It was recently brought to my attention that I visit a lot of bars and cafes, but don’t write all that much about them. It seems a little bit silly not to start cataloguing all of these lovely places on the blog, both as a reference point and maybe one day a comprehensive list of great outlets in the south of the UK. One thing that I would like to get clear is that I’m not intending on reviewing bars as such, i’d just like to provide folks with the lowdown on where to drink in any given town. But I do promise to only write about amazing places!
Lets get the ball rolling with a favourite venue of mine – Urban Beach Hotel in Boscombe, Dorset.
If i’m in Bournemouth I will always pay a trip to Urban. This is partly because I know that I can get some nice food and a decent cup of coffee, and partly because everyone who works there is so nice. It probably wont come as much of a surprise if I tell you that Urban has a laid back surfer kind of theme to it, perhaps it’s the feeling of home that attracts me, or perhaps it’s just because they seemingly without effort they get all the important bits right. As a testament to the Urban winning formula, the team are smack bang in the middle of opening their second venue, which is called Urban Reef. Also in Boscombe, it will act as a stand alone restaurant and deli.
The Urban Beach Hotel is converted Victorian building about a 3 minute walk from Boscombe beach and in nice quiet residential type area. The hotel itself consists of around 12 rooms, each one varying in size and shape and styled slightly different to one-another, giving the hotel a quirky, eclectic feel.
The Urban Beach Herb Garden
Urban Beach won Best Bar and Best Boutique Hotel in the ‘08 Bournemouth Tourism Awards, quite an achievement and very well deserved. The restaurant prides itself on sourcing local and organic ingredients and the bar is no different. Offering a small but well formed Cocktail List, with drinks such as Dorset Blue Mojito (Local blueberry juice, Benedictine, Pampero, cinnamon) and my very own GT Turbo. The bar team also keep a daily cocktail specials board updated with drinks incorporating daily fresh ingredients, cocktails that suit the mood or just whatever is ready to be picked from their herb garden. A glance around the bar invariably turns into a detailed analysis of all the homemade ingredients and bespoke components that go into making the drinks, each one clearly labeled for the benefit of the customer.
The bar team currently features Jimmy (General Manager and fruit obsessive), Danielski (A piece of Urban furniture and creator of fine cocktails), Jon Lister (Assistant Manager, formerly of Sandsifter fame) and Lee Champion (Former Barista trainer and Bar Manager at The Hub in St Ives). It’s a fine team that combines elements of classic cocktail knowledge, passion, flair and a touch of lunacy!
Jimmy with an Urban Mary
On the coffee side of things the guys use Origin Coffee and will soon be moving on to Origin’s In Season blend, with an aim to push standards of espresso coffee higher. You can expect a good shot of espresso here, but I personally tend to opt for a macchiato, not sure why, but it defintely does the trick! Talking about coffee, breakfast is a great time to pay a visit, you’ll have a choice of freshly prepared smoothies, some delicious local sausages and of course the Urban Mary, a Bloody Mary built with a homemade spice mix – yum!
Overall Urban Beach is an awesome place to visit for a great all round experience. The combination of laid back comfortable service, backed up by a genuinely brilliant product throughout, should be more than enough to tempt you into trying it out for yourself.
Urban Beach Hotel
23 Argyll Road
Bournemouth. BH5 1EB
01202 301509
info@urbanbeachhotel.co.uk
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