It’s been a whirlwind year, this weekend we celebrated our first year anniversary since we moved back to the Bay Area. It’s amazing how time goes by so quickly, specially when you are enjoying life. To celebrate our friends at Yalla Mediterranean invited us to try their new location in Fremont and of course we are thankful that we had this great opportunity.
Last Friday after school pickups, I surprised my kids with a visit to Yalla. As soon as we arrived we were all excited to try their delicious food, we had been following them on Instagram and had a general idea of what we’d order.
First things first, we are a detail oriented family. This means we look at every single detail in our surroundings, from colors to textures to tastes; Yalla’s logo captured our attention. A simple slice of lemon and the name, to us this meant simple ingredients in a modern and clean restaurant. We also noticed the combination of colors in the décor: Yellow, teal and gray, looks perfect to us.
As we entered Yalla, we were greeted by smiling faces ready to cook our order. Wait a minute, did I say cook? Yes, I did. You see, at Yalla they prepare your meat, chicken and/or fish the moment you order it. First they ask what style you’d like, options are: wrap, salad or plate. We all chose plate style, which comes with 3 sides for adult portions and 2 sides for kids portion.
I ordered the Chicken Skewers plate, this is all natural chicken breast that has herbs and spices served on top of Basmati Rice and seasonal vegetables –our server suggested to try the Spiced Lentils and they were delicious! a side of Moroccan Carrot Salad {carrots, cumin, dill, golden raisins, honey and greek vinaigrette}, Fattoush Salad {cucumber, olives, dill, red onion, green onion}, Israeli Cous Cous {cous cous, dried fig, dried apricots, almonds, parsley, scallions, fennel, olive oil, white balsamic vinegar}. Everything tasted fresh and was delicious.
I should point out that all of their sides are Vegetarian and Gluten Free, some are even Dairy Free and Yalla only uses GMO Free ingredients. Every morning the Yalla team chops, dices, zests and spices 360 pounds of fresh produce, I absolutely love this!
The kids’ menu is perfect for ages 10 and under, they have the same choices: Salmon or Chicken or Kefta Skewer, or Falafel. My kids ordered Salmon Skewer and chicken Skewer and liked it. It is served with Basmati Rice, Yalla Fries and 1 Yalla Side, and includes your choice of Organic Milk or House-Made Lemonade.
The ambience at Yalla is casual, family friendly and even though your food is prepared and cooked at the moment you order, you are enjoying it within 5-10 minutes. After our meal, we ordered dessert Greek Frozen Yogurt with chocolate sauce.
My family enjoyed their food, the ambience and friendly team that were always smiling. In fact as we were leaving my kids asked if we could come back the next day to eat another delicious, freshly made dinner. As for me, I do plan on returning. The taste, temperature and quality of the service were fantastic.
Special thanks to Evonna, she suggested I try the Beet and Kale Salad {roasted beets, kale, feta cheese and Greek Vinaigrette} it was so good and will be added to my faves for our next visit.
We live 40 minutes from this location, but I did ask if they were planning on opening anywhere in the South Bay Area and was told that it is planed to happen in 2016 –yay!
*This is a sponsored post, all opinions, story and images are 100% our own.*
