foodha for thought – menuism blog

Menuism reviewers are truly awesome! Whether they found an unexpected tasty gem of a restaurant or took it for the team after having a terrible meal, we truly applaud all their efforts in giving us the scoop on where we should be spending our hard-earned money on. On that note, I’d love to introduce you to those reviewers who we feel really contribute quality content to the site as well as quality information to fellow Menuism’ers. Our Featured Reviewer today is ninathomas from California.

I’m a wife and mother who lives in Corona,CA. I’ve been a teacher for 10 years, mostly middle school, but currently teach in a women’s prison.

1. How did you find out about Menuism?

Menuism sponsored the IE Foodies Meetup Group, where I am a member and Asst. Organizer.

2. What about Menuism first appealed to you?

I like that its regular folk like me just giving their opinion on restaurants.

3. What restaurant did you write your first review about?

Sushi Palms in Moreno Valley, CA

4. What is your food philosophy?

While good food is worth every calorie, great food is packed with flavor without packing on the pounds!

5. What are your favorite restaurants?

Shogun Kitchen, Mimi’s, Buca Di Beppo

6. What are your favorite cuisines?

Sushi, Indian, Italian

7. What are your favorite comfort foods?

Chicken Pot Pie, Meatloaf, and Garlic Mashed Potatoes

8. What is the best meal you ever ate and why?

The dinner I reviewed at Sensi. It was the most incredible food I’ve ever tasted.

9. Do you have any favorite cookbooks (if any)?

The Cook Yourself Thin Cookbook and some old cookbook I inherited from my mom that no longer has covers and is probably 40 years old.

10. What words of encouragement would you give to first time Menuism reviewers?

Share your experience, just how you see it! Don’t get caught up in trying to sound like a “foodie.” You’d be surprised how many people will apprecitate the same features of the food and service that you do.

If you’d like to be able to keep up with ninathomass reviews, click here to check out her profile!

If there is a Menuism reviewer who has really helped you make great dining choices and you’d like to see him or her be a Featured Reviewer, than be sure to message me or send me an email at abby@menuism.com.

By Abby C. Abanes
Menuism Community Manager

Menuism reviewers are truly awesome! Whether they found an unexpected tasty gem of a restaurant or took it for the team after having a terrible meal, we truly applaud all their efforts in giving us the scoop on where we should be spending our hard-earned money on. On that note, I’d love to introduce you to those reviewers who we feel really contribute quality content to the site as well as quality information to fellow Menuism’ers. Our Featured Reviewer today is mgpinkish from California.

I am a student that enjoys good food, photography, graphic design, website design and technology. I think good food is hard to find. What’s even harder to find is good food that comes with good service. Whether or not I become a repeat customer is almost always dependent on how I was served at the restaurant and how good their food was. In the future, I hope to be able to travel to many different countries and try authentic food.

1. How did you find out about Menuism?

I found out about Menuism while I was searching for a restaurant on Google et voila!

2. What about Menuism first appealed to you?

There were actually quite a few things about Menuism that appealed to me. The first thing would have to be how reviewers were able to rate dishes individually. Other things that appealed to me included the following: the user friendliness of the site, many good reviews and the ability to upload restaurant related photos ranging from dishes to menus.

3. What restaurant did you write your first review about?

I believe the first restaurant I reviewed was Thai Original BBQ Restaurant.

4. What is your food philosophy?

Food is an important part of my life. I believe that food is a lot more than just filling up one’s stomach. With that said, I’d have to say that my food philosophy is: Food is at its best when it naturally captures all of your senses without the help of MSG and excess condiments. (I honestly think that good food that is healthy is hard to find. However, with most of the world trying to go green/organic, good and healthy food might be easier to find in the years to come.)

5. What are your favorite restaurants?

I have a lot of favorite restaurants. However, as of today, the two restaurants that have gained the most favoritism from me are Taste of Thai (2069 Arco Arena Blvd. Suite 170 Sacramento, CA) and Bo De Tinh Dam Chay (15131 Moran St. Westminster, CA). I’ve only eaten at Taste of Thai once, but they blew me away with their friendly service, authentic Thai food and nice interior design. I would love to eat there again if I ever have an opportunity to do so. As for Bo De Tinh Dam Chay, it’s a vegetarian’s dream come true.

