Urban Bowl - Charlottesville

The best place for a meal in Cville! If anyone has complaints, they might not realize that you can adjust the seasoning to your liking (the sauces are there for a purpose!). I've been here multiple times, and it's consistently delicious. The staff is charming and friendly, and the atmosphere is lovely, clean, and peaceful. Highly recommended!

I love, love, love the pho and the crispy veggie roll on appetizer menu, especially when sick. I was two days in a row, it's so good. Hidden jewel in the York building on downtown Mall. Also, make sure you have neighborhoods for parking. Very recommended.

I highly recommend the pork rice bowl! Made with fresh ingredients and perfectly cooked pork, the pork bowl makes for an excellent lunch. The pho is perfect. I truly believe that their pho is legit, top 5 I've ever had in my life.

We went to Urban Bowl (located in the York Place Building) late on a Saturday night. Although it closed in 10 minutes, the young owner held the restaurant open until we arrived; she even stood on the street and waved when she saw us. The food was worth our little detour. We started with an Urban Roll – a delicate Rice Paper roll stuffed with crisp lettuce, cucumbers, and shrimp and served with peanut sauce; an explosively delicious dining experience. We then shared our main courses, Ga Gai (a flavorful Pho with chopped chicken breast meat) and Pork Bowl (a rice bowl marriage of vegetables and marinated pork shoulder). Everything was fresh, a lovely experience.

I loved Cardamom, amazing food, but the new owners and name change have not done great things for this business. The menu still has some old favorites on it (seaweed salad, tofu balls, dumplings), but they are not made or served with the same love. Crispy rolls were still partially frozen, other dishes felt overpriced for what we got, and the quality has reduced significantly.