Brooklyn’s Urbana has been around for almost a decade now. In that time, it has built a reputation that matches the words on its logo … inspired dining.
And yet, it doesn’t stop there. Plenty of restaurants that reach a level of success are happy to coast along, riding the wave of being an established name in the business. Not Urbana. The best restaurants seize opportunities to improve themselves, and that’s what Urbana did when they brought on Chef Albert Bijou to take over their kitchen.
Known for his creativity, Bijou has a reputation in the kosher restaurant world as somebody that will do great things if given a shot. Urbana is the kind of place that is a perfect fit.

“At Urbana, my goal is to take the ‘inspired dining’ motto and fuse it with my passion for seasonal, creative, quality dishes plus an overall enjoyable experience to our guests,” Bijou said about the Brooklyn staple. “My mission is to elevate the art of dining out by offering fresh, flavorful seasonal dishes prepared with care and precision.”
And as I was invited to check out Urbana, I can tell you that he was able to accomplish that mission. With so many great appetizers to choose from, I guess I’d say that my favorite was the Goat Cheese Eggroll. My lack of confidence isn’t a mark against the dish, so much as it’s a compliment to its competitors for the top spot. Either way, this crunchy fried masterpiece is filled with goat cheese, pesto and a mixture of roasted red peppers and sweet potatoes. Now, I love goat cheese enough that I’d probably have ordered this even without the great blend of ingredients that comes with it. But I don’t need to tell you that these flavors and textures come together to make an awesome bite. I’m sure you’re salivating just imagining it now.

Here’s a statement I don’t often make: This restaurant had a handful of interesting salads that I debated featuring in this column. Usually, if a restaurant even has a single noteworthy salad, it’s impressive. But Urbana’s menu is expansive in general, and the salad section is no outlier. That said, my pick goes to the Warm Halloumi Salad. This was quite simply the best salad I’ve had in a while. Sure, it has warm cubes of fried halloumi cheese to take center stage and look as great as they taste. But it’s actually the combination of sautéed slices of cherry tomatoes, mushrooms and red peppers with the teriyaki dressing that elevates this salad to the top of the proverbial mountain. As somebody who sometimes makes halloumi salad at home, I might even try to replicate this just so that I can eat it again soon.

It can’t be a night out at an upscale dairy restaurant without an artisan pizza these days. That’s why you shouldn’t skip the Forest Mushroom Pizza. This is your classic sourdough crust (made to perfection, if you were wondering) combined with a ricotta base, a bed of wild mushrooms, and a drizzle of truffle oil. It’s not something you haven’t seen before, but if you love mushrooms as much as I do, it’s a must order item. I’ve had plenty of artisan mushroom pies and this is one of the best examples. The cheese is there, but the mushrooms are the focus, and the truffle oil is similarly featured as more of an opening act and not a headliner. You won’t regret ordering this.

One thing that always pops out to me on a menu is if the management feels anything should be held to the standard of carrying the name of the restaurant. Usually it’s some kind of signature dish, and that’s certainly the case with the Urbana Fettuccine. Some people are averse to ordering pasta as their main course. Whether that’s a sign of our times and our bias against carbs, or whether it’s just that the lack of a protein makes patrons feel cheated, both of those can be combated by throwing some chunks of salmon into your bowl of housemade pasta with white wine cream sauce. With some sautéed spinach along for the ride, this plate will have you forgetting about that anti-carb bias that I certainly didn’t mention. A healthy dose of parmesan gives the pasta a slightly nutty flavor to finish the flavor profile in style.

But if you’re in need of a real fish entrée, Urbana has you covered there also. Try the Asian Seabass and thank me later. Marinated in miso and served over some caramelized pineapple, this fish will arrive at your table looking like a masterpiece with its red glaze. And if you are wondering if the outside tastes as good as it looks, the answer is affirmative. Each of the fish selections comes with your choice of two side dishes and I would choose the mashed potatoes and grilled vegetables as the best pairing here. While it is one of the pricier items on the menu, seabass isn’t cheap and the two side dishes certainly make this worth it.

Everyone goes to a dairy restaurant looking forward to dessert and Urbana is no different. There are plenty of items that draw your attention, but it’s the Toffee Date Pudding that really stands out from its peers. This is what Oceania would call a “sticky date pudding” and it’s a warm kind of sponge cake made from dates and topped with a toffee sauce. There’s really not much I can say here other than you have to order it. If you’ve never had it, you need to change that. The thing that struck me the most was that it came to the table at the absolute perfect temperature. It was as hot as possible while still being edible and the sauce’s texture was the perfect thickness so that it almost glued your jaw together, but had just enough leeway that you could still chew the perfection.

So if you haven’t yet been to Urbana, make a point to check it out now. And even if you’ve been before, see what Chef Bijou has changed since the last time you went.
Who knows? You might be inspired.
Urbana
Dairy – Waiter Service
Sunday-Thursday: 11:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m.
Saturday: 8:30 p.m.-11:45 p.m.
(718) 438-4448
1305 53rd St.
Brooklyn, NY 11219
Badatz Tartikov Kashrus
Nati Burnside is a freelance writer living in Fair Lawn and a man of many interests. He can be reached at natiburnside@gmail.com.