Gyenari

Clubby vibe. They have both hot pot and not hot pot.
And surprise! Great vegi options off and on the menu.
Not a vegi? I’ve heard the lobster bisque is out of this world

For Korean food, this place is sure as shit overpriced. Dinner for two people, the bill was somewhere around $ 110 including tip. A similar meal at a real Korean restaurant would be about HALF that price and AYCE.
That was for a $ 79 pre-​set dinner combination, 2 beers, and tip.
The food was good, but not amazing which I would expect for the price I paid and for a Monday night (dining area was empty), service could have been much better (like they could have changed the burnt grill, but they didn’t).
If you’re Korean American like I am, and have seen your fair share of Korean restaurants, you might find yourself disappointed after coming to this one.

i stumbled upon this spot by accident after browsing through the restaurants that are participating in ‘dine LA restaurant week’, which offer special pricing on their lunch/​dinners.
what drew me to this spot wasn’t just the kbbq, but the sound of GREEN TEA DONUTS got me very very curious.
first, parking is plentiful in the structure on Cardiff Ave (it’s next to a B of A that is on the corner, 2hr parking FREE– no validation needed)…Gyenari is just across the street from it.
there are a few outdoor tables, but no grills… so i’d only sit outside if u aren’t gonna be ordering kbbq. indoors, there’s a small pond/​fountain thingy and to the right is the bar with some tables scattered about. moving towards the middle of the restaurant, there are plenty of tables with grills and even a large banquet style tables for private parties. bathrooms are through the right corridor (just follow the bathroom signs, and they’ll be on your left side).
for the food, we decided to do the dine LA special, which included one appetizer, one entrée, and one dessert for each person ($ 22). we shared some fried seafood mandoo (potstickers) and japchae (korean version of chow mein… kinda). the mandoo was crispy and loaded with seafood goodness. they also included a sweet/​spicy sauce to dip it in. as for the japchae, it was okay… nothing mind blowing.
for our entrees, we chose to do the bbq entrée (u choose 3 types of meat) and it comes with a few banchan (side dishes) and rice. once we received our meat, the waiter fired up the grill for us and kinda showed us how to cook the meat, although i’m quite familiar with kbbq places. the bulgogi was awesome and had a bit of sweetness to it (u can totally tell it’s American/​Korean fusion and not traditional). the chicken was decent and tender, as well as the spicy pork.
for dessert, we ordered one of each of the choices (green tea donuts, banana cream pie, and crème brûlée). the crème brûlée was okay and was actually chocolate… not your typical kind. the green tea donuts (they give us two for the dine LA portion) comes with chocolate and strawberry sauces to dip them in. the donuts had a very subtle flavor of green tea and i found myself a bit disappointed. however, the banana cream pie was heavenly! omg, it was the best out of the three and was perfect… not too sweet or bland with just the right amount of crust.
overall, i was pretty satisfied with the food and would definitely come back to try their bibimbap and other dishes… and of course, order a slice of that banana cream pie for myself!

Overall really good :)
THE ORDER:
(i have picts of all of this)
Citrus Salad…4 stars. Tasty, texturally exciting, and balanced! Not very Korean, in my opinion, but it was good, nevertheless!
Kimchi Fried Rice…4.5 stars. While this is a simple dish, the texture of this was unique, the portion was perfect and the easy/​med fried egg atop the mound of heaven made it almost as good as my husband’s!!!
Wagyu Steak…3 stars. This was good… but I was really expecting more. I am very familiar with all diff kinds of steak. It was tender, but could have used a bit more flavor. They gave us dipping sauces for it, but IMHO, a great (and $ 65.00) steak needs nothing more but a pinch of salt and pepper and be seared to a juicy rare. SKIP.
Seafood Platter…4 stars… the scallops and shrimp were smaller than I expected, but seasoned to near perfection. Delish!
THE SERVICE:
All around, delightful. The waiter didnt even charge us a corkage fee for my 2005 Silver Oak Cab! Score!
FYI:
They do not offer champagne, but prosecco only. So if you’re going there to celebrate a bday or anniversary, BYOC!
enjoy!!!
xo–
andrea

