MANILA, Philippines?As some sort of last hurrah before all the fasting and sacrifices related to Lent, Japanese fast food chain Yoshinoya held the highly anticipated grand finals of the 2nd Gyudon Eating Contest at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall last March 15.

Since January, over a thousand gyudon fanatics have been visiting various Yoshinoya restaurants around the country to see if they can be this year?s biggest and fastest beef bowl eaters.

On the day of the grand showdown, however, only 40 big eaters and 40 fast eaters qualified to stake their claim to the coveted titles?plus beefy prizes as well.

Who was the last one standing after all the gyudon eating?

In the first category, where contestants had to eat two gyudon beef bowls, 38-year-old Armando Ngo from Malabon City bowled everyone over after consuming his beef bowls down to the very last beef strip and granule of rice in 43.69 seconds. For this he won P50,000.

Second placer

Tony Shu, who finished his beef bowls in 47.69 seconds, took home P30,000 while third placer Ian Cang, who ate all his gyudon beef bowl meals in 49.31 seconds, got P10,000.

In the second category, where those with sumo-sized appetites were tasked to eat the most number of gyudon beef bowls in 20 minutes, the 21-year old pint-sized Rafael Antonio Suing made everyone exclaim ?holy cow!? after licking clean nine bowls and an extra 47 grams, earning him his P70,000 cash prize.

Happy with all the nine bowls and extra .05 grams of gyudon beef and rice he consumed was second placer Carlo Medrano, who went home P50,000 richer.

Third placer Dino Yu won P30,000 after enjoying eight bowls and 39 grams of gyudon beef and rice.

A favorite of Yoshinoya fans, gyudon beef bowls are made up of thin and juicy slices of USDA choice beef simmered with fresh onions in a special sauce of herbs and spices, heaped on a bed of steaming, fluffy rice.

It?s such a bestseller at Yoshinoya there?s no wonder why it was chosen to be the food choice for the restaurant?s unique eating contest that was successfully jumpstarted last year.

To make the event even more enjoyable for everyone, the audience was treated to a colorful Cosplay.ph parade, musical performances from bands Do?Ahou, Rtschark and Kadangyan and Itchyworms, plus a photo-op with gorgeous Maxim girls and Ran girls, and Cucina Argentina.

Hosts Ariel and Maverick also raffled off prizes such as an LG 22-inch LCD TV, LG DVD player, LG Refrigerators, LG Microwave Ovens, Nokia cellular phones from Globe and sports items from Chris Sports.

This year?s bigger and more exciting gyudon eating joust was sponsored by E-games, Coca-Cola, LG Refrigerators and Microwaves, Chris Sports, Microdata Systems and Management, Otakuzine Anime Magazine and SM Mall of Asia with the special participation of Cosplay.ph, Juujiro J-Culture Organization and Kadangyan.

Yoshinoya is one of the oldest and largest Japanese fast food chains in the world with over 100 years of heritage in Japan and over 1,000 stores worldwide.

Yoshinoya serves Filipinos with its mouthwatering gyudon at Greenhills, Park Square 1, Robinsons Galleria, SM Megamall, SM Mall of Asia, and SM City North Edsa.