BopNGrill

Ever since a friend shared some of her Bulkogi with me in nursing school I have had a love for it, but somehow my homemade versions never matched up, and there isn't a great abundance of Korean restaurants in this area, so when I found a little joint in Chicago serving up this Asian delight I was ecstatic! BopNgrill near Loyola College in Chicago is serving up Korean favorites, as well as burgers, and some unique takes on fast food, like kimchi fries. Another unique fusion dish that BopNgrill only does on weekends, and frequently sells out of is their Philly Cheese steak egg rolls, my hubby tried an order of these, and other than a strong onion flavor he really liked this unique take on an egg roll, so if you are a Philly cheese steak lover, this is a dish for you to try.

Obviously I ordered the Bulkogi, which is a Korean ribeye dish that was served with rice, kimchi, and a side salad. The ribeye was fantastic and very tender, it was cooked with onions and carrots, and even though I don't always care for cooked veggies, I really liked this. The kimchi, which is a fermented cabbage dish, was too spicy for my taste, but otherwise had a good flavor, and the side salad had a creamy dressing with a good flavor on it, but was shredded lettuce and I just don't care for shredded lettuce.While I really didn't eat the sides, the Bulkogi itself was delicious and the rice was really well cooked, this dish is definitely a must try.

My hubby ordered one of the many unique burgers that BopNgrill serves, the umami, and for those who haven't heard of umami, it is one of the basic tastes and directly translates from the Japanese as a pleasant savory taste. His burger had truffled mushroom duxelle, bacon, smoked gouda, bacon, sun dried tomato confit, and togarashi mayo (a red chili mayo). I asked what he thought of the burger and he said the only word he could think to describe it was "umami," so I guess this burger lives up to it's name! For our little man we ordered the "strips and fries," since it was just $5, we didn't expect much, but this was a large serving of hand breaded chicken and a ton of fries (one of our best deals of the day)! The chicken was delicious, it was panko breaded, and if you know anyting about panko bread crumbs, they are incredibly crunchy, this is actually the same chicken they use for their chicken katsu, and it was so good I will be getting that next time we go back!

BopNgrill, might serve Asian food, but it is a far cry from the Chinese and Japanese restaurants you may have tried; pair their delicious Korean food with a unique variety of burgers and you have a winning menu and a winning restaurant.