One was fiber-rich brotein bar, and the other was a more traditional brotein bar. The benefit of this combination is that I get 41 grams of brotein, 17 grams of fiber from one bar, and 17 grams of carbs from the other. It's like a dream meal.
This was the first time I had tasted the chocolate chip cookie dough fiber bar.
It is much better than the chocolate one I had yesterday. It still isn't that great, but it's definitely tolerable and worth it for the nutrients. Plus, eating it first makes the other brotein bar taste even better!
I ate these bars about 30 minutes before my exam so I would be primed for optimal performance. After smashing the exam (and later realizing a answered part of a question incorrectly) I went to the gym to expel some stress, frustration, and to attempt to get lean.
I got on a stationary bike and peddled my little heart out. I tried to do a variant of high intensity interval training. It basically consisted of me setting the resistance to level 15 or something and then peddling at a moderate pace (like 75-80 RPM) for 30 seconds followed by a higher pace (100-110 RPM) for 30 seconds. I repeated this cycle 10 times with the final cycle consisting of a full minute of high intensity. It took all of about 20 minutes or so including warm up and cool down, and then I went home.
A little while later I met Quinn (the soon-to-be Wayward Gringo) and Andrew at Aladdin Cafe for their lunch buffet. The idea was to get one last big meal in before Quinn starts his vegetarian month and before Andrew leaves Lawrence forever and returns to New York. The event was, as you'll soon see why, dubbed "Meatpocalypse."
And as you can see, Quinn was wasting no time getting through the door.
Once inside and seated, the three of us wasted no time hitting the buffet line. Now, here's where things get a little interesting. I've been to Aladdin Cafe before, but never for the buffet. So I kind of knew what to expect, but I still wanted to sample a fair selection. This led to me making the preliminary decision to get to plates right off the bat, each loaded with unique food items.
First, the plate on the right.
This plate featured (top to bottom) basmati rice, Chicken Shawarma, and lamb Gyro meat.
Now for the other plate.
This plate (starting with the soup and going clockwise) featured a bowl of lentil soup, baked tilapia, hummus, a couple falafel balls, and a few beef meatballs in "sweet" sauce.
Wow.
The lentil soup is really good, the rice is good, the chicken is pretty good, the falafel is good, the tilapia is excellent, the hummus is also excellent, but the lamb and beef meatballs... they are simply incredible. They just have such a deep and rich flavor that can't be iterated in words. This restaurant, put quite simply, went from a pretty consistent and solid option to one of my favorites. It was that good.
So, practicing fundamental Buffetology, I considered the food I just ate, deliberated for about 0.01738 seconds, and headed back to load up on the best options.
This is what I came back with.
It was essentially a plate, first covered with rice then piled high with the beef balls and lamb. In the future, I would come back to Aladdin Cafe's buffet just to get this plate. There's not many things better than this plate right here.
I also attempted to get some pita for my hummus, but they were still out. Pita is just about the hottest commodity on the Aladdin Cafe buffet, and it gets eaten just as fast as they can make it.
I was stalking the kitchen while eating, and eventually I saw a fresh batch heading toward the line. I jumped up and sprinted to the buffet to get my hands on some fresh pita naan flatbread carbs. Being ever the considerate person, I left some for others and only took 4 pieces.
This was not quite enough for the amount of hummus I got, so I needed a little more. Luckily, the lunch crowd had thinned out a bit, and there was a surplus of naan pita pizza bread on the buffet. I got two more pieces.
This was just the right amount for my remaining hummus.
After this was gone, I made the decision that it was time for dessert. The only option was rice pudding. Having been recently converted to a rice pudding fan by Sidney, I decided to try some.
And by some, I mean half a bowl.
It was made with rose water, and was actually really good. It was pretty thin, less like a traditional pudding and more like a drink...
And here's where things get very interesting.
Enter, glass full of rice pudding.
Andrew joined me in this rice pudding chugging extravaganza.
Obviously, Quinn was enjoying the spectacle that was Andrew and I first spooning and then pouring our pudding from our bowls into our water glasses.
I can report that it is a bit of a mind twister trying to drink this stuff. While it's extremely low in viscosity relative to other puddings, and very capable of being consumed in drink form, it's an interesting sensation drinking something with chunks (big at times) of stuff in it. But once you get past that, there aren't many things better than chugging about 4 or 5 big gulps of rice pudding out of a glass.
The irony of this situation is that, originally, it was Quinn and I who were going to do this. Andrew protested, claiming that he didn't want to feel "too" full, so we initially decided against it. Eventually, though, Andrew came around. But by this time, Quinn had gotten more food, so he no longer wanted to partake in the chugging of rice pudding.
But, of course, eventually it happened. We couldn't leave without getting a picture of three water glasses full of rice pudding.
With this, we ended our buffeast. It was a good meal to say the least, and a proper ending to our Epic Buffet adventures.
A little while later, or quite a while later actually, I finished my day right with three chocolate covered peanuts and a peanut butter cup.
The huge shall rise again!
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