Takja BBQ House brings friends and family together to celebrate over a table full of food. With a Korean-focused menu featuring an international selection of dry-aged cuts, colourful banchan, punchy house ferments, and sweet, icy bingsoo, every meal is one to be shared.

Featured on Canada's 100 Best, the restaurant is a collaboration between Edward Bang, Jeff Kang, and Jason Ching of Oroshi Fish Co., a small fish market known for its premium dry-aged seafood. 

Neighbours in Toronto's Little Italy neighbourhood, Oroshi is all about elevating takeaway sushi, while Takja is busy redefining the Korean barbecue experience.

Each of its ten tables features a gas grill, but unlike other Korean barbecue spots where cooking your own proteins is protocol, here the grilling is done for you, tableside.

"Everything happens at the table," shares Chef Bang. "You get to see the spread of food and the meat being cooked right in front of you. We take a lot of pride in the service of cooking your meat, so you don't have to worry about it. All you have to do is have a good time."

The $135 tasting menu is the way to go for first-time visitors.

In a nod to Korea's coastal culture, the meal begins with a selection of fresh seafood. The Seafood Tower features chilled oysters, jumbo cocktail shrimp, and buttery bluefin tuna, all sourced through Oroshi. 

Next is the Seafood Pancake. A thicker take on the traditional savoury street food, this seafood-scallion cake is soft at the center, crispy at the edges, and crowned with creamy uni imported from Japan. It comes served with a soy vinaigrette. 

After appetizers, the evening quickly progresses into banchan and barbecue. 

There's no shortage of flavour combinations to mix and match from with a lineup of mild white kimchi, spicy radish kimchi, soy-pickled mustard leaf and an assortment of sauces and spreads including chili sesame oil, fresh wasabi, and ssamjang (house fermented soybean). 

For barbecue, each tasting includes four different cuts of carefully sourced dry-aged meat — one pork and three beef, including a prized $90+ wagyu striploin, as well as seasonal vegetables like summer squash, king oyster mushrooms, and broccolini. 

There's the melt-in-your-mouth Ibérico pork from Salamanca, Spain, cooked to a medium-rare finish; an Ontario hanger steak that pairs best with a sprinkle of flaky salt and a touch of wasabi; Ontario short ribs, perfect for DIY lettuce wraps; and A5 wagyu striploin from Miyazaki, Japan, which needs no explanation.

The meal concludes on a sweet note with a mountain of shaved ice. Best shared, the Bluerberry Bingsoo features house-made blueberry compote, mascarpone, and yogurt. 

The Hazelnut and Coffee Bingsoo is rich and caramel-like with toffee, praline, and a white chocolate ganache. 

To complement the meal, there's a selection of natural wines, signature cocktails, soju, beer, and non-alcoholic spritzers. 

The Omija Margarita ($19) adds a Korean spin to the classic tequila cocktail with the addition of hibiscus and omija, a five-flavour berry. It's sweet, sour, bitter, slightly salty, and has a punchy kick. 

As for soju, Takja serves the premium Korean label, Golden Barely ($50 - 65), and it's the only place in the city where you’ll find it, thanks to an exclusive importer partnership.

Rooted in creating a feeling of warmth and togetherness, the minimalist interiors are outfitted with wood-panelled walls and matching banquettes, upholstered in a blue-green hue inspired by dancheong, the colours that adorn Korean temples.

And much like the food draws on personal memories, so does the decor, with floral folding screens from Chef Bang's parents, which he recalls seeing at countless special occasions.

But of course, it's the people who bring the space to life, from the servers grilling tableside to the groups of guests gathered around them.

"As far back as I can remember, Korean barbecue was something we enjoyed when we were celebrating," shares Chef Bang. "I grew up in a big family. We lived with aunties and grandparents, so going out for barbecue was such a treat, and everything just tasted better when we were around a big table."

Takja BBQ House is located at 962 College Street.