175 Kings Road, Cardiff. 029 2034 1013 / www.urbandiner.com
Step inside your local “American-styled diner” and it’s more than likely that you’ll face an unapologetically clichéd interior design complete with awkward 50s throwback plastic seating and an uneventful menu packed with underwhelming chilli dogs and tasteless chicken wings. Or maybe I’m just unlucky.
Urban Diner manages to offer something a little more nuanced, with a comfortable and contemporary interior which takes a step back from the endless enthusiasm for hackneyed American knick-knacks. Urban Diner’s menu is certainly American in stature and their weighty main courses and excellent selection of sides provide plenty of temptation. We were soon loosening our belts in anticipation.
With a sweet strawberry shake ordered to get us in the mood, we kicked off our meal with a delicious cobb salad. Perfect for sharing and reasonably priced when split, the moist chicken pieces found comfort in the arms of avocado, smoked bacon, Roquefort cheese and a Dijon mustard dressing. We followed this with an Urban Juicy Lucy, which consisted of two 6oz burger patties stuffed with Monterey cheese, salad and gerkhin. The burger, although simple, was ample in size and a struggle to finish completely. We also opted for a T-bone steak which came with a large Asian-style salad. With its complementary garlic and chilli butter, the steak was moist and nicely cooked to order, but again a challenge to finish completely.
Sweet potato fries, onion rings and appleslaw completed our sizeable meal, and although our eyes were undoubtedly too big for our bellies, we opted for a simple New York cheesecake and Mississippi mud pie to round off the meal.
Uncomplicated, no-nonsense, and simply well executed throughout, Urban Diner’s American-styled menu delivers on value, taste and quality. GARETH LUDKIN