Ahh, lovely.
What I really like is the strip along the top.
I want to use Drive. I click on ... wait for it ... "Drive".
Genius ... (not being sarcastic either)
I just realized that when I want to use drive I open a new tab and type "drive" and let auto-complete do the rest.
Since Google has hidden the other properties behind the grid icon I've completely forgotten they were there.
It doesn't look "modern", but if you ask me it's more usable.
https://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=html&zy=h