Gyopo Brewery is the latest venture from the team behind Toronto's Kensei Bar and Gonzo Izakaya, and it's their most personal to date.

I haven't yet had the pleasure of visiting Korea, but it's not hard to imagine that Gyopo would be right at home on the streets of Seoul. 

The unmarked entrance of what was once a laundromat gives way to a stripped-back interior reminiscent of a street food alley. Graffiti peppers the west wall while Korean ephemera — signs and flyers — adorn the east. 

Looming over the open kitchen is an illuminated sign that announces where you are: Gyopo Makgeolli Brewery. The row of makgeolli taps and fragrant bursts of flame from within the kitchen inform you of what you're about to get into.

While founders and brothers Hansang and Juwon Lee, and Hyunchan Jo, have built their local empire on Japanese cuisine, Gyopo is actually a return to form for the team of Korean expats, who, tired of how little makgeolli found itself on menus in Toronto, took matters into their own hands.

"In Toronto, there are lots of Korean restaurants, but all the restaurants are serving soju, which is like, everyone knows what soju is, but there's [nowhere] specifically doing makgeolli," Hansang Lee tells blogTO.

Makgeolli, a mild, slightly bitter sparkling rice wine, which master brewer Dohyeon Kim produces in the basement, really is the star of the show here. After a two-week fermentation process and a few more days for aging, the batches of makgeolli are piped directly up from the basement to be served to diners in chilled metal cups.

At present, there are seven flavours in rotation, ranging from options that lean into the beverage's more beer-like qualities (Super Dry and IPA, both $9), to lighter, fruitier options, like Perilla ($11).

The menu and interiors, inspired by Korean pochas (street stalls), are all adapted to let the makgeolli sing, and vice versa. 

The food, all inspired by pocha-style classics, is rooted in the three "jangs" of Korean cuisine: ganjang (soy sauce), doenjang (soybean paste) and gochujang (red chili paste). Together, the three make up the foundation of Korean sauces, marinades and seasonings, and they're on fine display at Gyopo.

If you take a seat at the bar, you'll be able to watch your LA galbi ($48), featuring ganjang-marinated AAA beef short ribs, get kissed by a flaming grill before they arrive at your table with a side of rapini, perilla leaf chimichurri, and house-fermented radish to cut the fattiness.

Smoky, savoury and delightfully fatty, this is the type of crowd pleaser that'll make its way into nearly every order at the restaurant, and has every right to.

The dotori guksu ($22) is another must-order. Cold acorn noodles are generously tossed in a creamy, sesame-heavy sauce and served with house kimchi, cashew and sesame seeds for texture.

Aged hamachi ssam ($36) is a masterwork in simplicity. Sizeable, butter-soft hunks of hamachi that have been aged in nuruk are served with strips of nori, pickled mustard greens, kimchi and housemade ssamjang, a paste of fermented soybeans, red chili, sesame oil and aromatics.

Assemble each element into a single bite, and, just for a moment, the world will melt away much in the same way the hamachi does in your mouth.

A quirkier dish, the grilled tang tang E ($17) is worth stepping out of the box for. Baby octopus charred on the open grill are assembled atop a base layer of doenjang with avocado, shrimp bread crumbs and soy sauce jelly.

It offers a fishy, fermented flavour that's not shy to sock you right in the nose, joined by the opposing textures of firm octopus and silky avocado.

Oyster pajeon ($23) is a shareable Korean classic. In this case, the thick, oily pancake gets a welcome hit of freshness from sizeable hunks of green onion, with fat oysters and shrimp carrying the seafood quotient. A side of housemade nuoc cham helps usher in a hint of tangy brightness.

In the mere month since opening, Gyopo has already become a beacon in its Dundas West digs, attracting both Korean residents homesick for the real stuff and curious foodies alike. Jo and the Lee brothers have never had trouble building concepts that people connect with, but Gyopo might just be their best yet.

Gyopo Brewery is located at 1456 Dundas St. W.