Where Takja BBQ chefs Jeff Kang and Edward Bang eat barbecue in Toronto

South Korea–born, Vancouver-raised and Toronto-minted chefs Jeff Kang and Edward Bang seem to have no shortage of culinary ideas up their sleeves. Together with co-owner Jason Ching, they launched Oroshi Fish Co. in 2022, a back-alley seafood butcher, dry-aged sushi shop and purveyor to some of Toronto’s most celebrated restaurants, including Seahorse, Maven, Porzia’s, Osteria Giulia and 20 Victoria. Their goods are in such high demand that they’re opening a second location later this year.

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“It’ll be the same concept but bigger,” says Bang. “Right now we’re moving 100 pounds of fish every day, butchering it all on a little countertop, serving sushi, and we just started catering. We hate turning down requests, but sometimes we have to. We just don’t have the space to meet the demand.”

In 2024, the trio opened Takja BBQ House, an upscale Korean barbecue restaurant, just steps from Oroshi. “We wanted the menu to reflect what we eat at home. All the dishes, even the sides, are very intentional. There’s no filler,” says Bang. “We got approval from many Korean diners at the start, so we knew we were doing something right, something authentic. Now we get a lot of repeat customers, which we didn’t expect.”

As if they weren’t busy enough, Kang is already working on two new, totally different projects. One is a small-batch gelato shop called Cono, coming to Little Italy in mid-July. The other he’s keeping hush-hush for now.

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“When I first moved to Toronto from Vancouver, it really felt like a smaller version of New York to me. It has a bit of that energy, on a more manageable scale,” says Bang. “I like Toronto more than Vancouver now,” says Kang. “There are better opportunities as a chef, greater diversity, and so many different places to eat.”

When they get a rare moment to themselves, they like to keep things simple, visiting chef friends and nostalgic haunts across the city to grab a quick bite. Here are their favourite spots for barbecue, from Liberty Village to Ossington and Chinatown.

Mozy’s

114 Atlantic Ave., @mozyscharcoal

“When I first came to Toronto, I lived in Liberty Village for a year, so I’m pretty familiar with the area,” says Bang. “It’s really vibrant, and now that Mozy’s is here, I go every other week. Before they opened to the public, chef Barbode Soudi let us try everything on the menu. He’s a perfectionist, so he had a whole bunch of chefs here eating together and giving feedback.”

“He also invited all the neighbouring restaurant owners to come in and try the food,” says Kang. “He knows they know the community better than him, and he wanted to learn from them. He’s very smart. He’s got a rhythm going now, and they’re always busy with lines out the door.”

Go-to dish: The full chicken meal (a whole charcoal-grilled chicken with a choice of two sides, one dip, two sauces, one order of bread and two tahini-miso cookies)

“Nothing beats charcoal-cooked meat. There’s so much flavour,” says Bang. “When we lived in Korea, we used charcoal for barbecuing because it was cheaper. These days, you see gas cooking too, but back in the day it was all charcoal. This is how I cook for my kids—I just throw everything on the charcoal barbecue. They love it.”

“The charcoal is a key part of the seasoning,” says Kang. “The full chicken meal comes with the chicken back too—it’s literally the whole bird. Chefs always want the chicken back. You get a little bit of the neck, the skin, the oysters. It’s kind of like eating a rib. My favourite sauce is the red one. It’s charred chili peppers with a lot of other spices. It’s so good. I usually order the chicken salt fries as a side. They have this blend of chicken fat, salt, harissa and lots of sumac. Then these tahini-miso cookies are the best. They’re crispy and chewy.”

“The food’s not only good because of the great chef, but everything is consistent,” says Bang. “From day one it’s always been the same. The chicken brine is always good. The sauces are always on point. It’s a tight menu where everything is done really well. It’s not easy to pull that off.”

Linny’s Luncheonette

174 Ossington Ave., linnysluncheonette.com

“I lived in New York for a couple of years, and I’d go to Katz’s Deli for proper pastrami sandwiches,” says Bang. “But nothing quite like that existed here in Toronto, so when Linny’s opened, I was so excited. Ten years ago, Ossington was just a collection of small projects. Now you’ve got so many big chefs doing cool things here.”

