Urban pL8

It had been a while since I had a good, vegetarian meal at a new restaurant.  Finally I got the chance to visit Urban pL8 over on Huff Rd.  Despite the goofy name, I liked Urban pL8 as soon as I walked in.  The space is modern warehouse (like so much in the Westside) and the menu includes local, seasonal, and sustainable ingredients.  Urban pL8 serves meat and seafood but includes several vegetarian options.  

The soup of the day was spicy corn chowder.  I normally stay away from creamy soups because they fill me up too quickly.  However, the server mentioned it included sriracha, a popular Asian-like chili sauce, and I decided to order a cup.  Turns out that was a good decision.  The chowder had small bits of celery and carrots along with corn kernels.  The chili (which may be too spicy for some) cut right through the cream and I thoroughly enjoyed being warmed up by every drop.

My main dish was not as successful as the soup.  I got the 'veggie burger' (different from the nut burger also on the menu) which was primarily a pinto bean patty.  While it was tasty, it also supposedly included shitake and jalapeno but the beans were the overriding flavor.  My main problem with the burger was the lack of texture.  The bean burger was too mushy to stand up to the bread.  It would have been better off being served as a bean cake accompanied by a more substantial side salad.  The day I was there, I also had a bite of the 'stir-fry brown rice with vegetables.'  The flavor was fine but the rice was al dente - not good for rice.  I would have asked for another dish if I had ordered that, since that is such a fundamental error by a cook.  However, my friend had been there before and said that this was not a usual problem.
Despite a few glitches, I will return to Urban pL8, assuming they can buck the trend of recent closings of restaurants I have visited (Dynamic Dish and Noon Midtown).  The service is friendly and I appreciate their approach to food and cooking.  And I want to try some more of their soups!