The Cosmopolitan Restaurant at Urban Park Hotel

The Cosmopolitan Restaurant at Urban Park Hotel

Umhlanga has slowly become the hub of luxurious Hotels, fine dining and exquisite stores to shop in. I love dining in Durban’s best-kept secrets and when I first heard about the Cosmopolitan Restaurant in the Urban Park Hotel, I decided I must go and see what new and exciting experiences they have to offer.

I decided to take along a couple of friends of mine who like me, appreciate Fine Dining and experimenting with new foods and flavors. Who wouldn’t want to enjoy a new restaurant experience with people who share such an appreciation?
 

 

The four-star Cosmopolitan Restaurant is located on the ground floor of the Hotel and is a fusion of contemporary fine dining sophistication. As you enter the Hotel lobby you are graced with the beauty of an exquisite chandelier that hangs at the entrance, and at the back of the restaurant you have the view of a state of the art indoor swimming pool.

 

The restaurant boasts a Vida-e kiosk which ensures that guests have superior coffee every day and they definitely do not disappoint on the coffee. The restaurant buzzed with excited energy and was comfortably full with most of the patrons enjoying the selection at the bar.

 

We started our meals with Wesley and I ordering their Urban Burger which is served on a ciabatta bun, topped with melted mozzarella, rocket, bacon and onion marmalade. Lucinda opted for their Chicken Pollo Pesto, which is chicken simmered in a white wine, garlic and basil pesto cream sauce served on a bed of pasta.

 

When our food arrived I must say the presentation of my burger was beautifully executed, with each of the bright colours of the ingredients peeking through each other on my plate. The taste though was vastly disappointing with the burger having no flavor except for a pungent distinct taste of meat and pepper, which did no justice to the way it was presented, and was in fact so ghastly that I was unable to finish the meal. Wesley on the other hand had to cover his burger in Tabasco Sauce in order to mask the taste of the meat.

 

The pasta looked pleasing to the eye, however when Lucinda tried to eat it, it was ice cold and had to be returned, which was rather surprising, as the food had not taken that long to prepare that it should be served cold. The sauce lacked flavor and their acclaim to garlic being present in the sauce seemed to be a myth, as we could not taste any traces of garlic.

 

With such a misguided main meal I was rather apprehensive to try a dessert, however the friendly waiter seemed to beckon me on and I decided to try their chocolate brownie and ice-cream. I opted for cream rather than ice-cream and was informed they were “out of stock” of cream, so I settled for the ice-cream, hoping that this dessert would not disappoint.

 
If ever I experienced the redemptive power of a mouthwatering dessert it was that Saturday evening as I took my first mouthful of the chocolate brownie. To describe it as a chocolate lovers dream would barely suffice the decadence I experienced with each mouthful. The ice-cream was rather disappointing as it tasted rather cheap and was by far not smooth and creamy, however I was too busy enjoying the delight of the brownie that the memory of the disappointing main meal, or the cheap ice-cream faded away, as we allowed this sweet sensation to be the perfect ending to a wonderful evening of insightful conversation in a beautiful setting.

Urban Park Hotel contact details :

Phone :    031 566 1814

Address: 60 Meridian Drive
                Umhlanaga Ridge Town Centre
                Umhlanga
                  Durban, South Africa