I don’t often go to Middle Eastern cuisines; it’s not that I don’t like them, I simply just don’t know a lot of them. Ala is a Michelin-rated Levantine restaurant, making it a great choice for anyone!
It was one of the first Mediterranean places I went that was not a chain and definitely my first Middle Eastern buffet! There are two locations of Ala, but we went to the one in Bethesda. The first thing for you to know is that the inside has your typical Mediterranean feel. The trees, the drinks, the fake houses.
Our server was super nice, and probably surprised on how much we ate- but hey! A buffet is a buffet and food is food. The cost for each of us was $36 and once you see the amount of food we had you’ll be shocked…! For the food, most of it was self-serve but there were some items that we had to ask for- those usually were the hot items as opposed to the appetizers or desserts.
Okay… so yeah, we got a lot of food… We did eat it all which was shocking considering all of us are pretty petite women, but it was all so good! We could’ve gotten more and gotten more of a “bang for our buck” as they say, but our stomachs would just not allow it! And to be clear, we each paid $36.
This was just one of the three tables of desserts and as you can see- in the middle is the chocolate fountain!
Honestly, my favorite was probably the baklava but the fruit cups with custard (right of chocolate fountain) were absolutely delicious and I probably. had more than my doctor would approve of. But hey! Yolo, right?
I think it was a really great experience to be honest and I wish I had gone sooner.
It should be noted though, that the drinks were not included in the buffet.
You can purchase bottomless drinks as an additive if you wish.
Do I recommend Ala?
110% yes! The food was delicious, the interior was welcoming and appropriate for being a mediterranean restaurant, our server was lovely and the entire set up was customer-friendly. The one thing I would say is that next time I go, I’m going to have to be more hungry when I go so I can eat more 😛
Website: https://www.ala-dc.com/
Address: 4948 Fairmont Ave, Bethesda, MD 20814
Cheers friends and travelers!
~ Backroad Butterflies ~
Leave a Reply