Gyenari redux

The Friday before Superbowl, Dan and I, along with M went to lunch at Gyenari.  This was our 2nd visit back and we were seated at the same booth as last time.

They’ve done some redecorating since then, turning the tables in the center of the room into booths. They were also putting up plasma TVs in their bar/lounge area at the front of the restaurant.  A flyer on the table advertising a Superbowl event explained why.

The kinks in service seemed to have been smoothed out and we had an excellent and attentive waitress.  We never had to ask for refills on water.

I was surprised by how empty the restaurant was when we arrived but soon the lunch crowd hit and it was no longer so lonely.  I guess they go to lunch later in Culver City.

The food is still excellent and the prices are still the same.  I think they may have added a few items to their menu and it looks less strictly Asian and more fusion-y.

Gyenari - Bacon & Cheddar Jeon Jeon

One of the new items I noticed was an appetizer dish, Jeon Jeon, which is sort of like a savory Korean pancake.  There were two options – applewood-smoked bacon and cheddar or shrimp, calamari and kimchee.  Intrigued, I had to try the bacon n’ cheese.  What came out was a plate of a quartered Jeon Jeon and a side of ranch dressing.  (I forgot to grab a pix before 2 pieces were consumed).  The chef was quite generous with the cheese and the portion of bacon sprinkled around was decent.  The edges of the Jeon Jeon were crispy while the inside was nicely soft.  It wasn’t overly greasy which was a nice surprise given how much cheese was on it.  It was a great dish and one I would definitely have again.

Gyenari - Ox-tail broth

Gyenari - banchan

Along with the “banchan”, came bowls of delicious ox tail broth with slivers of daikon in it.  The side dishes consisted of spicy pickled shredded daikon, steamed broccoli, cucumber (“oi”) kimchee, bean sprouts, a potato-egg salad and, of course, kimchee.  Nothing uncommon or out of the ordinary and what you would find if you went to a regular Korean restaurant.

Gyenari - Spicy Pork Bulgogi lunch special

Like last time, Dan went with the lunch plate but opted for the braised beef – a chunk of beef that’s been braised in a soy sauce mixture.  It was tender, flaky and full of flavor.  I opted for a lunch plate as well, going with the Spicy Pork Bulgogi.  Like before, rice, salad, japchae, fruit and tempura accompanied the meat.  I like how Gyenari uses mixed greens instead of plain iceberg lettuce.  The tempura is light and not greasy and they include a green bean, asparagus, sweet potato slice and shrimp.  The spicy pork bulgogi had quite a bit of heat to it, surprisingly.  Between 2 slices of the Jeon Jeon and half my main course, I was pretty stuffed and required a to-go box.  The leftover meat, tempura and japchae heated up quite nicely for dinner, by the way.

Gyenari - Bibimbap

M opted to try the “Gyenari Bibimbap” which ended up being Dolsot Bibimbap – bibimbap in a hot stone pot.  For those not familiar with “bibimbap”, it is rice with various vegetables, beef and an egg.  You add in a flavorful, sometimes spicy, red paste and mix everything together.

Gyenari’s version of toppings consisted of beef, cooked spinach, shitake mushroms, cucumbers, carrots and a sunny-side egg.  The bibimbap sauce proved to be too spicy for M so he did without.  He liked it quite a bit.

I only get Dolsot Bibimbop from one place, a Korean restaurant down in San Diego.  I’m going to have to give Gyenari’s a try one day to see how it compares.

The Catty critic gives Gyenari an upgrade to 4 NOMs.

Gyenari
9450 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 838-3131
http://www.gyenari.com/

Gyenari

Okay, so after the honeymoon, we had to apt hunt and then move.   Let me tell you, moving in the week between X-mas and NYE sucks!  It was an adventure filled with dead car batteries, sprained wrists, shared elevators…  But our new apt is awesome and we are loving it lots!

Anyways, on with the reviews!!!

A long time ago, in a galaxy…okay, just the next town over…  Over in Culver City, two new restaurants opened up last year  in the same stretch of shopping mall – Gyenari and Rush Street.   Naturally, I had to try both.

Our first stop was Gyenari.  This place looked like the love child of a hip, swanky eatery and a Korean BBQ restaurant.  The inside is actually quite spacious and could host a large crowd.  There were booths and tables; however the tables looked bolted to the floor so no moving them around to seat large parties together.  And each table, as far as I could tell, was equipped with a grill.

It was opening week so the restaurant had a fair number of patrons.  We didn’t have to wait to be seated.  Our server was fairly attentive though there were a few times we had to flag someone down for refills on water.  And there was a little bit of a wait to get our food.  Hopefully, it was all due to being new and not having the kinks in the kitchen and wait staff worked out.

Gyenari - Japjae

Since it was lunch, we opted to order already prepared food vs. ordering Korean bbq.  Dan got a bbq beef bento box; our friend, M, went with the japchae and I had the kimchee fried rice with chicken.  M’s dish consisted of japchae served over rice.  For those not in the know, japchae = cellphane noodles cooked with beef and julienned veggies, usually carrots, onion, spinach, shitake mushrooms.  It looked filling and M said he enjoyed it.

Gyenari - BBQ Beef lunch special

Dan’s meal was a spectacular array of yummies.  There was a small portion of well-cooked, tender beef and an array of side dishes  served with a bowl of rice.  Being adverse to anything that wasn’t an animal prior to cooking, Dan left everything but the rice and beef alone so I got to feast on the side dishes.   There was a salad – a mix of spring greens vs. boring iceberg lettuce, some pickled cucumbers, kimchee – mild in spicyness, and japchae, as well as some nice pieces of tempura – lightly battered and fried.  As a dessert, a bowl of fruit was also included – melons with a few bits of berries.  Sweet and fresh, it was a light way to end a heavy meal.

Gyenari - Kimchee Fried Rice

Gyenari - chicken that was supposed to be in my fried rice

As for my meal, it was a heap of red-orange rice with large chunks of diced kimchee mixed in and a wonderful sunny side up egg on top.  Some places will serve this dish with chopped up fried egg already mixed in; that’s fine but I love it when there’s a whole egg on top with a runny yolk.  Mixing in the yolk is sooo tasty.  It was already popped (the waiter apologized for that), as you can see from the picture but that was okay.  It was still tasty – not too oily.  However, a few bites in, I realized that there was absolutely NO chicken in this plate.  It took a few minutes to get our waiter’s attention.  However, when the mistake was pointed out, he was quick to correct it.  Shortly there after, a generous portion of bbq chicken arrived.  I dug in before I remember to take a picture, heh.  It was moist, full of flavor and went well with my rice.  Nyom nyom nyom.

Gyenari - Brownie sundae

Despite being full, Dan insisted on dessert.  We got a hold of a menu and strangely enough, it listed things that didn’t really seem to fit with the Asian theme.  It listed American type desserts – brownie sundaes being one of them.  Rich chocolate brownie, vanilla bean ice cream that was slightly melty, real whipped cream and chopped hazelnuts.  It was beautifully presented, the green leaf adding a nice touch of color. It was a huge sundae; Dan and I reached bursting point and we didn’t finish it all.

The prices were decent, if a little bit on the expensive side for lunch.  If I recall correctly, my dish was between $10-15.  But given the “swankiness” of the place and the location, it was expected.

My first visit to Gyenari gets 3 1/2 NOMs.

Gyenari
9450 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
(310) 838-3131

http://www.gyenari.com/