Announcing October’s
Menuism Restaurant Review Contest – $200 Prize!
Thanks to those of you who contributed all your wonderful reviews towards September’s Menuism Restaurant Review Contest, but guess what? The fun isn’t over yet. September’s winner will soon be announced, but all of you have the whole month of October to turn reviews for further consideration. So did you just dine at a fabulous new restaurant that you want to write about? Perhaps, you have a favorite restaurant you’ve been going to for years that you’d like to everyone to know about? Maybe, you just want to practice your restaurant critiquing skills? Whatever the reason, just keep those words coming and in return, you could get a prize that definitely could pay in a delicious meal.
Menuism Restaurant Review Contest
How to Enter:
- Write as many reviews as you’d like. Each eligible review is automatically entered into the contest and counts as an entry into the drawing. No need to manually submit your reviews to the contest.
- Entries are eligible starting the first day of the month up to the last day to enter the last day of the month.
Restaurant Review Criteria:
- Reviews have to have at least 2 positive helpful votes.
- Reviews have to have a minimum of 50 words (about 5 lines of text).
Announcement of Winner and Prize:
- After the contest due date, all eligible entries fitting the restaurant review criteria will be put into a drawing with the winner being announced the first week of the following month.
- Prize: $200 Gift Card, Menuism T-Shirt and Badge on Your Profile
Rules:
- Reviews that are considered inappropriate, vulgar or lacking information will not be considered.
- Winners who do not claim their prize within 7 days of the announcement of the winner will forfeit their prize.
Ready to get started? Sign up for your free Menuism account and start writing reviews!
October is up and running, so we’d definitely love to see all of your great quality reviews. If you have any questions, please feel free to drop me a line at abby@menuism.com.
By Abby C. Abanes
Menuism Community Manager
Trying to figure out where or what to eat this weekend? Check out your fellow Menuismer’s Gutchecks for inspiration!
SapphirePhoenix ate grilled chicken with pasta and sliced mangos.
tulips500 ate frozen grapes.
bluepupae ate homemade heirloom tomato mushroom sauce & angel hair pasta & fresh fruit–asian pear, plum & white nectarine for lunch.
RedRoxy ate In N’ Out animal fries.
kadesoto ate “Screamin’ Dill Pickle” flavored Pringles. They’re atrocious.
torrie ate nothing, but is sipping some carmel rooibo.
needChicken77 ate cereal.
chanman ate tillamook french vanilla bean yogurt.
jetleigh ate a veggie omelet.
swordchick ate biscuits and jam.
If you want to make next week’s list, keep eating and be sure to update your gutchecks!
Anytime one walks into a Japanese restaurant, whether it’s an Izakaya, a Yakitori, a Sushi House, etc., the poison of choice is generally Sake. Warm or cold, it’s a good time drink to go along with your exotic meal. We drink it, but other than knowing vaguely that it’s made up of rice, many non-Japanese and maybe, even those who are Japanese don’t know much about it. So I present to you 12 Things You Might Like to Know About Sake!
Yes, it’s all about the rice: Sake is a drink fermented from rice.
Just a Little Buzz: Sake is generally between 15% and 17% alcohol.
Sake in the Making: It takes about a month to brew sake, but that doesn’t include the six-month period that it is aged.
Young and Fun: Sake is not meant to be aged past the six-month period and is meant to be consumed soon after purchase. It’ll last six months to a year if kept in a cold and dark place.
No Hangover Here: Not to encourage excessive drinking of sake, but sake is sulfites-free, light and comparitively free of hangover-causing congeners and if you order premium sake, it’ll be free of additives and preservatives.
