Urban-Ita: Sheffield Italian cafe serves up a great weekend brunch treat - review

Urban-Ita on Abbeydale Road, Nether Edge, Sheffield is one such place - the atmosphere is welcoming, the service is exceptional and the food is a delight.

The cafe and restaurant produces proper Italian food at great prices, too.

I’d already visited a few weeks ago and headed back on a Sunday morning with a friend to try out the breakfast/brunch options.

When we arrived at 11am, we had the place pretty much to ourselves but that changed quickly and the cafe was doing a steady trade by the time we left.

We grabbed a table and almost straight away a member of staff came over, offering us a cup of coffee, so we ordered cappuccinos and looked at the menu.

The atmosphere is very relaxed and the decor features wood panelling, fairy lights and a wall of Italian black and white photos to add a little ‘dolce vita’ chic.

There’s also a mural of Sheffield landmarks above the main window, through which you can see a tiny outdoor seating area.

A nice quirky touch is the Mona Lisa hanging above the loo!

One piece of decor they are very proud of is a sticker on the door, showing that Urban-Ita has a five-star hygiene rating.

When can you visit Urban-Ita Italian cafe?

The menu features five brunch dishes, starters, paninis, pasta, pizzas and side dishes.

I went for the Italian breakfast. This includes two eggs done the way you want - I ordered scrambled - Italian sausage, spinach, roast tomatoes and creamy mushrooms, all on top of homemade focaccia bread.

Linda had the Nutty - sourdough bread topped with avocado, rocket, mixed nuts and two poached eggs.

We also ordered orange juice, which came in little bottles.

My breakfast was delicious - the sausage was meaty and herby, the eggs rich and fluffy, the spinach soft and full of zingy flavour, the mushrooms and tomatoes perfectly cooked and the bread gorgeous, soaking up all the juices.

Linda really enjoyed hers as well, especially the avocado and eggs. She said the mixed nuts were mainly walnuts and pumpkin seeds, adding a nice crunch.

Staff checked that everything was okay a couple of times without being annoying.

After we had ploughed through fair-sized plates of food, our hostess returned to offer more coffee.

She also tempted us to try one of the little pastries, the sfogliatelle. I could claim food review research but this was sheer greed!

These look like a mini Danish but they are actually crisp, flaky pastry filled with a lemon cream that has the colour but not taste of limoncello. A gorgeous couple of mouthfuls.

They also had chocolate flavour when we visited.

A great end to a lovely, relaxed brunch. The only disadvantage is if you fancy a boozy brunch as they don’t offer alcohol.

Our bill came to a bargain £32.45, including four coffees and two orange juices.

Urban-Ita are open 9 to 5 Monday to Saturday, closed Tuesday and 10-5 on Sunday. Check their social media accounts for details of occasional bistro and taster menu evenings.

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