We’re not always up for a brunch buffet, as the mere idea reminds us of those towers of bacon and sheets of monolithic egg substance that usually dominate them. But in a rare instance, there emerges a buffet that cannot be resisted.

Taverna Cretekou, an Alexandria Old Town mainstay, has one of the most comprehensive buffets we’ve ever seen (and that includes all those hotel buffets that include offerings as bizarrely diverse as chocolate mousse and caviar). This buffet showcases all the best aspects of Greek cuisine—the moussaka, tzatziki, pastitsio, etc., and it turns over quickly, so most of the food only just recently emerged from the kitchen.

Taverna doesn’t skimp on quantity and variety, and thankfully dill and garlic is dispensed in abundance. The smorgasbord starts out with field greens and a soup (usually a Greek standard such as avgolomeno, but most recently it was gazpacho), which lead to an array of appetizers, including stuffed grape leaves (dolma), a dill and garlic laden babaganoush, tzatziki, and slices of rustic bread, which go great with the thick housemade yoghurt and their peppery olive oil (be sure to request the olive oil, as they don’t include it as a default tableside offering).