Meatless Fridays #3 & #4

My last few weeks of Meatless Fridays have taken me to both familiar and unfamiliar territory. Meatless Friday #3 took me to Columbia's Noodles & Company. Oddly enough, I have never been there before. It is an efficient chain with American, Mediterranean (mostly Italian) and Pan-Asian (mostly Thai) offerings to which you can add meat of your choice. The Friday before last, I decided to add nothing to my pad thai. Though it wasn't remarkable, it certainly was satisfying enough. I would order it again if I had to.

Meatless Friday #4 took me back to Mango Grove on Dobbin Road. I am really starting to both look forward to going for their cheap and ridiculously filling vegetarian buffet and dread it knowing that I will leave full and slightly achy because of all the rich food I just ate. Please don't let PETA tell you that meatless food is not fattening (which they have apparently tried to say before). This is fattening. One remarkable appetizer I hadn't seen before was the bread pakora. Think a small piece of sandwich with potato filling slathered with a tomato chutney inside, then dipped in chickpea batter and deep-fried. It was just beautiful, but it showed me that I can't rely on vegetarian food if I want to lose weight. Mind you I'm not overweight, and I wouldn't mind losing a pound or two. Still, I won't see that happen if I still eat these things!