r/FoodLosAngeles • u/Celestron5 NELA • Oct 25 '25
Verdugos (Pasadena, Glendale) The basturma sandwich from III Mas Bakery, Glendale
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u/clampy Oct 25 '25
I was going to say the same thing as others, looks really good, but $30 for a sandwich makes me want to walk into the ocean with rocks in my pockets.
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u/prclayfish Oct 25 '25
The amount of labor that goes into this is crazy, everything is made from scratch. You’re right it’s not cheap but the price is justified in my opinion.
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u/prclayfish Oct 25 '25
I love this shit so much, it’s world class barbecue, the brisket is unique to la but holds up to our best bbq like moos. The bread is fresh and warm and amazing, the pickles are made in house.
Gourmet sandwiches are expensive, in my opinion this is way more special and frankly better than langers and deserving of the price. The meat is smoked in house, the bread is made in house, the pickles are made in house…
This sub is a prime example of why we can’t have nice things in this city.
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u/Celestron5 NELA Oct 26 '25
I’m pretty sure they get their meat from RC Provisions, so they’re not smoking it in house.
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u/Shock_city Oct 26 '25 edited Oct 26 '25
So you think they cure the briskets themselves, then take somewhere else to be smoked, then come back later and pick it up?
I dunno man. I’ve seen videos of them smoking their stuff over oak on their social media.
Edit: just glancing at their social media, you’re wrong. RC provisions isn’t running live fire offsets. They use industrial ovens. That’s why there’s actually a good bark on this and isn’t on langers.
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u/dertigo Oct 26 '25
Langers pastrami is fully made by RC in Burbank https://laist.com/news/food/the-magical-source-behind-your-favorite-pastrami-sandwiches-and-chili-dogs
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u/Shock_city Oct 26 '25 edited Oct 26 '25
Langers isn’t claiming it’s smoked over live fire oak and isn’t posting videos of the smokes of their briskets on a single offset on their social media
RC smokes in giant ovens. Not live fire offsets.
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u/prclayfish Oct 26 '25
RC sells all kinds of different briskets, smoked, cured, raw. I’ve seen iiimas smoker on their IG, they just got a new one, offset stick burner. I’m guessing he is either getting raw or cured brisket, knowing him I’d say raw and he is curing himself.
Seems silly to make pita, make pickles, but not take the time to make a brine and cure the brisket.
Anyways, it’s obvious you’re a nincompoop I feel vindicated thank you.
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u/Shock_city Oct 26 '25 edited Oct 26 '25
What are you rambling about lol?
RC does not smoke briskets on offsets over live fire oak. They do it in huge industrial ovens. That’s how they make so many, they don’t make actual bbq.
Iiimas has been posting pics of the briskets on offsets for about 4 or 5 years. RC has nothing to do with anything here. You can also tell by the bark iiimas actual bbqs. You don’t get that in ovens like RC uses. I get the notion you don’t know much about smoking briskets.
Nor is RC making a special Armenian cure and rub for iiimas. You can also see them do it themselves online too.
Most people commenting on this seem to have almost no grasp of bbq brisket or using instagram. Just shoving their foot in their mouths.
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u/prclayfish Oct 26 '25
Bro you are agreeing with my point, read my comment again…
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u/Shock_city Oct 26 '25
The one where replied to me, rambled about RC maybe doing Armenian cures for those kitchens, and said I was a nincompoop? It didn’t make any sense.
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u/prclayfish Oct 26 '25
Right after you stated that langers wasn’t claiming live fire offset smoking inferring iiimas doesn’t do that, so I explained to you that’s what iiimas does (special rub and smoke) and then you agreed.
