Culver City: Gyenari Korean BBQ & Lounge

Back to posting about food in the States :P

Right after I came back from my trip to the Far East, I checked my Groupon and realized that I had one expiring soon so I dragged Leonard out after work before a Clippers game and headed towards Gyenari. It's a Korean BBQ restaurant located right in the heart of downtown Culver City, it totally reminds me of a Korean version Gyu-Kaku. Inside, very upscale and modern decor, and the grills here are smokeless. The surprising thing is that it works so damn well too!

Price-wise, there's no AYCE here, but they do have these sets called the G sets, and it is for groups of people so that's what we went for.

Gyenari Korean BBQ & Lounge

9540 Washington Blvd

Culver City, CA 90232

gyenari.com

Gyenari.

Nice clean upscale decor.

Banchan: kim chi & potato salad. Very standard items.

Beefstock soup & broccoli

The salad and of course, seaweed wraps for rice. They also give you cold rice on the side.

Cucumber. Awesome marinade.

Traditional bean sprouts.

Our G1 set for two also came with japchae (noodles), and wow it is goood. I wouldn't mind just ordering that and eating it all.

The amazing smokeless grill!

Our G1 set. Comes with bulgogi, kalbi, chicken, and pork belly.

Yum :]

The sauces they provide. Very different from your typical sauces at KBBQ spots. The one on the left has a very heavy tomato base so it's almost like a salsa.

Grill hard at work. Favorite was definitely the aged pork belly. Very tender and not overly fatty!

Surprisingly, it was a lot of food and we both left pretty satisfied. For $80, it is a little steep for two, especially when AYCE spots are only around $16-20. Go on a weekday since it's around $50. We couldn't get that price since we had the Groupon. If it wasn't for the Groupon I probably would've just left but the place does have high quality meat and the service is top notch. They also have a happy hour menu that I wouldn't mind taking advantage of next time around.

Culver City: Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken

Eating fried chicken is definitely a guilty pleasure of mine. I know how bad it is for you... BUT I just can't turn away from a good piece of chicken, especially one that's fried to a golden crispy crunchy goodness.

A few of us from the summer abroad Shanghai program decided to have our little reunion there this past Sunday. Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken actually has two locations, one in Compton and one in Culver City. I've been to the one at Culver City once and it's in downtown Culver so it's actually quite nice. The Compton location is the original one and many swear that it is way better than the Culver City location but... for a dinner... Compton is a little too ghetto for us to adventure into haha.

Honey's Kettle Fried Chicken

9537 Culver Boulevard

Culver City, CA 90232

Culver City location's storefront.

The 8pcs family pack for Selwyn and Rose. Comes with 8 pcs of chicken, fries, 2 biscuits, and a side. Fatasses hahaha.

Glorious, crispy fried chicken!

Warm, flaky, buttery biscuits. Add some honey to it... whooooo game overs.

I opted for the chicken & hotcakes combo with a side of biscuit. I love getting waffles or pancakes with fried chicken. You seriously can't beat that sweet and savory combination. The pancakes here were really really thick. Not as fluffy as I remembered but still good!

You can choose between 3 silver dollar wings or one large breast. I opted for the wings since all fried chicken lovers know dark meat is just much more juicy and moist xD

After I took a huge bite out of the biscuit hahaha.

Shot of downtown Culver. Somewhat dead on a Sunday night but still lots of patrons in most restaurants.

Maybe I should go on a fried chicken adventure around LA next time... I can already feel my arteries clogging up ahah.