Urban Green is one of the newest spots in the city. Ornamented with cool furniture, which apparently was made with recycled wood, this cafe seems promising. It's located along Unity Place which is a private lane, so you're completely shut out from the ear ringing traffic-y toots and the hustle bustle of Colombo while being in the centre of Colombo.
Food and Drinks
Judging by their Facebook page before making my entrance, I expected some healthy sandwiches and subs because their slogan says "Grow with health", but I completely overlooked their cover page which said "Pastry and Buns". So, whoops.
I was greeted with an array of shorteats, and a few packed sandwiches in true Lankan bakery style.
With a quick glance across their assorted display, we opted for a classic Chocolate Cake (Rs 350) and a Tuna Sandwich (Rs 200). For drinks, we chose a Cafe Latte (Rs 450) and an Iced Tea with Belimal (Rs 300).
The cake was slightly dry and crumbly, but Urban Green did justice to the sort of icing you'd find on a classic chocolate cake – nice and rich. With a generous slice, this cake could be split between two. On the whole, it was a good slice of chocolate cake when paired with coffee.
The tuna sandwich was wrapped in basic sandwich style in cellophane. Assuming there were two, I tried to seperate the sandwich only to find out it was just one large sandwich. Personally, I would have preferred two separate sandwiches to trick my mind into thinking I was eating a lot so it wouldn't rumble in 15 minutes.
Tastewise, it tasted like your average tuna sandwich – tuna with a bits of onion and green chillie. It wasn't dry, so, +1.
The Cafe Latte was the basic latte you would expect. Gave me an adequate dose of caffeine with whole lots of milk.
This was the real winner. I wasn't really aware of what Belimal was until I was talked in to getting this by the friendly owners of Urban Green. It was made afresh and tasted rejuvenating with all the belimal goodness. Whatever belimal is, it is very good for your body.
(My intense Google research tells me that belimal is bael flower in English. And the health benefits include relief for palpitations, bowel disorders, vomiting, and asthma.)
The only let down was that this iced tea wasn't really what you would call "iced". Only merely cold, this would have tasted a whole lot better had it been as iced as it is supposed to be.
Service and Ambience
Service was very friendly – from the dudes behind the counter to the owners who struck a conversation with us about the beginnings of Urban Green and their future plans of extending the menu.
This is the sort of place you would go to if you hate the world, but want to see a smile on someone's face while eating your cutlet. Here's hoping the smiles don't die along the way.
The owners are doing the job right by being in the premises and attending to customers to take them through what Urban Green is all about – from the future menu to the furniture.
The outdoor seating is the best thing about Urban Green. It instantly sends some nice chilled vibes across with their wooden tables and chairs, and something that looks like a grape vine crawling along the wall.
Conclusion
Urban Green takes a healthy stance with their titling and their marketing, but this strikes as slightly queer given their range of shorteats which one cannot deem as healthy. However, it's only been a week. So, they're still figuring things out. They plan on having rice and curry (YAYAYYAYAY) and other items that would pose as full meals along in their menu.
By the looks of it, they are off to a good start!
Update: Judging by their Facebook post and my 2nd visit to Urban Green, they have begun serving full meals!
However, call before your visit as they are new and still sorting their way through.