http://www.cornerstorecafe.com/
Prelude: I've changed phones more times in the past year than any sensible person should have (lost, stolen, broken x 2) and as a result, I lost all my photos from my first trip to Corner Store Cafe bar a montage I uploaded on Instagram. I made a special extra trip to get more piccies for a complete post. Most of the start of this post below was written at the time of my first visit with a summary of my second visit at the end.
I've recently become obsessed with Instagram. And I mean obsessed. I'm refreshing/uploading at least as often as (if not more than) Facebook. And for me, this is ALOT. I came across some mouthwatering photos of breakfast items at Corner Store Cafe uploaded by a fellow Brissie foodblogger. I'd never heard of this cafe before but the photos were enough to put it on my radar. When Kat and I decided to have a midweek lunch date, I knew that's where I wanted to go.
Corner Store Cafe is located in Toowong, which frightened me at first because I associate Toowong with nightmare parking. It is however, away from High Street, in a quieter area with plenty of street parks. Generally, if I can find a spot, anyone can.
I'm still not 100% sure about what Corner Store Cafe comprises of but I'm quite positive I went in the wrong entrance (Kat later admitted to doing the same thing), then having to pass through the kitchen to their actual restaurant space. The dining area is nice. It's got that perfect indoor/outdoor vibe where you're undercover but there aren't enclosed walls so it feels pleasant and airy. Perfect for breakfast and brunching.
Clockwise from top left: latte, coconut lychee and lime frappe, salmon ceviche on sourdough toast and cheeseburger
I ordered a latte to start with. The glass was small but the coffee was potent. It definitely perked me up a bit.
Kat went with the coconut, lychee and lime frappe. She mentioned that it was different to what she expected and that it wasn't sweet enough for her liking.
For our food, I tossed up between the salmon ceviche and superfood salad. Both sounded healthy but the salmon won out with the advantage of also sounding very tasty. It came as cured salmon chunks with avocado in a tangy dressing, over crunchy sourdough. Think of it as a ceviche bruschetta. It was delicious! I would have never thought of serving fresh salmon like this before but it works really well. Classy, tasty and healthy.
Kat's cheeseburger was enormous. She attempted a few bites before resorting to knife and fork. She commented that the cheeseburger was very delicious. She became full halfway through but finished the whole thing. From where I sat, the patty looked juicy and the other ingredients seemed fresh.
Corner Store Cafe was very busy when we were there. They accept bookings for 5 people or over. I would recommend booking if you have a larger group because it's such a popular lunch spot. We both loved our lunch choices and I saw many promising treats on the breakfast menu to try next time.
As it happens, we ended up going there for weekend breakfast barely a month later. You would have read in my prelude what happened to my first lot of photos. Not one to accept defeat, I coaxed Kat to come with me for a second trip. She didn't need much convincing.
This time, it was about 11am on a Saturday and Corner Store Cafe had a queue about 5m long. We ended up waiting about 20 minutes for a table, which actually passed a lot quicker than I expected. The weekend menu is different to the weekday version and lunch doesn't start until later on in the day so we were restricted to breakfast options. That was fine by us.
Smashed avocado - on rye bread, with perisan feta, chili oil and dukkah
Kat chose the smashed avocado on rye bread. I would have gone for the same thing if I hadn't made myself avocado on toast earlier that morning. I felt heavy food envy when her plate arrived. It looked heavenly with large chunks of fresh avocado and boiled egg with a scattering of microherbs. Kat really enjoyed her meal and polished off every last bit, although she did mention the bread was slightly too tough.
11 seed and nut granola - with dark chocolate and almond milkshake and fresh strawberries
In an effort to order outside my usual box, I went for the seed granola. I had pictured the kind of oaty, sugary granola that comes out of a cereal box (forgot the brand but it's terribly unhealthy and absolutely delicious) but this version was completely comprised of seeds.
Close-up
I felt like I was eating bird food and you can imagine how the seeds lodged themselves in every braces bracket and tooth nook. I don't recommend ordering this if you have to speak to anyone afterwards and don't have immediate access to a toothbrush. I didn't love this pick and didn't think the chocolate milk went with the seeds. It all went together too cluggy for me and it was very, very filling. I ended up picking off the macadamia and fresh strawberries.
Watermelon and mint juice
My watermelon juice, on the other hand, was exactly everything I hoped for. It was refreshing and sweet without being too sweet. It had just the tiniest hint of mind that made it tingle down my throat. This is my idea of summer in a glass.
We still liked Corner Store Cafe on our second visit. Even though my breakfast choice was a miss for me, everyone else's food looked fantastic so I think I was just unlucky. I wouldn't recommend going on a weekend if you hate waiting for a table but if you're not in a rush, the menu and environment is really quite fetching.
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