Really haven't had a good brunch for a while, and we are craving for it today! We picked this place called Gjelina, and we are still not sure how to pronounce this. Oh well, it's all about the food right? This place is located in Venice, which means it is SUPER hard to find a parking spot, a free parking to be specific. This place is open at 8 am, so if you are one of those early birds, it shouldn't be a problem finding a parking spot. Unfortunately, we got up late today and arrived there at noon, but fortunately, we found a parking spot a couple blocks away! A good start to the day!
I love the decor of the place, wooden ceiling, brick tiles, metal looking walls..... a very rustic feeling. And I love the little picture of mountains they have on the menu. Apparently, no photography is allowed of the place! They told me after I took a couple of pictures. I wonder why. Maybe there are a lot of celebrities who come here????
We are feeling very breakfast-y this morning/afternoon, so we only picked stuff from the breakfast items. They also have pizza, salad, etc. They have a very extensive list of wine and cocktails too if anyone is interested! I am usually a coffee person in the day, so no alcohol for me. Here's what we ordered:
Cortado - This is similar to an italian caffe macchiato or a cappuccino, basically espresso with a little bit of warm milk. Very tasty! A brunch place cannot pass without a good coffee.
Duck Confit-potato Hash, sunny duck egg & grainy mustard - I love an actually HOT hot dish. Some places I have been, the food is kinda luke warm coming out, which ruins the dish! Very tasty, egg is runny, duck well cooked, and I like the caramelized onions and peppers. One thing I would complain is that too little potato hash to balance out the saltiness of the dish. When I order a hash, I expect hot crispy potato hash, and it wasn't there.
Lemon Buckweat Ricotta Pancakes, creme fraiche & blueberry compote - Awesome pancake! Fluffy, soft and hot. Just enough sweetness, blueberry compote gave it the perfect acidity and sweetness at the same time.
Roasted Turkey Tartine, Rapini, tomato, caramelized onion, gruyere & fried egg - Turkey is tender, toast is crispy, well seasoned. One common problem of this kind of dish is that it would be too greasy because of the cheese, but they made it well!
Chocolate Pistachio Tart, creme fraiche & pistachio oil - Not sweet at all but just sweet enough for my sweet tooth. They added a little salt in the chocolate, and it worked perfectly with the pistachio. It was a very big slice, so it ended up a little heavy, but it was good.
Overall, 4 out of 5.
Above is the place right next door called GTA (Gjelina Take Away). It can be quite a wait sometimes and for those who don't like to wait, here it is! We didn't order pizza there, but the pizza looked really good, and you can get pizza to go here!
The restaurant is right on Abbott Kinney, a strip of little shops and restaurants. We walked around a little after brunch, and they have a lot of fun stores! Things tend to be a little pricey in this area, so we didn't really buy anything, but it was so much fun to walk around different stores, clothing, gadgets, antique, etc. They also have blue bottle here, a coffee place I found in San Francisco and now has spread to LA! The infamous Kogi taco truck was here today too! We were too full to get anything, but we love that truck.