that would make it difficult for me to go back.  So maybe maple syrup goes better with pasta than poppy seeds.

Nothing beats real pancakes and eggs and a good plain toasted New York City bagel with butter, but these are fun alternatives.  Tracking these products down is hit-and-miss.  Your best bet is on your next trip out of town, drop into any local WalMart off the beaten path and you may be able to still grab one of each.  Cup Noodles Everything Bagel and Cup Noodles Breakfast are only available at WalMart for a limited time.

C.J. Bunce / Editor / borg