Five stars for their happy hour. I wasn’t that crazy about it when I ate in the regular restaurant.
Happy hour has fairly cheap drinks and a very large variety of food items. Individual food items at $ 3 – 5 starts to add up especially if you get an off-​special drink but each of the food items is good and tasty. Everything’s a little bit spicy but that’s the good part.
I’ve been there 4 or 5 times and always had the same waitress. She’s very attentive, pleasant, and you’re served rather quickly. Great great service particularly in comparison to Kay and Dave’s up the street.

Meh —
$ 13 for a dozen chips with nacho cheese and a small pile of bulgogi. That’s over a dollar a chip!
Pulled pork and bulgogi sliders with a 4 to 1, bread to meat ratio. I think I tasted some sweetness but it could have been from the bread. Definitely a miss with that much bread.
Kimchi fried rice with a fried egg on top for $ 5. Sadly this was the best dish and probably the one with the best dollar to food value. I don’t know how they can call it fried rice when the rice was mush and tasted like it was steamed for far too long. But runny yolk can improve almost any failed dish.
I had wanted to come here for their lunch time burger but now I have no intent on going back.

Gyenari reminds me of a Korean version of Gyu-​kaku.
It’s definitely not a bad thing since I think Gyenari tries to differeniate themselves from other KBBQ spots as more upscale and modern, with good service. It’s not an AYCE spot but they do have their G sets that gives you a good amount of food.
I came with Leonard W. since we had a Groupon for the place. They didn’t let us use it on the special prices they had for G1 set on weekdays at the time so we paid normal prices (around $ 80 rather than $ 60). The set came with kabli, bulgogi, pork belly, chicken, and japchae, along with banchan.
The kalbi and bulgogi were marinated pretty well, but my favorite was definitely the aged pork belly. I’m a sucker for pork belly but it is really good here. Sometimes for pork belly, if it’s not the highest quality, it can have a weird taste to it but none of that here at Gyenari. Chicken were chopped up into bite sizes already and it was tender. Japchae (noodle) is extremely tasty, and the banchan aren’t bad either with my favorite being the cucumber.
The thing that I like the most about Gyenari though has got to be the smokeless grill. I think it was the first time I went to a KBBQ place and didn’t smell like it coming out. It works really really well. I can even say, you can come here and eat first, then go on a date after!
Great service throughout our dinner as well. The waiter kept coming back and explained everything, how it was suppose to be eaten, and cook for us. Definitely good for someone that has never experienced KBBQ… which is kinda hard to imagine in LA.
Good place, but in the end, it’s way pricier then what other places charge. If you’re around the area, it’s a good place to check out. I might just go back for the happy hour next time around.

a not so HAPPY «happy hour»!!! food’s not bad but the bartender had a stick up his bootay!
the bar tender was giving us the cold shoulder!!! because before we found seats, we ordered AND PAID FOR some tacos, but us finally being seated created some confusion, causing him to say to the other bartender «don’t let people who don’t have seats order food» CLEARLY loud enough for us to hear (i think that’s just rude and unprofessional)
the bar was happening & CROWDED, probably because it was the culver city downtown celebration that day BUT happy hour only works in the bar area so we had no choice!
with some of the things we ordered, they’d make us pay upfront and on other’s we paid at the end. i don’t understand why? please GET THE SYSTEM STRAIGHT??!
—2 crab sliders, crispy & not bad, a little plain
—«melting mandoo» dumplings w/​pimento scallion soy sauce. forgettable
PARKING: free for 2 hours in the garage!

