Urban Kitchen’s new menu boasts over 233 options inspired by dishes from all over the world. The restaurant has long delighted customers with excellent food in an atmosphere of relaxation. Facing the menu and trying to order everything that seemed interesting was fun, but as there were only two of us we could not sample even a quarter of all the amazing dishes available. We decided to avoid more of the common food items like Burgers and Sri Lankan food, and try out some of the more unique concoctions. In the end, we decided to take order our host Danniyel’s recommendations; Sushi – Urban California Roll, Hainanese Chicken Rice, Urban Nachos and Fettuccini Carbonara.
First off, the beverages. We loved our Shirley Temple (Lime, Lemonade and Grenadine) to bits; it was not overtly sweet but very tangy and very much a pick-me-up kind of drink. The Creamy Orange Shake (Vanilla Ice Cream, Orange juice) was the opposite, and I suppose we weren’t in the mood for it.

Urban California Seafood Roll - Rs.890 + tax

The UK Sushi bar is relatively cheap and thus greater value for money. The seaweed wrap didn’t quite appeal to us, but when we picked each piece apartand ate the prawn and tuna with the sticky rice and soy sauce, we quite enjoyed it. It is served with soy sauceand wasabi. Kudos to them for the variety on offer as well.

Hainanese Chicken Rice – Rs 690 + tax

This was easily my favourite! A traditional Chinese dish adapted to more generic South Asian tastes, it features steamed, saucy chicken served with a mound of rice, soy sauce, and chilli paste. My initial response to tasting the tender chicken in onion sauce was that I had found the ambrosia of chicken. It is most definitely the star of the dish, steamed and smeared in a sweet and sour baby onion sauce. The chilli sauce was lovely too, made with fresh chillies, garlic and ginger. A spoon of rice with a daubing of the sauces and a piece of chicken is an amazing combination of flavours, familiar ingredients done in an exciting way.

Urban Nachos – Rs 675 + tax

This is exactly the sort of starter I’d love to munch on while waiting for the main courses to arrive. Corn chips daubed in tomato and jalapeno with warm cheese oozing out the bottom – each chip tasted like a mini pizza. The two dips were guacamole (avocado) and sour cream, both homemade. In fact almost everything we ate, bar the chips, was made right there, out of the freshest ingredients available. Chips spared of tomato tasted better with the guacamole and chips loaded with the red stuff went well with the cream. It was a very vibrant dish, definitely something we’d order and share.

Fettuccini Carbonara – Rs.800 + tax

This was my companion’s pick; chicken, bacon and button mushrooms in a bed of pasta, sprinkled with basil and topped with an egg yolk that, when broken, flowed down and became almost a sauce in itself, adding another dimension to the dish. It was creamy and packed with differing flavours from the different ingredients, but never overpowering. Definitely a warm, easy dish to go down.

Overall, while we couldn’t try everything on offer, we certainly loved what we had!

By Marissa van Eyck