Urbane Cafe
We walked into Urbane Café around 1:30 pm and there was still a fairly large lunch crowd present. The café is small with maybe eight tables inside and some tables outside. As you walk into the café, the design is contemporary with soft rock playing in the background and there is an employee behind the counter with an inviting smile ready to help you. This created a very welcoming feeling as we entered.
It is a quick service concept so you order your food at the counter and it is made fresh to order. When your order is ready you are paged to come pick it up. Their menu, while not very big, had a great variety of items for meat eaters and vegetarians alike. This is a definite plus since my wife is a vegetarian. Their menu is also on the healthier side offering only soup or salad as accompaniments. We even noticed a sign they had posted stating they are working on their nutritional guide so their guests may know the nutritional value of their food. (They are not required to have a nutritional guide as they have only 6 locations. CA law only requires it if you have more than 20 locations in the state.)
My wife had the caprese sandwich with the green salad, and I had the roast beef stack with the soup of the day, chicken and corn chowder. The food comes out in a metal pie tin lined with parchment paper. Not the most sophisticated presentation, but effective nonetheless.
The caprese sandwich has fresh mozzarella that has been marinated in a balsamic pesto sauce, topped with fresh tomatoes, a basil leaf and a basil aioli all on artisan bread. The mozzarella had a great flavor, the balsamic pesto really adds to the taste. The aioli complimented the basil pesto marinade very well. The tomato while fresh, at 2 small slices is not what you would expect from a caprese sandwich. I almost wonder if the small portion has to do with the rising cost of tomatoes due to inclement weather. The salad that accompanied it was perfectly dressed in vinaigrette and was topped with a bit of cheese and mandarin oranges and really rounded out the dish.
The roast beef stack was a great sandwich as well. I was a bit disappointed when it came out because it was not quite what I had pictured. Since the menu calls it a stack, I thought the meat would be piled high. However once I started eating I realized just how deceiving looks can be, it was more than enough food. The meat was topped with melted jack cheese, red onions, red leaf lettuce, tomatoes and a chipotle mayonnaise on artisan bread. I was a bit worried when I read the description by the lack of horseradish on a roast beef sandwich. After eating the sandwich with the chipotle mayo, I will never go back to horseradish if I have the option. All of the flavors combined with the tenderness of the roast beef makes this sandwich a winner.
Chicken and corn chowder is one of my personal favorite soups, so I was excited to see it was the soup of the day. The soup comes out in a styrofoam bowl and was so hot that I actually burned my tongue on my first sip. It had great chicken, corn and roasted chili flavor. I did however have to add salt and pepper to my soup. I was also disappointed to find that the soup was quite runny. When I think chowder, I think thick and hearty.
Overall the soup was okay but slightly off mark.
After an overall great meal, I think that Urban Café has a long future ahead of them. The food was good, the atmosphere inviting, and the prices were reasonable. I give this restaurant a 4 out of 5 for their ambiance and a 3.5 out of 5 for their food. I would definitely recommend Urbane Café to anyone who is looking for good, healthy food at prices that won’t break the bank.
For More information on locations and menus, visit:
http://www.urbanecafe.com
Agoura Hills California