I had never tried the food at Gyenari before our recent Elite Event there, but once I had a taste of their goods I knew I had to go back! Luckily, I had a coworker visiting for the weekend and conveniently staying in Culver City, so I knew it was the perfect opportunity.
We met for a late lunch so the space was pretty empty and I had no problem finding a great seat outside where I could enjoy the sunny day. We had two waiters helping us who were eager to bring out drinks and take our orders right away, with huge smiles on their faces. Seriously, this place employs some of the nicest staff I’ve seen in a looong time!
I went with the Build Your Own Bimimbap option off of the lunch menu, which at $ 6.95 is a fantastic deal. I went with the Kalbi and white rice in a stone pot, which I always prefer to the cold bowl as it makes the rice nice and crispy on the bottom. They also have a greens option or brown rice for those watching their waistlines.
There are plenty of Korean favorites on the menu like Kimchi fried rice and bulgogi, but you’ll find a couple of fusiony dishes on there too, as well as some other items like sandwiches and burgers. Basically, everything you could want in one menu!
After my delicious lunch, I was lucky enough to be treated to a couple of their desserts. They have a famous green tea donut which I liked a lot for the freshness and consistency, though there was something about the green tea flavor that wasn’t my favorite. However, I absolutely loved this frozen banana pie concoction that was also served, with fresh bananas on top. I couldn’t stop eating it!
With the great service, gorgeous space and mouth-​watering options, Gyenari is the complete package. Can’t wait to go back!

The broccoli is superb, seasoned with a little bit of fantasticness. And I know everyone raves about the green tea donuts, but I want to bring the spotlight over to the Banana Cream Pie. Hellooooooo gorgeous! It was a masterpiece that looked as good on the plate as it felt going down into my tum tum tum.
The restaurant itself is spacious and offers a great dining area, bar lounge, and patio seating. Really awesome staff and the price point is spot on.

Wonderful varieties of Korean Cuisine and, I was at this über modern eatery in an area of Culver City that has changed with gentrification tremendously.
Upon entrance a great bar and lounge await you as you look to the right to the large big screen TV (the Lakers were winning at the time). Then you proceeded into a very well drafted and designed dining area with booth and comfy seats (for those of us without much kush in our tush).
The food on this evenings menu was served buffet style and very well organized with an entrance on the left as well as the right.
Delicious salad with mixed greens, walnuts, red and yellow bell peppers (sliced perfectly), slices of Asian Pear, Mandarin Orange segments and a vinegar, oil and seasoned dressing.
White or a seasoned wet rice, thin seasoned glass noodles, chunks of seasoned curry chicken, pulled pork, fried singled ribs (the highlight for me) and chunks of marinated beef and lamb. Also, Green tea donuts dipped in chocolate/​rasberry sauces, crispy ginger ribs, bulgogi and spicy chicken.
Top all of that of with servers making their rounds (the ladies) in these gorgeous red crumpled fitted short skirted eye catching lovely creations with rice rolls consisting of beef and lamb and, seafood and beef Gyenari. Also, the signature cocktails a plenty too.
Just a plethora of I need to call Jenny delicacies!
Their signature cocktail Pomerita drink had me swimmy-​headed all the way home (Erin V. was our DD and Andrea V was the copilot for this food coma lush!)
Ambiance-​5 Stars
Food-​5 Stars
Staff-​5 Stars
Cocktails-​5 Stars-​O_​o-​HICK-​UP!
This place had me singing:

Gyenari has been a neighborhood favorite of mine for a long time, it isn’t entirely a full on Korean BBQ venue, yet still it is tasty goodness for my soul.
Just inside the door is a bar and lounge with rustic wooden benches overlooking a water feature and a wall of back lighted wine bottles. Ceilings are high with dark wooden rafters. The look is elegant and minimalist, which blends well with the style of the area.
The food at this restaurant has always been top notch, I love the open pit in the center of the table and having it cooked right there. In the main restaurant area each of the 32 grill tables is outfitted with a Korean gas barbecue, the better to grill your own short ribs, chicken and pork belly. But instead of the usual noisy hoods, the grills vent the smoke almost silently, which is great for a crowded venue like this can get.
Prices are much higher than in Korea town. And they’ve updated the traditional barbecue menu with separate appetizers — dumplings filled with shrimp or pork, glass noodles with prime rib, tempura — and fancy composed salads with a Korean twist. And for those not interested in barbecue, there are main courses such as prime rib dip, blackened salmon or a chuck burger.
I’ll definitely come here again as I said its a local favorite of mine and some friends /​coworkers, especially with the addition of a 3 course meal to the menu.

