Hurrah the rain stopped and the skies cleared so I was back on the el train and headed up to Loyola in hunt of something different. I think that I found this at Bop and Grill where alongside some more traditional offerings there were a wide selection of Korean themed sandwiches.

I was quite proud of myself not to choose the obvious option which was a ‘Porker with bacon and cheese’ , instead I went outside of the box and selected  the Umami burger which was a 100% Angus burger topped with togarashi mayo, sun dried tomato confit, bacon, truffled duxelle and smoked gouda for $8. It was certainly an interesting option, I was intrigued by the Umami idea, I know that it is supposed to be the ‘fifth taste’ but does it really exist and how does it lend its name to a burger?

I was expecting all the flavours to combine to create an umami moment. It certainly was interesting, I got very little flavour from the tomato or cheese. The truffled duxelles (essentially a chopped mushroom spread) dominated quite a bit and the spice level of the mayo was very low. Overall the flavour was so good it didn’t really feel like eating a burger, it was more a very juicy sandwich.

I did like this place and even Guy Fieri has made a trip here, if you are up this way in Rogers Park near to Loyola University try it out.

Located at 6604 N Sheridan Road, it is just 5 mins walk north of the Loyola Red line CTA station.