Gjusta 
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I found myself randomly in Santa Monica the other day on a weekday and decided to swing by Gjusta (finally). Happy to report that the smoked fish plate met my high expectations based on this thread, with the highlight being the smoked kanpachi - of course, at $52/pound, it better damn well be tasty! Large fish plate togo at $30 only came with 1 thing of schmear or whatever, so ask for more. The provided amount of bread was enough, and while it didnât seem like a lot of food at the beginning definitely filled me up by the end (it was shared).
I thought the smoked fish plate was significantly more successful than their other offerings - I had the matcha pound cake and baklava croissant, and sampled some quiche. They werenât bad by any stretch of the imagination, but there are better uses for those calories.
That neighborhood thoughâŚ
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Kanpachi is on my top shelf as well. Other than their bread, the baked goods have lost my interest. I try not to even look in that part of the cases when walking in (but I still do just in case something interesting shows).
That neighborhood is pretty âeclecticâ to say the least.
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I only do savory at Gjusta nowâlearned the hard way that their sweets case is 75/25 miss to hit. The good news is the savory stuff is pretty incredible.
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Hi @Ns1,
So glad you finally made it out to Gjusta and that you enjoyed the smoked fish plate! 
I love their Smoked Kanpachi as well. 
Was it the cold-smoked or hot-smoked version? Thatâs one of the nice things with Gjustaâs smoked seafood case: There are so many variations and different offerings there, changing every few days.
Yah, the pastries section isnât their highlight - definitely consider some of their amazing Sandwiches next time, or full plates (like their Rotisserie Chicken plate). Breakfast (savory) is great as well.
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I agree with you and @bulavinaka. But once we know which ones are great, they are absolutely worth ordering though. Not the pastries, but the sweets like the legendary Carrot Cake, Pumpernickel Chocolate Fudge Brownie and Paris Brest.
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Canât remember if youâre an italian sub fan. If so, the italian sandwich there is a definite donât-miss. Just had it recently, and it really is (still) fantastic.
Havenât had many pastries there, but the croissant I had was sufficient bleh (bordering on unpleasant) that I tend to stay away from those.
Indeed.
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Thanks for the additional recs. Unfortunately I was there at 10 and missed all the primo lunch offerings Iâve been eye fucking for years.
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Next time youâre there for breakfast, there is a bialy based breakfast sandwich with harissa that is incredible.
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Love the bialy breakfast sandwich as well!
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Or a loaded bialy with smoked salmon belly and burrata always hit the spot. The rye bialy is wonderful when they have it.
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New Yearâs Day breakfast catered by Gjusta.
The lox.
The quiche.
My plate.
No photos, but pain au chocolat were amazing, as were the onion bialy.
Note: Be specific when ordering the fish plate. We received white fish, salmon (baked?), and three octopus tentacles. It was all fine, but next time I will be specific regarding which fish I want (smoked trout!).
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Very nice New Yearâs Day meal!
Donât forget to ask for some Cold Smoked Kanpachi and Salmon Belly as well. 
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Okay. Itâs been a bit since Iâve read through this thread, so forgive me if someone posted about this already. But . . .
Anyone tried the breakfast burrito here? I keep getting distracted with other goodness.
Perhaps @bulavinaka or FTC report-god @Chowseeker1999?
Iâve nearly attained Completionist-status on the menu, but the breakfast burrito seems so out of place at Gjusta I havenât tried it yet.
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Wait⌠they have a breakfast burrito??? How many times have I been there and not known that!
Maybe Iâm just blinded by the smoked fish sandwich
Right?!?!
If I wasnât shooting for full-menu dominance I would have missed it, too.
For me, it still keeps getting bumped for other items so far.
Guilty as charged. Will try to make the effort next time on that breakfast burrito. If itâs like GTAâs, itâs solid but who knowsâŚ
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Hi @frommtron,
What?!! This is what we get for just walking straight up to the counter and ordering without looking at the menu. 
When did they add a Breakfast Burrito? Iâm so sad.
OK, Iâll see if I can try it, or any one of our FTC Gjusta Club members chime in please if you get a chance. Thanks.
While usually skeptical of the sweet items here, I had my best pastry to date here today: the tahini croissant. Highly recommended. Simultaneously flaky, buttery, and savory, as a croissant should be, and then an excellent tahini filling to counter balance. Just delicious.
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