Pricey, but you could definitely share the bulgogi if you aren’t that hungry because its a LOT of food. Luckily, I had just worked out, or I couldn’t have finished half of it. Food just kept coming.
— Bar area is very casual — dining room is usually a little more dressy. It’s in a beach city in L.A. though… they aren’t going to turn you away. Dining room had people in shorts and flip flops and others in dressier clothes. Jacket is definitely not required.
— Great food, service and atmosphere!
— Very clean
— It’s very relaxing with waterfalls and all.
— Great design and décor… combines the old brick elements of the building with modern design and architecture… very open design. Low backs on the booths allow you to see the entire room. If you’re the friendly outgoing type, it’s great. I liked it. Was very open and friendly.

This place is alright. We found this place becaue there was a deal on LivingSocial. It’s a KBBQ place. We came here on a Sat around 8pm with no reservations. They were able to seat us right away. We ordered the G-​1 from the Prix Fixe menu which came with Gynari Galbee, Bulgogi, Pork Belly, Gyenari Flower Chicken, and Japchae with Chicken. Total price $ 79. They say that this meal is enough for 2 people, however, between the three of us, there were still leftovers. It was enough for actually 4 people.
This meal came with rice, beef broth, and other condiments. Broccoli (too salty), Potato Salad, Kim Chee, some kind of cucumber kim chee, tofu (kinda too sweet and too spicy), sprouts, and cold rice with seaweed.
The Flower Chicken was soft. You barely had to chew it. The pork belly seemed better than the ones I’ve had at a few other Korean bbq restaurants. I think it was missing that sauce that comes with it though. Not sure if it’s offered here. We forgot to ask for it. I liked their Japchae. It comes standard with beef, but you’re also able to get it with chicken.
Also, there is an option for them to actually cook it for you instead of grilling it yourself. I think this worked out better for us. (No KBBQ smell on your clothes).
Their grills are also pretty high tech. It works kind of like a vacuum. sucking up the smokey smell. So the whole place didn’t smell like KBBQ.
This place was good. Fancy. But… if I were in the mood for KBBQ, I wouldn’t come here again. I would instead go to Manna Korean BBQ which is closeby at the Westfield Culver City Mall. Plus, this place is all you can eat.
Parking: There is a closeby parking structure that you can park at. The first 2 hours is free. Either that, or there is metered parking all over culver city. Although, the meter is only free on Sundays. And after 6 I believe all the other days.

(This review is for their happy hour bar menu only)
Gyenari is a Korean BBQ restaurant in Culver City. While I haven’t been to many authentic Korean BBQ places, I would imagine from the sound of the menu that this is more of a fusion place than something you would find in Koreatown. The atmosphere is a mix of upscale bar and sports bar.
I tried three things from their bar menu. This is how I would rank them.
(Crispy ginger ribs) These ribs reminded me a lot of Asian fusion BBQ ribs I’ve had. They were tasty. The outside portion of the rib was crispy while the meat was tender (good textures). The sauce was a sweet and savory ginger glaze. Pretty flavorful and a good dish.
(Spicy chicken drummettes) This chicken drummettes had a good amount of heat to them. The meat was tender and cooked properly. They were not the best chicken wings I’ve had, but they were tasty.
(Dumplings) The dumplings were a little below average. They had some ground meat inside and there was a little bit of flavor though not enough. The outside of the dumpling was too oily. I would not get them again if I came back.
Overall, I liked two of the three appetizers. The prices were good for happy hour (each option was around $ 5). I’m not sure what they charge at other times. I looked at prices from their dinner menu and they seemed to be a little steep.
While I felt the food at Gyenari was tasty, I’m not sure if their regular menu prices would be competitive with other Korean BBQ restaurants. Gyenari may not be a bad place to try if you live in the Culver City area, but you may want to visit their website and see their prices before making a visit.
In terms of parking, there are several nearby parking structures that are free for the first two hours.

