A trip to Urth Caffé at Al Liwan presented Liz O’Reilly with dishes to suit every palate and a rather spectacular dessert selection.
Given that Urth Caffé is so close to my home, I’m always slightly disappointed with myself that I don’t stop by more often. Then I consider the potential damage the amazing dessert counter could wreak – I could quite easily book a week’s vacation and spend it eating my way through the huge selection – and I remember why I tend to limit my visits.
However, sometimes research provides the very best excuse to treat yourself. And thus, I found myself heading to Al Liwan on a weekday mid-morning to sample some of the most popular menu items and report back.
As well as those fabulous desserts, of which more later, the café is particularly known for its great range of artisanal and mostly organic teas and coffees and the surroundings are such that plenty of people head there just to grab a cup of Joe and take in the atmosphere.
Diamond-tiled floors are reflected in high glass ceilings that are hung with amazing medieval-looking metal chandeliers and there’s an abundance of natural light with entrances on two sides flanked by floor-to-ceiling windows. The walls are adorned with funky artworks, photographs and signs and the focal point of the room is a large and very realistic-looking tree decked out with red paper hearts which lends the space a year-round festive air.
Seating is plentiful and comfortable and there’s a small outdoor area which will be perfect in just a few weeks when the weather finally cools. Note to self, don’t leave it so long next time.
We were soon seated and plates quickly began to arrive with the first up being the Urth Avocado Pie. No saving the best till last here, this is a house speciality for good reason and was one of the biggest hits at our table. Similar to avocado toast, but served on the café’s famous house-made pizza crust – thin, crispy and delicious – it’s baked with tomato sauce then covered with hummus, a generous layer of fresh, ripe, silky avocado and garnished with feta, mint leaves and quinoa. The quinoa is tossed in pomegranate molasses and the combination gives a lovely earthy, nutty taste as well as adding textural interest. Both myself and my dining companion were pleasantly surprised by this dish which sounded quite unassuming but turned out to be an absolute winner.
Mango Salad followed, boasting a combination of fresh mixed leaves topped with a honey and lemon vinaigrette that gave a bright, zesty flavour. Fresh, sweet mango, creamy avocado, plum tomatoes, cucumber and green apple turned this into a meal in a bowl, both tasty and filling.
The last for the starters was another dish that quickly became a firm favourite: Baked Feta with Plum Tomato. The salty, silky cheese was baked with thyme and traditional Southern Italian peperonata sauce, the sweet bell peppers, onions, garlic and plum tomatoes slowly cooked down in olive oil to become rich and jammy. Topped with pesto and basil oil, the piquant, soupy mix, with the cheese so creamy as to be almost liquid, was perfect for mopping up with crunchy toasted olive baguette. We did not hold back.
The first of the main courses to arrive was Rigatoni Pasta with Bolognaise Sauce. Deeply flavourful and perfectly comforting, the sauce, rich with butter, cream, onions and aged Parmesan smothered the al dente pasta and high-quality minced beef for a dish that would be a perfect winter warmer – I keep finding reasons to return.
Salami Pizza presented a perfectly blistered crust teeming with a tomato sauce and mozzarella mix topped with rich, savoury salami, creamy stracciatella and honey chilli glaze. The dough was the ideal consistency, crunchy at the edges and chewy in the middle with the honey glaze providing a little surprise of sweetness in contrast to the salty sausage.
The last of the mains came as a dish big enough for three – Panini El Diablo, a huge sandwich on seriously tasty toasty sourdough stuffed with tender marinated chicken and Monterey Jack cheese. A combination of three-chilli sauce and sliced jalapeno added a satisfying hit of lingering heat and I loved the cilantro marination of the chicken breast which added extra depth to the already impressive flavour. This was a particular hit with one of my colleagues who declared the tasty chicken ‘absolute perfection’.
By that stage, we’d eaten rather a lot but, perhaps surprisingly, we still had space for dessert – I think I had surreptitiously been holding back in anticipation of that amazing dessert counter. And my patience was rewarded with the arrival of the Hazelnut Chocolate Cake – layers of chocolate sponge filled with chocolate mousse and Nutella filling, glazed with Gianduja ganache. A chocolate lover’s dream, our table fell momentarily silent as we tucked in and the rich, gooey goodness disappeared in moments.
Our second dessert was the San Sebastien Cheesecake, its burnt upper crust giving way to a rich, custard-like interio
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