Urban Reef sits right on the Boscombe promenade, at the foot of the cliff in the curved Overstrand building beside the pier. The sea is a few steps from the door, and the whole place is arranged around it: a sun deck out on the prom, a café at ground level and a restaurant upstairs with a balcony that looks across the bay. If you are staying anywhere near Boscombe, it is one of the simplest places to eat well with the water in front of you rather than behind a car park.
The food
The day starts with the bakery — proper coffee, breakfast baps, pastries and sweet things made on site — and brunch is what the café does best. From midday the offer widens to wood-fired pizza, beers and cocktails, easy to carry out onto the deck when the sun is out. In the evening the upstairs restaurant serves a British menu with an international turn to it, leaning on local produce, with the bay filling the windows. It is relaxed all-day food rather than fine dining, and it is the better for it.
The setting
The building works over three levels. A sun deck runs along the promenade, the café sits at ground level, and the first-floor restaurant — with a mezzanine above — opens onto a balcony with a wide view over Boscombe and Bournemouth Bay towards the Purbecks, and on a clear day the Isle of Wight. Through the summer, roughly May to September, there is live music: bands, singers, DJs and salsa nights out by the water. Dogs are welcome and the ground floor is accessible.
Where it is
Urban Reef is on Undercliff Drive at Boscombe beach, on the seafront itself beside Boscombe Pier, postcode BH5 1BN. Because it is at beach level there is no parking at the door; most people walk in along the promenade, or come down from the overcliff car parks and gardens above. From central Bournemouth it is a flat stroll or cycle east along the prom — one of the better ways to arrive.
Good to know
Urban Reef opens daily from morning until late, but the hours shift with the season, so check before a special trip. The café and deck take walk-ins and fill fast on a sunny day; for the upstairs restaurant, especially at weekends and in the evening, book ahead. For more of the neighbourhood, see the Boscombe area guide, and for other places to eat, our restaurants guide.