I love the décor. The tables are nice and the big photographs along the walls of street scenes in Korea remind me of Korea. There are pictures of taxis, buses, food stands, people, etc.
The food is very clean and well presented. If you’re looking for 100% authentic Korean food (the way your Korean mom makes it), this isn’t the place for you.
But if you want to try Korean food in a clean, well presented, and easy on your palate manner, this is perfect.
Banchan (side dishes) — excellent. Top quality kimchi, pear/​radish/​cucumber, salad, fishcakes (oh deng), potato salad, white rice and seaweed (gim), etc. It was so good that we ate it all in the first few minutes. A nice lady walked by and asked «would you like more banchan?» and gave us a whole new set. Excellent.
We ordered the following dishes:
Bibimbap in a stone pot — yeah this is fairly typical Korean restaurant food and there’s is very good. There’s a good mix of beef, mushrooms, vegetables, and rice. The ratio of rice to toppings is also good. The only minus is that hot sauce. The hot sauce isn’t as thick and red pepper based as traditional Korean food. I found that it was way too weak and watery for my taste but overall, a decent dish.
Beef dumpling soup — this was a winner. It comes in a stone pot and there was a lot of dumpling (mandoo) in there.
Kimchi fried rice — another winner. The egg on top was cooked well (yolk was half cooked which is good). Presentation was great as it came in an inverted bowl shape. Lots of good flavor and the fried rice was well mixed.
Short ribs slow cooked (kalbi jjim) — This is my favorite Korean dish. The dish here was lacking. It only came with 4 pieces of beef (albeit they were pretty big) and was presented over mashed potatoes. The marinate was too sweet and not salty enough.
Dessert — Green tea donuts. The donuts came piping hot as if they were just made. It also came with 2 dipping sauces… chocolate and raspberry (?). The donuts were very good with the chocolate dipping sauce. 4 donuts for $ 8.
Kid’s menu is also pretty good. It’s $ 6 and you can pick from things such as bbq beef, bbq chicken, shrimp tempura, etc. It comes with meat, rice, soup, and another side. It’s a pretty good deal. Kid’s dessert is also $ 1 for a scoop of ice cream or 1 green tea donut, etc. We ordered the bbq beef (bulgogi) and it was good.
Another minus was that we weren’t served bowls of rice with our meal. We probably could have ordered it but didn’t see it on the menu and it wasn’t asked when we ordered.
Overall service was great. Décor was great. Food was good as long as your expectations are set correctly.
We had a groupon so prices weren’t too bad. But even without the groupon, the prices aren’t too bad here. The BBQ is a little expensive but not any different than the typical Korean places in Koreatown (chosun, park’s, etc.).

Couple thoughts on lunch time:
Prices are not bad for such a nice place ranging $ 10 – 14 for set combos
Spicy ginger chicken tastes like mexican food
Galbi was well well well done almost bordering on jerky, but flavor was good
Panchan were delicious but only had 3 dishes
Japchae was slightly too overcooked but flavored well
You can get brown rice instead
Service is most excellent
If you come, I’d say you should cook your own meat on the grill instead of opting for the meat combos.

Yes…
I am ALSO Korean, and I am pretty stingy with stars when it comes to Korean restaurants.
HOWEVER, this place is Korean/​Fusion, and i got to admit, the food is pretty good!
They did a great job in mixing up the ingredients together that possibly could go VERY wrong.
Their Krn BBQ Bulgogi is not as authentic, but the interesting flavor that they added sort of makes it their own signature dish.
The Gyenari sliders on their happy hour menu is also pretty good.
pear salad+ burger meat compliments really well together.
The ribs were phenomenal! The fried layer helps preserve all the juicy meat inside.
Clean ambiance and the tall hite tower looks like it would be fun to try out with bunch of friends when with groups! Great location and awesome discovery for happy hour spot!
Their happy hour ends at 8pm.
and parking structure across the street, 2 hours free.

