The Cornershop, Yarraville: Great brunch, but what about dinner?

I’ve been to the Cornershop quite a few times for brunch – they serve fantastic baked eggs – but had yet to try their dinners. A group of about 8 of us went after our work Christmas lunch (a casual backyard-style affair), since we couldn’t decide on a movie to watch at the Sun Theatre across the street.

The dinner menu was quite variable – with splashes of Mediterranean, French and Asian flavours evident across the page.

The waiter explained that for a large group of about 7-8 people, we should order about 11-12 dishes to share. Not being that hungry yet (the night was still young, and we were stuffed from lunch), we decided on 7 dishes to share (the last 2 dishes were BL's - he arrived late because he had a hair appointment).

I couldn't remember the exact details of each dish, and didn't take a photo of the menu, so pardon me for the lack of description:

Clams

 Confit duck, onion chutney, greens

Cheese and spinach

 Meatballs

Mediterranean salad

Zucchini fritters

Potato chips

Lamb cutlet, beetroot sauce, walnuts

Quail, apple salad

The food was good, but not fantastic – with the exception of the potato chips, those were sensational – crispy, golden brown with just the right amount of salt, served with aioli.

Service was lacking that night – perhaps it was a busy night (it was Saturday, after all). The place is nowhere as busy as it usually is for breakfast and brunch – at night there was a much calmer, more sedate atmosphere (comparatively).

I did drop by again a few nights later with Dee for a coffee, at about 4pm – once again, I was disappointed with the (lack of) service. There seemed to only be one waiter around (though it was a lag period of the day, well after lunch, but before the dinner crowd), and it took numerous attempts to get his attention every time we wanted to order.

I ordered the potato chips again – and was saddened by the lack of consistency. This time they arrived a bit soggy and oily, and missing the crispiness I remembered from last time. Our second round of coffees never arrived.

Overall, although I still think the Cornershop is a great place for brunch, I wouldn’t go back around dinner time. Service is inconsistent – I remembered the staff to be super-friendly from my (numerous) previous brunch experiences there; once they even removed our drinks from the bill simply because our coffees took a while to arrive! This level of service remains to be seen around dinner time. 

For dinner:

Food – 6 / 10

Service – 4 / 10

Value for money – 5 / 10

OVERALL CONSENSUS: 2.5 bags (out of 5)