Go-to dish #1: Pastrami sandwich with Linny’s signature house-smoked pastrami with mustard on rye

“When you go out to eat, you usually want to get something you can’t make at home,” says Kang. “You can make a steak at home, but you can’t make this pastrami. Like, I don’t have space to put a whole brisket in the fridge.”

“It’s just proper. The bread’s good. The portion size is good,” says Bang. “I think the balance is really good,” adds Kang. “Some of them have too much meat. This is just the right amount. I love how they cut the meat too—it’s thicker, so it’s still really juicy. My daughter loves this sandwich. She tells me that she craves this all the time. On her birthday, we came here just to have this sandwich.”

Go-to dish #2: Potato-and-pickle sandwich with cream cheese on an onion bun

“This is like a potato latke inside a sandwich—kind of like a potato patty,” says Bang. “I love these pickles too. Fried potato and pickle—what could be better?”

“I wish they did delivery,” says Kang. “I’d order this all the time.”

Street Grill Bar

20 Baldwin St., @streetgrillbarDT

“My first restaurant in Toronto, Omai, was on Baldwin Street. I was here in Chinatown for eight years, so I know the area well—this is my hood,” says Bang. “When I first saw this small street full of restaurants, it was spring, the weather was nice and the cherry blossoms were out. I fell in love with this little pocket and started dreaming about opening a restaurant here.”

Go-to dish #1: Lamb skewers (rib, shoulder, fat-wrapped kidney)

“As soon as you walk in, you can smell that Chinese numbing spice,” says Bang. “This place does northern-style Chinese skewers. They eat a lot of lamb with spices like cumin. You see this type of thing a lot at night markets and street food stalls. The lamb shoulder is my favourite.”

“Whereas Japanese skewers are typically cooked and served from an open kitchen, Chinese skewers are cooked and brought to a warmer on the table. They typically have smaller bite sizes, and they use metal skewers instead of wood,” says Bang.

Go-to dish #2: Sweet-and-sour pork

“This dish originated in the northern part of China. It uses sweet glutinous rice powder, and they flatten the pork, so it’s flat, sticky, crispy and sour. It’s vinegary instead of citrusy, very savoury, and it makes your tongue tingle” says Bang. “This is very popular in Korea too. Many younger Koreans are into the northern Chinese numbing spice and this kind of drinking-friendly food.”

“Last time we came here, we were super drunk after having a big meal out at Lai Wah Heen,” says Kang. “It’s a good place for a summer-night beer snack.”

New Hong Fatt BBQ

143 Dundas St. W., hongfattbbq.com

“Each week, after service at Omai, we would go to Taste of China for a late dinner and some beers with the staff,” says Bang. “Our business partner Jason Ching is Chinese, so I’d bug him to explore different Chinese restaurants in the area. He’d tell us where to go and what to eat—that’s how I got to know Chinatown. For specific ingredients, I would just walk over to one of the Chinese grocery stores on Dundas Street. I have a lot of memories here.”

“New Hong Fatt is a family-run spot that’s been around for generations. Jason’s parents came here when they were young. They serve some of the best Chinese barbecue in the area—that’s all they do,” says Bang.

“It’s cool how they hang it all in the window so you can see what’s on offer,” says Kang.

Go-to dish: Barbecue combo plate (pork belly, roast pork, beef intestines, tripe and roast duck)

“The pork belly is my favourite. The skin is crispy, and the pork is really well seasoned. I usually ask for a fatty cut,” says Bang. “They give you plum sauce and a jus-type sauce made from the pork drippings.”

“It’s a dying business. Many young chefs might like to know how to do Chinese barbecue, but nobody is willing to put in the time and effort to learn these techniques,” says Kang. “The duck gets air-dried, blanched, dipped in a sugar-soy syrup, hung to dry again, then roasted. For the pork, you have to cure the skin, poke it full of holes and cook the whole pig in this special oven. The problem is that there are no recipes. These older chefs, they are the recipe.”