Other than what you mention, maybe water? Seriously - it’s easier to list what isn’t made there.
Well, Robert, you and I may form the small club of Gjusta smoked fish skeptics. I think it’s a pretty incredible place for roasted meats, breads, and salads. But the smoked fish section is more variety than a deft hand in smoking. It is a pretty good value given all the other stuff you get.
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I adore Gjusta, except for the smoked fish. I love sandwiches, and the bread used in their sandwiches for that matter, am alright with the prices; but @robert and @haeldaur, I too am in the small group of folks who do not think their smoked fish is anything special.
Living in Berkeley sets the bar pretty high for bread.
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Where to get bread in Berkeley?
So I stopped by the clusterfuck today that is Gjusta. It is mind blowing how good my meal was today.
Prime rib and turkey butchers. The turkey was way better than the first time I had it, which I thought was average that time. And the prime rib, you already know.
Also had the falafel which was awesome as ever. I think you can put their hummus on anything and it would taste great.
And a personal favorite, the cucumber, dill, avocado, pistachio…et al was fantastic yet again.
Finished off with a carrot cake to go. Pow! So tasty.
Gjusta Gjusta Gjusta
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WHAAAT? I was there too AND had the turkey butcher AND falafel sandwich AND carrot cake. Chicken parm was awesome as usual. Those pumpernickel brownies are waiting for me tonigtt as is the pastrami gravlax…
Turkey butcher was great. The dip capped it off. Sweet daughter destroyed most of it - only got two small bites.
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Mental note: brownies and chicken parm
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I was there on the 3rd for lunch! And I’m glad you mentioned that Cucumber, Avocado, Pistachio… salad, It really is fantastic.
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On that falafel sandwich: while eating the tail end of it, I inadvertently spilled most of the ingredients out from the bread. I noticed the inside had been toasted to a quick char. It’s obviously another step in layering in more flavors to this sandwich. Never noticed that before.
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Yeah, that and the cauliflower with anchovy are my two favorites to date. Ridiculous. The cucumber just has some many different tastes and textures.
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I was passing by and was surprised to see them open on the 4th so stopped in and got the bbq ribs with apricot glaze and the mixed berry crumble tart to go for a post-fireworks dinner. All terrific. The ribs reheated nicely and were very meaty and flavorful.
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This is such a tease. 
I totally would have ordered this if it was available for lunch. Haha thanks for the intel.
Fans of the Turkey Butcher may want to check out the Turkey Reuben as well. It’s delicious!
Hi @Bigmouth,
Oh nice! Is the Turkey Reuben new on the menu? Don’t remember seeing it before.
How does it taste?
Genuine question, but are there a lot of complaints here about good-but-expensive Thai and Chinese food? My impression is that the complaints about the more expensive Thai places (well, place, since I think the complaints mainly centered on Pok Pok) weren’t about t the price itself but more about how only some of the dishes were standouts while the rest were relatively meh. I myself am reluctant to go back to a place like Jitlada b/c the service is so ridiculously slow (and indifferent, bordering on rude) that I just can’t justify the commute time + price.
As far as Chinese goes, I don’t recall a lot of complaints about well-executed Chinese food in a relatively expensive location (Meizhou Dongpo, which I haven’t been to myself).
For me, I do consider Gjusta to be very pricey. I’m fine eating it once in awhile, but, even though I think the price is relatively fair, I just can’t afford to spend that much regularly on food! And I do think the price is relatively fair b/c of what the rent must be (in addition to quality of the food). I’ve looked at small plots of commercial property in Venice and Santa Monica (for things TOTALLY unrelated to the food/restaurant industry), and the asking price is truly astronomical compared to some other places in LA county that are still relatively nice (like Encino). When you say the Venice is unrecognizable in many ways, it really probably is…
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I didn’t have only FTC in mind–it’s a general kind of attitude not unusual among foodies: “Thai/Chinese/whatever shouldn’t be so expensive or isn’t good if it is”. Of course you could say the same about sandwiches and salad.
And interesting to hear that about Jitlada. We haven’t been in over a year but while the service has always been slow we’ve never had anything but very friendly service.
It’s not new, but I never realized you could order the Reuben with turkey instead of pastrami until my friend did so last week. I thought it was delicious, personally. The same thick-cut white and dark meat as the Butcher but with house-made kraut, cheese, and Russian dressing. Yum!
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