6. What are your favorite cuisines?

I have a lot of favorite cuisines. However, my taste buds are usually satisfied when it comes to the following cuisines: Cajun, Creole, Thai, Indonesian and Indian.

7. What are your favorite comfort foods?

In general, warm and hearty foods such as lentil soup, tom yum koong, soon tofu and channa masala are almost always my favorite comfort foods. On days when I don’t mind gaining a bit of weight, kadai paneer can be a popular comfort food of mine.

8. What is the best meal you ever ate and why?

The best meal I ever ate was Pa Nang Seafood at Taste of Thai in Sacramento, CA. As someone who’s not a huge fan of curry, curry needs to impress all of my senses in order for me to say it was good. I was shocked at how good the panang curry was at Taste of Thai. I’ve only eaten there once and would love to eat there again if given the opportunity to do so. The other dishes I had at their restaurant were good as well. However, that Pa Nang Seafood was just extremely amazing!

9. Do you have any favorite cookbooks (if any)?

I own cookbooks, however I don’t have any favorites. This is because I have never used any of the cookbooks I own. I suppose I will eventually get around to cooking from one of my cookbooks when I have more time.

10. What words of encouragement would you give to first time Menuism reviewers?

Writing reviews on Menuism is like blogging, except it’s blogging with a focus on restaurants you’ve been to and the food you’ve consumed from there. Reviewing restaurants you’ve dined in is a great way to help others decide whether they should dine there, too in the future. It’s free, fun, easy and can easily become an online hobby for you to do when you have free time.

If you’d like to be able to keep up with mgpinkish’s reviews, click here to check out her profile!

If there is a Menuism reviewer who has really helped you make great dining choices and you’d like to see him or her be a Featured Reviewer, than be sure to message me or send me an email at abby@menuism.com.

By Abby C. Abanes
Menuism Community Manager

Menuism reviewers are truly awesome! Whether they found an unexpected tasty gem of a restaurant or took it for the team after having a terrible meal, we truly applaud all their efforts in giving us the scoop on where we should be spending our hard-earned money on. On that note, I’d love to introduce you to those reviewers who we feel really contribute quality content to the site as well as quality information to fellow Menuism’ers. Our Featured Reviewer today is Karen, better known as mizzouatheart. So let’s learn more about Karen from Kansas City, MO.

1. How did you find out about Menuism?

I did a simple google search for food reviews and came across it.

2. What about Menuism first appealed to you?

I’ve always enjoyed assessing my dining out experiences and for some time my husband has encouraged me to do something with it. Menuism has become that outlet for me.

3. What restaurant did you write your first review about?

Lill’s on 17th in Kansas City. It is a fantastic little West Side restaurant in an old house with a beautiful brick patio. Lots of small plates and very dog-friendly. One of my favorite places to spend a beautiful, long evening with small plates and great sangria.

4. What is your food philosophy?

I believe that food is central to our culture and well-being. I seek out locally-grown or raised food and try to eat plenty of whole grains, fruits and vegetables and lean meat and seafood. However, as a Midwestern girl I relish the food traditions of my youth including homestyle dishes. I think that almost any food can be enjoyed in moderation and I am just as at home in an Ethiopian restaurant as I was in my grandmother’s kitchen as a child. We should celebrate variety!

5. What are your favorite restaurants?

I do not really have one favorite. I lived for five years in Austin, Texas and whenever I go back I have to eat at Chuy’s Tex-Mex, Hula Hut, a Hawaiian-Mexican fusion, and Kirby Lane Cafe, a breakfast-diner place. Here in KC, aside from Lill’s, my husband and I love to go to Osteria Il Centro, a neighborhood Italian place, and Room 39, a seaonsal new American concept. These days we tend to go to a lot of family-friendly places like Waldo Pizza, Cactus Grill and The Mixx (fresh salads and sandwiches) now because we have a 16-month-old son.

6. What are your favorite cuisines?

I could probably eat Mexican food every day of my life and enchiladas verde is my favorite so long as the tomatillos are fresh. I also love a simple but inventive salad, soup and sandwich menu! My favorite flavors, however, are Mediterranean and Provencal–lots of tomatoes, olives, lemons, fresh herbs, anchovies, capers. Makes my mouth water just thinking about it! My favorite foods are tomatoes and cheese.

7. What are your favorite comfort foods?

Fresh-picked corn on the cob and tomatoes from the garden, homemade macaroni and cheese, and my mom’s vegetable beef soup.

