Gyenari

9540 Washington Blvd.
Culver City, CA 90232
310.838.3131www.gyenari.com
www.twitter.com/GyenariLA

Parking: Various Parking Garages – 1st 2 hours free, $1 per hour after that
Daily, 3-7:30pm, $2 Hite Draft, $3 Blue Moon drafts, Well Drinks & House Wine, $5 beers – drafts & bottles, & select food from $4 – 7

After a bum happy hour at Kay ‘n Dave's, it was good to know that there was another daily happy hour within walking distance. Many people had recommended I check out this happy hour at Gyenari, and for some reason I was expecting a run of the mill, strip mall place. However, I was immediately taken in by Gyenari’s sleek interior. The walls were made of slick wood, the tables were black, & near the hostess stand was a frosted white wall with shadows of wine bottles.

Since I was pretty full from the earlier happier hour, we grabbed seats at the bar to try out the cocktails only. I was really excited to try one of the specialty cocktails pictured on the happy hour menu, but then I realized that they weren’t on special. Since $9 drinks were listed on the happy hour menu, I certainly hope they don’t go up in price during regular hours. The real happy hour drinks are listed towards the bottom of the menu, with no photos, therefore making me less excited to order and somewhat confused by the menu. I quickly got over it though and ordered a $3 house white wine.

I guess it’s a good thing that I was pretty full on food because the bartender never returned to ask if we wanted to order food, or another drink for that matter. This time, I did pay attention to time lapsed, and a full 20 minutes had gone by from the time my glass was empty. The restaurant was busy, but not crazy busy. Plus, I can forgive a rush when a bartender gives the “I’ll be right with you” courtesy look. This bartender seemed to no longer be working the bar, but the restaurant section as she only made drinks for the servers only. Perhaps, she had been reassigned, but some notice would have been nice.
Luckily, Andres stepped in to save the day! Not only did he take our 2nd drink order, but also he was charismatic and didn’t seem at all overwhelmed with the hustle & bustle of happy hour. Now, that we had the attention of a server, we gave into the aroma and ended up splitting an order of kimchee rice with pork belly. The rice was really good, although it could have used a little more pork belly. I was kinda disappointed that I didn’t flip flop the order of my happy hour visits and eat most of my dinner here.

All in all, the happy hour was all right. I suspect that the dinner service is where it’s at since most dishes looked amazing. Plus, people in the dining room were priority with the drinks.
-JG
Rating: 3 Martinis