The K BBQ — Restaurant in Toronto

TL;DR: this place and the staff deserve a minimum of 6 out of 5 stars, but if I were to rank everything individually, the mashed sweet potato/pumpkin would rank so high it breaks the scale.

I'm not exactly a regular KBBQ connoisseur so take my review with a grain of salt, but...

I ordered their eel for 2 special and I literally cannot name a single part of the experience (yes, experience as a whole, not just the food) that I didn't enjoy. I had the absolute pleasure of talking with 4 of their waiters, each providing service well beyond what I would have expected, and being fun to talk to. One of them was even kind and knowledgeable enough to answer my questions about what was in each dish because of my medical complications causing allergies.

The eel itself was great, and the waiter I initially talked to was definitely right: the 2 person portion (along with the soup, egg, and sides -- which is another topic entirely that deserves recognition) is absolutely enough for two people, even though we both have quite large appetites. It was well worth the price for how filled we got, and it is definitely the best meal of the year for me (PS: it is currently January 18).

But the highlight of the night... The sides. Or rather The Side. The mashed sweet potato/pumpkin. I told 3 of the waiters how this beautiful life altering masterpiece of a side dish was like crack to me. I was not kidding. I literally could have a tub of this stuff in front of me at all times and just casually scoop it by the hand eating it. I would eat this at work. I would eat this while I game. I would discover a way to eat this in my sleep because I wouldn't want to lose any opportunity...

This spot having been closed for renovation for a long time, is now open in its new incarnation as a korean bbq restaurant. There are plenty of competitors within walking distance, but if they can keep up this quality they will be sure to steer diners their way! The space is pretty basic, not decorated like some old school street stall, but bright and spacious. Like the very busy "DDN" down the street, their pan has a spot to cook egg and cheese corn. We think the recipe here is a bit better in that these sides stayed moist for longer and were more flavorful. We ordered beef brisket slices and pre-cooked marinated kalbi ribs. Before these came, we got to try their little banchan dishes and they put their own spin on them. The brisket went well with the 3 sauces they gave us, and can be paired with lettuce or pickled radish. The cooked ribs don't go on the grill, and was brought to us in dramatic fashion (a glass dome opened to reveal billowing smoke emanating from the juicy rib slices). Did not expect to see something like this at a bbq place and tasted amazing, almost like at a fine dining establishment. Service was terrific, they grilled for us and kept topping up our sides. Might be because it wasn't too busy today, so maybe they won't be so attentive if it was a full house. This restaurant at its inception has already catapulted itself to the forefront of k-town bbq, a difficult feat indeed. Will go again in the future and hope they can...

Management: you need to hire more staff, your poor servers are SO overworked! They handle reception / hosting, phone calls, serving, and bussing… 3 jobs in one role and only 2-3 workers on a busy night is CRAZY.

I made a reso here and the person who sat us down was really confused when we told them we had a reso. They didn’t take our order for at least 20 minutes, and forgot to bring us the sauces / plates and some of the banchan. I had to ask 4 different times to get them, including keeping my hand raised trying to flag someone down for 10 minutes. One of the guys was really apologetic which is understandable because there were only 3 people serving a full restaurant! The servers all looked really tired.

The meat portions were kind of small, and everyone else got theirs in a tower but we did not (not a huge deal). The steamed egg that we ordered was WAY too salty and kind of grey. The corn cheese didn’t have much cheese in it. I had high expectations given the extremely high reviews but it was honestly a really disappointing experience. You’re better off dining at one of the many other KBBQ establishments literally...