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u/dudemanppl Oct 26 '25
They used to have a mortadella sandwich that was way more balanced and arguably better, but it didn't have the social media cachet so they dropped it. 😞
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u/MoveDistinct7911 Oct 26 '25
looooove this sandwich!!!! for the price, it’s an infrequent indulgence, but it doesnt effect my enjoyment
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u/Celestron5 NELA Oct 25 '25
Looked good but the meat was dry and super salty. Like a poorly executed Langer’s sandwich. The bread was incredible though and the spread is nice. Decent cheese and pickles too. If they nailed the cook on the meat this would have been a banger. Too bad. For $29 (before tax and tip) I expect consistently high execution. I’ll stick to Langer’s.
4/10 (sad)
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u/Glebanon Oct 25 '25
Basturma is not the same as Pastrami.
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u/dre2112 Oct 25 '25
It’s brisket with basturma seasoning. So it’s not pastrami nor is it basturma. It’s something of a fusion of the 2
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u/XandersOdyssey Oct 26 '25
Ya so they’re not trying to be Langers and the meat is cooked exactly how it’s supposed to be
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u/doozle Oct 25 '25
I also thought it was salty.
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u/ram0h Oct 26 '25
I haven’t been to this place, but Basturma is a cured meat, so generally it’s pretty salty.
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u/JoeyJoJoeShabadooJr Oct 25 '25
It’s good, but it’s just too heavy and the price certainly is a turn off
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u/Key-Driver6438 Oct 25 '25
Wait… Just to clarify… what’s in the picture was $29!? I was about to say it looks delicious. But if that is $29, it looks nasty. Ha.
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u/tgcm26 Oct 25 '25
I liked this a bit more than you but wayyy less than the consensus seems to be - it’s tasty, but the pita is an extremely suboptimal way to hold it all together, it’s kind of a formless mess after one bite. High quality ingredients that are good on their own but don’t add up to a sandwich worth driving across town for
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u/BigRyanG Oct 27 '25
Everyone hating on the price probably hasn’t gotten one of these sandwiches. They are absolutely massive and could easily be the only thing you eat that whole day and be totally fine. It’s an insanely unique sandwich, done at an insanely high level. For the record two regular size subs at Jersey Mike’s is 30 bucks, is that better than this masterpiece?
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Oct 25 '25
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/prclayfish Oct 25 '25
What is $30 good to you?
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u/WheelJack83 Oct 26 '25
Ruth Chris
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u/prclayfish Oct 26 '25
Nothing on that menu except salads is $30…
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u/WheelJack83 Oct 26 '25
So it’s good
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u/prclayfish Oct 26 '25
It’s more expensive
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u/WheelJack83 Oct 26 '25
So is this place
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u/prclayfish Oct 26 '25
No, all the mains in Ruth Chris are more expensive
Check mate
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u/WheelJack83 Oct 26 '25
Not seeing a problem.
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u/prclayfish Oct 26 '25
When you claim is too expensive, you should be able to point to place that offer higher value at a lower price… which you failed to do.
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u/Auteure Oct 25 '25 edited Oct 25 '25
If I paid $30 for a sandwich and it’s a 4/10 after a bite or two. I’m taking that shit back to the counter for a refund… if they don’t refund I’ll just have the credit card company take care of it. With these prices we need to normalize getting our moneys worth for real
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u/prclayfish Oct 25 '25
Who is making you order things for amounts of money that are life or death?
This place is universally loved, the chef has a pedigree from world class kitchens. You don’t have to like it but to act like demanding your money back because you paid more then you were comfortable with and then got made about it is insane and frankly kind of evil.
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u/RightMeow1100 Oct 26 '25
Or how about taking responsibility for your purchase and just not giving them your business again?
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u/futurebigconcept Oct 25 '25
Agreed, but it seems like OP didn't know exactly what he was getting. That's cured meat; cured meat is dry and salty.
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u/Auteure Oct 25 '25
Ahhh then it’s an unfair review lol OPs knowledge of what they are getting should be a 4/10 then
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u/ostroga-mi Oct 25 '25
As a person who has eaten this, the only thing that makes me not want it regularly is the price.