In another post (that I am too lazy to look up), I commented on how Ramen (with additional ingredients) can be surprisingly filling and healthy.

Add canned veggies, beans (bagged), poached eggs, salt, pepper, garlic, any kind of meat, etc. and Ramen can be a decent (and cheap) meal.

OP are you referring to the cheap supermarket Ramen or the "Totto Ramen-line down the block-$16 for noodles and broth" types of restaurants in Manhattan?

I live close to the OP and I don't particlularly see it at all. If anything my-extra US asia experience has Ramen/instant noodles more popular. No use airline would ever serve them; they are a relatively common inflight snack elsewhere.

It is what your pilots lived on when they were flight instructors building their hours. They probably still eat it every now and then. It is hard to get out of your system.

japan has ramen restaurants

instant ramen is a global commercial thing
http://old.post-gazette.com/pg/07008/752108-34.stm

In the US probably half of the adult population would have succumbed to famine in their early 20's but for the existence of instant Ramen available @ 5 packs for a Dollar :D (8 packs for a Dollar if you shop around). Instant Udon costs over Dollar for just a single serving. I was at least 25 y/o before I could afford such extravagance and even then it was hard to justify when I could get a pack of Ramen for $0.13.:D

What other 'meal' can you get in America for $.013?

Interesting. I didn't know the US interpreted 'ramen' as the cheap supermarket stuff. I always thought of those as just instant noodles.

I betcha' 95% of the US population would equate "Ramen" only with cheap packs of instant noodles and would be completely unable to associate the word with any thing else.

Maybe when we were in college and trying to scrape by on Saturday night before your last quarters ran out and you couldn't get to the bank for more cash until Monday because you didn't have an ATM card (or there was no cash in the bank to even withdraw). Nowadays, the early 20-something's chic Japanese meal of choice would be sushi conveniently charged to a credit card.

Unless you frequent the right neighborhoods of large urban areas, the only Ramen you'll see is the cheap supermarket stuff.

<Sheepishly raising hand> :o

Although I have taken a better liking to Yakisoba lately.

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I suspect you are right, though I am having the real deal tonight from a pop up restaurant in my 'hood. I'm loving that the real thing is becoming more and more popular in the cities.

Where is this pop-up? I want some. :-)

Quick, Cheap & Readily Available.
 

In the US where everyone always seems to be in a big rush, packaged instant ramen is a very quick way to eat. Readily available in most food stores, it is a cheap alternative for a meal. Small and easy to travel with.

I buy a case every couple weeks for my employes. It seems to disappear.
The key thing for us is that the water cooler dispenses boiling water and I hire college students mostly.
:p