It’s All in the Brew: From a production standpoint, there are 5 basic types of sake. Each requires different brewing methods and a different percentage of rice milling. They are as follows:
- Junmai-shu (pure rice wine; no adding of distilled alcohol)
- Honjozo-shu (at least 30% of rice polished away; a tad of distilled alcohol is added)
- Ginjo-shu (at least 40% of rice polished away; with or without alcohol added; if bottle is labeled Ginjo, it means distilled alcohol was added; if labeled Junmai Ginjo, it means no alcohol added)
- Daiginjo-shu (at least 50% of rice polished away; again with or without added alcohol; if bottle is labeled Daiginjo, it means distilled alcohol was added; if labeled Junmai Daiginjo, it means no alcohol added)
- Namazake (special 5th designation for unpasteurized sake; incorporates all four above)
Even Steven: The taste of quality sake should be balanced. There’s nothing cloying or pushy about the flavors. If it is sugary sweet or harsh to the palate, than pass on it.
Gold is In: Generally, sake is almost generally transparent and this is due to filtering, which can be excessive and sometimes rob the sake of its essence. However, if the color is light amber or gold than there hasn’t been as much filtering, which means that the sake has a more full-bodied flavor. Sake that looks dark brown should be avoided.
Sake it To Me: There are about 1800 sake breweries (called kura in Japanese) in Japan, a number which is sharply decreasing each year. So there are 1700 brands, but most kura make several grades or types of sake, which are significantly different. So there are likely as many as 10,000 different sake among these breweries. In the US, there are presently seven breweries, most of which make more than one product.
Cool is Cool and Hot is Not So Hot: Sake actually tastes best slightly chilled. While, there is no one ideal serving temperature, the flavor nuances of the sake is presented better when it is served cooled to chilled. Good sake can also be warmed up, but beware, sake that is served piping hot generally means that the heat is used to disguise a cheaper quality brand of sake.
Pair Me Up: Like wine, sake is a wonderful accompaniment to fish and other light dishes. Premium sakes can even be matched with strong or curiously flavored snacks taken in small morsels.
A Rice By Any Other Name: Just like different grapes are used to make wine, there are different types of rice used to brew Sake. In fact, there are about 65 varieties of rice designated as sake rice, and naturally some are more prized than others.
There you have it. A little knowledge goes a long way, so the next time you take a sip of sake, hopefully, you’ll remember what you read here and appreciate it that much more.
By Abby C. Abanes
Menuism Community Manager
Trying to figure out where or what to eat this weekend? Check out your fellow Menuismer’s Gutchecks for inspiration!
rednecktek ate Dijon sirloin tip on egg noodles with fresh popovers.
HayleyM ate agedashi tofu, hijiki salad, pork, shrimp and potato kats.
goodforyoursoul ate tacos.
bluepupae ate homemade cauliflower bisque and a farmer’s market plum.
Manzabar ate green tea breath mint.
typewriterninja ate pasta with asparagus and pine nuts.
jmorse48 ate organic pop tarts.
sugar520 ate special K red berries and skim milk.
Ladyterrapin ate chicken pot pie.
Eco ate pumpkin bread.
If you want to make next week’s list, keep eating and be sure to update your gutchecks!
Trying to figure out where or what to eat this weekend? Check out your fellow Menuismer’s Gutchecks for inspiration!
turtley ate mungbean pancake.
jetleigh ate pumpkin ice cream.
Honestly ate hot dogs.
temp ate tomato and cucumber homemade salad from the Farmer’s Market
foodjunky99 ate naan with hummus and tzatziki.
bluepapae ate roasted tomato basil soup, 5 year gouda, rosemary garlic bread, fresh coconut chunks and a plum for lunch.
Sticky ate Dojo West veggie burger.
Ficklefaerie ate yellow chicken curry and rice.
zaranie ate applesauce pancakes.
fayearmfield ate peanut butter toast.
If you want to make next week’s list, keep eating and be sure to update your gutchecks!
Thanks to those of you who contributed all your wonderful reviews towards September’s Menuism Restaurant Review Contest, but guess what? The fun isn’t over yet. September’s winner will soon be announced, but all of you have the whole month of October to turn reviews for further consideration. So did you just dine at a fabulous new restaurant that you want to write about? Perhaps, you have a favorite restaurant you’ve been going to for years that you’d like to everyone to know about? Maybe, you just want to practice your restaurant critiquing skills? Whatever the reason, just keep those words coming and in return, you could get a prize that definitely could pay in a delicious meal.