8. What is the best meal you ever ate and why?

That is really hard. I would say that the best meal I can remember right now was in San Francisco at Foreign Cinema in the Mission area. Eating for me is a combination of environment and cuisine. We sat in the courtyard and watched an old foreign movie being shown on the side of a building at dusk. We started with fresh oysters on the half-shell with the perfect mignonette. I ordered a divine duck breast served on top of a bed of well-seasoned lentils. We ended with a cheese plate that included a fabulous blue cheese drizzled with honey. Absolutely wonderful!

9. Do you have any favorite cookbooks (if any)?

No one favorite cookbook. I find that a local cookbook is the best souvenir from places I’ve traveled. I have cookbooks from my travels in Europe and throughout the American South. I love Junior League cookbooks in particular from the South. My husband is from Louisiana and bought me one of Emeril’s cookbooks from his restaurant there. I’m a fan of Food Network so I have some cookbooks by Giada DiLaurentiis and Rachel Ray. If you like to bake, I recommend Robin Rather’s cookbook from her “Rather Sweet” bakery in Fredericksburg, Texas. There’s a brownie recipe in there that is to die for!!!!

10. What words of encouragement would you give to first time Menuism reviewers?

Anyone can do this and that’s the whole point! I think it’s important to be descriptive and write with the five senses in mind since eating is a sensory experience.

If you’d like to be able to keep up with Karen’s reviews, click here to check out her profile!

If there is a Menuism reviewer who has rea’lly helped you make great dining choices and you’d like to see him or her be a Featured Reviewer, than be sure to message me or send me an email at abby@menuism.com.

By Abby C. Abanes
Menuism Community Manager

Menuism reviewers are truly awesome! Whether they found an unexpected tasty gem of a restaurant or took it for the team after having a terrible meal, we truly applaud all their efforts in giving us the scoop on where we should be spending our hard-earned money on. On that note, I’d love to introduce you to those reviewers who we feel really contribute quality content to the site as well as quality information to fellow Menuism’ers. Our Featured Reviewer today is Alan, better known as schussat. So let’s learn more about Alan from Arizona.

I’m a PhD sociologist working in information technology. I really enjoy finding new restaurants, reading about food, and food photography, among all the rest of the pursuits that make up my day-to-day life.

1. How did you find out about Menuism?

When Menuism launched, one of the developers posted an announcement on the Textdrive/Joyent community forum where I hang out a bit, and so I came to see what it was all about.

2. What about Menuism first appealed to you?

I was just making plans to go off for an internship in Seattle, so I used Menuism to find good and interesting food near where I would be living. Fortunately, the Seattle area had lots of content on Menuism — I think that contributed to my using it more. I ended up using the site a ton those handful of months, really enjoying the overall experience of it, and continued to use it when I returned home.

3. What restaurant did you write your first review about?

It was Dara Thai here in FLG. This town has an inexplicably high Thai joint per capita ratio.

4. What is your food philosophy?

Find what you like and eat it a lot, especially if you can locally, organic, and/or sustainably.

5. What are your favorite restaurants?

What an impossible question. Among local places, I’ve become pretty fond of Sushi Fuji, and there’s this meatloaf sandwich at the Beaver Street Brewery that I keep going back for. Down south in Tucson, it had to be a place called Yoshimatsu, tied with the Little Cafe Poca Cosa. Favorite ever? I still go back to The Pie for pizza every time I’m close to home in Salt Lake City — that’s probably pretty high on the all-time favorites list, because the pizza is great and the place is packed with so many memories of growing up.

6. What are your favorite cuisines?

I’m physically incapable of not ordering fish and chips when I come across it. I think I’d have to go with sushi and Italian. Is cioppino a cuisine or just a dish? Whichever, man do I adore it.

7. What are your favorite comfort foods?

Katsu Curry from Yoshimatsu and the Scallop Dynamite roll from Sushi Fuji are honorable mention. But it’s awfully hard to beat homemade chicken and dumpling soup in the cool weather months.

8. What is the best meal you ever ate and why?

I was on a backpacking trip and we had an exhausting, very long day after missing a route marker and re-climbing two steep saddles. The whole group was just wiped out. At camp, we ran into a couple of folks who had come in from the other side of the range on horses. They had fresh salad, salsa, tortillas, and cold broiled chicken, and they gave us plate after plate. Wow. What wonderful people — and what great food to find, unexpectedly, at the end of a day like that.