Korean fusion is in style these days and Gyenari does it perfectly. Period. For all those who suggest a drive to Koreatown for some real Korean food, go right ahead. But for those who want some ambience and great fusion food, LOOK NO FURTHER, this is your place…
HAPPY HOUR ROCKS! They have an unbelievably extensive fusion menu and every plate is between $ 4-​$ 6. What a deal, what a steal! It’s so affordable, you can practically try every plate. Menu consists of sliders, mandu, salads, saam with beef, wings, ribs, and even kimchee fried rice. You can even pick the types of meat you want for your dumplings and sliders. Very cool!
They had asian infused cocktails for under $ 10 and beers ranged from $ 3 – 5. I had a $ 3 (yes, three) glass of white wine which was a generous portion and perfectly chilled.
For BBQ, we had galbi and the seafood plates. The meat is very high quality and the marinade was slightly sweet but delicious nevertheless. Banchan consisted of slightly fermented kimchee, marinated pickles, bean sprouts, brocolli and potato salad. My favorites were the pickles. YUMMO! I must have eaten about 3 plates of it :)
And does Gyenari have an asian infused Chocolate Crème Brulee? YES. It was dusted with a gochoogaru (dry chile flakes) concoction and then topped with a light almond cream and also served with bacon shortbread cookies. Delicious and a perfect light dessert!
So if you’ve never been, you’re missin out. They even have plasmas so you can watch all our favorite LA teams! Go Dodgers, Angels, Lakers, and Trojans!
It’s been a few months since I last visited, but this place has changed and changed for the better!

While I can appreciate the desire to present traditional Korean cuisine in a Euro-​modernist setting, Gyenari needs to think really hard about what that means for the diner, especially the LA/​OC diner. I would have thought it would have meant updating familiar Korean dishes in a fresh and creative way, incorporating European techniques into traditional Asian cuisine, and perhaps presenting them in a stylized and artistic manner. Unfortunately, Gyenari does none of that. What it does end up doing is dumbing down Korean food for an uninitiated Western palate. The food here is so blah and uninteresting that it is really no better than a Korean version of Panda Express.
The restaurant itself is quite attractive, however. Sleek and modern in design, with yellow frosted glass and polished concrete in an open warehouse-​like setting, the space is quite stunning. I especially liked the rough wooden beams that support the exposed roof. The food, however, is less inspired, and coupled with the amateurish service, Gyenari left me and my dining companion with a bad taste in our mouths.
We came here for lunch on Saturday and ordered two dishes — japchae ($ 11) and kimchi fried rice with chicken ($ 11). The japchae was served in a bowl mixed with rice. Now I don’t know about you, but I am of the opinion that to add rice to noodles is kind of superfluous. Japchae, if seasoned properly, needs no rice. As it was, the rice diluted the flavor of the japchae, which wasn’t all that great to begin with and tasted more like teriyaki stir-​fry than anything else. The kimchi fried rice was a little better. However, I did not like the fact that the chicken was just sitting in a pile next to the fried rice rather than mixed into the rice. Moreover, the kimchi flavor was just barely present and lacked any spiciness whatsoever. Even though we both arrived hungry, neither my lunch companion nor I felt the desire to finish either of our dishes.
Service was friendly but slow, even though the restaurant was almost completely empty. They also did not bring us any banchan (other tables got it but not us) and they forgot to bring us the daikon soup, which was supposed to come with our meals.
If this was a restaurant in the middle of the Midwest, then I’m sure it would be a spectacular hit. But to the more discerning palates of LA/​OC diners, who are already quite familiar with some of the best Korean food outside of Korea, there is nothing modern or fresh about Gyenari. Nice décor, yes, but at this point you’re just putting lipstick on a pig.
1 ½ stars
P. S. Beware the first stall in the men’s bathroom. The stall itself is so small that when you sit down your head and knees will be literally TOUCHING THE DOOR!