Who wouldn’t love a nice, steaming-hot gyudon on a large bowl after a hard day’s work?

While many are already familiar with this simple yet tantalizingly attractive dish because of the influx of so many Japanese-inspired restaurants in the metro, did you know that this appetizing dining fare, literally known as beef bowl, with “gyu,” which means “beef,” and “don” being the short version of “donburi” or food served on top of rice in a bowl, originated way back around 1800?

Gyudon is a mouth-watering dish, mainly a heaping mound of steaming white rice topped with beef and onion stirred in mild sweet sauce with fish, seaweed stock and sweet rice wine then served in a bowl. It is believed that this famous Japanese dish was inspired by other regular Japanese dishes such sukiyaki-don and gyunabe or thin slices of beef cooked with veggies and then served in a bowl.

Yoshinoya, Japan’s famous beef bowl, has been synonymous with gyudon, that special dish served in a bowl with rice, beef and onion stirred in an enticingly mild sweet sauce with fish, seaweed stock and sweet rice wine.

Yoshinoya - Japanese Food  by Ruel Umali of www.ruelumali.com

Aside from beef bowl, other best selling bowl dishes include Chicken Bowl, their Ramen, Tempura and other flavorful Japanese dishes that suit to food diners.

Yoshinoya - Japanese Food  by Ruel Umali of www.ruelumali.com

Yoshinoya - Japanese Food  by Ruel Umali of www.ruelumali.com

Yoshinoya - Japanese Food  by Ruel Umali of www.ruelumali.com

Yoshinoya - Japanese Food  by Ruel Umali of www.ruelumali.com

There are now more than 1,200 outlets of Yoshinoya globally, particularly in countries such as the USA, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, Indonesia and of course the Philippines. It will soon open in Thailand and Vietnam as part of its aggressive expansion program in Asia.

Yoshinoya - Japanese Food  by Ruel Umali of www.ruelumali.com

The Philippines was no exception to this gyudon domination. Its stellar rise in the country was attributed to the arrival of Yoshinoya in our shores, primarily due to Yoshinoya Century Pacific, Inc., which started its first store operations in the country back in December 2001.

In 2011, the Century Pacific Group inked a partnership with Ihahat Foods Corporation that saw them expand their business under its President, Timothy James Yang.

And 2014 is no exception as Yoshinoya promises to make it another banner year for the brand, with the idea of making gyudon an accepted part of Filipinos’ daily meals.

Now on its 4th year, Yoshinoya will again mount the “2014 Yoshinoya Gyudon Challenge,” an eating competition that will challenge Yoshinoya habitués on how much gyudon they can consume within a specific amount of time.

Yoshinoya - Gyudon Eating Contest Year 4 by Ruel Umali of www.ruelumali.com

Yoshinoya - Gyudon Eating Contest Year 4 by Ruel Umali of www.ruelumali.com

Yoshinoya - Gyudon Eating Contest Year 4 by Ruel Umali of www.ruelumali.com

I just did.

I thought I will be just tasting the famous “gyudon” as rave by my wife when he invited me to join.  I never imagined I will be included in this eating contest.

Yoshinoya - Gyudon Eating Contest Year 4 by Ruel Umali of www.ruelumali.com

Since I was already there, I challenge myself how many bowls I was able to finish.  No particular in mind of winning as I like to know if its really possible to eat as much as you can in a specific time.

I enjoyed the tenderness of the beef infused with its sweet savory sauce which made this meal enticing to eat.  No regrets even I got this blotted feeling as my stomach was fully satisfied.

Honestly, I did not realize that at the end, I was hailed as the winner. With me below were also the runner-ups during the eating contest.

Yoshinoya - Gyudon Eating Contest Year 4 by Ruel Umali of www.ruelumali.com

Yoshinoya - Gyudon Eating Contest Year 4 by Ruel Umali of www.ruelumali.com

Yoshinoya - Gyudon Eating Contest Year 4 by Ruel Umali of www.ruelumali.com

How to join?

The Yoshinoya Gyudon Eating Contest is open to both males and females who are 18 years old and above.

For every dining purchase of Gyudon meal P199 entitles you to join the contest.
(Take out, deliveries, bulk orders are not included.)

Fill out Registration Form and sign a Health and Release waiver.

Show one (1) valid ID (School ID, Company ID, Driver’s License, SSS ID, GSIS ID, NBI Clearance, Postal ID, Voters ID, Passport) to the store manager of Yoshinoya.

Daily from Monday thru Friday from April 21 to May 30.

Schedule is as follows:
• April 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
• April 28, 29, 30 and May 1, 2
• May 5,6,7,8,9
• May 12,13,14,15,16
• May 19,20,21,22,23
• May 26, 27, 28, 29, 30

The contestant who finishes the most number of bowls in 5 minutes wins the challenge of the day.

You can join as many times as you want and just complete all requirements on the application form for every trial.

After the Weekly Qualifying Rounds in the stores all weekly contestants who qualified per store will be automatically be entered in the grand finals. All qualified contestants will be notified between June 2-6, 2014 through Mobile call and Email.

The 42 Finalists will compete by eating most number of bowls in 15 minutes.

In case of a tie for the 1st Place, 2nd Place or 3rd Place, a bowl overtime match will be done among tied Finalists for their corresponding prizes. The Finalist who finishes beef bowl with the fastest time and little to non grains left will be awarded the higher.

NO VOMITTING is allowed for the duration of the contest and 15 minutes right after the contest proper. In case of vomiting during contest proper or right after the 15 minutes timer signal is sounded contestant is automatically disqualified.

The Final Match will be held on June 14, 2014 at 1:00 PM in the Activity Center at the Glorietta, Makati City.

Prizes:
1st Place: Php150,000 cash and Trip for 2 to Japan with airplane tickets courtesy of Cebu Pacific.
2nd Place: Php50,000 cash
3rd Place: Php25,000 cash

The 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners will be announced and awarded during the Yoshinoya Gyudon Eating contest Final Match Event and through posters and print ads.

Consolation Prizes: The non-winning Finalists will be given Php2,000 worth of Yoshinoya GC each.

Yoshinoya - Gyudon Eating Contest Year 4 by Ruel Umali of www.ruelumali.com

Will you be the next one to be declared the next “Yoshinoya Gyudon Challenge” champion?

Watch out for details by visiting –www.facebook.com/YoshinoyaPhilippines.