9. Do you have any favorite cookbooks (if any)?

No favorite cookbooks, but I’m a big fan of the magazine “Eating Well.” We get at least a couple of go-to recipes out of each issue. The most recent memorable recipe was for a braised paprika chicken that’s just fantastic.

10. What words of encouragement would you give to first time Menuism reviewers?

Try it, you’ll like it!

If you’d like to be able to keep up with Alan’s reviews, click here to check out his profile!

If there is a Menuism reviewer who has rea’lly helped you make great dining choices and you’d like to see him or her be a Featured Reviewer, than be sure to message me or send me an email at abby@menuism.com.

By Abby C. Abanes
Menuism Community Manager

Menuism reviewers are truly awesome! Whether they found an unexpected tasty gem of a restaurant or took it for the team after having a terrible meal, we truly applaud all their efforts in giving us the scoop on where we should be spending our hard-earned money on. On that note, I’d love to introduce you to those reviewers who we feel really contribute quality content to the site as well as quality information to fellow Menuism’ers. Our Featured Reviewer today is Lynn, better known as BananaWoo. So let’s learn more about Lynn from Minnesota.

I was born in Seoul, but raised in Minneapolis. I consider myself a Midwesterner and Minnesotian. During college I lived in Ames, Iowa, but most recently moved back to a Minnesota suburb which I now call home. I am still attempting to travel the world. Food lover by nature; I love to eat, cook and create. I also enjoy writing and think the art of literature and food complement each other well.

Currently, I work as an admin for a commercial real estate company. Definitely not my true calling, so on top of my 9-5, I go to grad school full time just to keep things interesting. When I’m not wearing my monkey suit and I don’t have my nose in a psychology text book I like to write, read, garden, philosophize, cook, listen to music, watch reruns of No Reservations and The Office, play with my cats and eat (not necessarily in that order).

1. How did you find out about Menuism?

Totally by luck. I like to look for new websites that have anything to do with food. I think I just entered in Food Blog or something like that to a Google search.

2. What about Menuism first appealed to you?

I really liked the community feel of Menuism. It seemed like there was a lot more interaction between members versus lots of other food sites that just have a “liked it” or “didn’t like it” option. It’s nice to know a little about the people who are writing the reviews.

3. What restaurant did you write your first review about?

Broders’ Pasta Bar, a family owned Italian restaurant in Minneapolis. One of the best Italian places I have even been!

4. What is your food philosophy?

You are what you eat. Not literally, but I think if you are adventurous and have fun with the food eat those things will be reflected in other aspects of your life.

5. What are your favorite restaurants?

Hoban for Korean, Broders for Italian, Fuji Ya for Japanese and sushi, and Café Beaudelaire for burgers and Brazilian.

6. What are your favorite cuisines?

My top 2 are Korean and Italian, but I will eat almost anything. Every cuisine has something important to contribute to the food world.

7. What are your favorite comfort foods?

Mac & cheese, spaghetti with Italian sausage, and steamed rice with Kimchee.

8. What is the best meal you ever ate and why?

That is a tough one to decide. One of my top most memorable experiences was probably in Venice, Italy. Unfortunately I don’t remember the name, but it was a bistro right on the waterside. I had a noodle dish with fresh seafood. It’s hard to beat Italian wine and fresh pasta sautéed with the catch of the day. No other seafood pasta has ever come close.

9. Do you have any favorite cookbooks (if any)?

In my kitchen I have some hand-me-down Betty Crocker cook books and Korean Cooking for You. They are good references, but I like to do a lot of experimenting in the kitchen. When I cook I usually glance at a recipe, but wing the rest of it. That is why I’m a horrible baker; everything has to be too precise.

10. What words of encouragement would you give to first time Menuism reviewers?

Tell it like it is and take a gamble with your writing. Feel free to be yourself. You can tell people who enjoy writing their reviews because they are entertaining and interesting to read. Also, be informative and encourage your friends to join!

If you’d like to be able to keep up with Lynn’s reviews, click here to check out her profile!

If there is a Menuism reviewer who has rea’lly helped you make great dining choices and you’d like to see him or her be a Featured Reviewer, than be sure to message me or send me an email at abby@menuism.com.

By Abby C. Abanes
Menuism Community Manager