What A Find - Bendigo Corner Store Cafe

Hubby and I had an impromptu lunch at the Bendigo Corner Store Cafe today. I've been hearing promising things about the place for awhile, so I was pretty keen to try it for myself. Most commonly, when I have these feelings of high expectations I  end up disappointed, my enthusiasm tends not to be met by reality! But not so today, it was brilliant,  if anything the experience exceeded my expectation.

 The cafe looks inviting as you approach. It's a cute as could be location and the owners have done a great job of turning what was once clearly a milkbar into a groovy and very popular cafe. There were people every where, and we felt lucky to grab a table out the front. The cafe obviously has a strong following, which is impressive because it is right up the non-Pall Mall end of View Street. They don't have the luxury of passing traffic, this is very much a destination cafe.

Having ordered our drinks and collected menus my expectations were rising, not decreasing, which was a good sign for me as I tend not to be a fan of pay as you go cafes. The menu is appealing both in its presentation, it's printed on handmade paper, as well as in its content. There was plenty to choose from with vegetarian and vegan options well represented.

 

I am making an effort to have but one coffee per day, therefore I had green tea

cute typeface on hand made paper makes for an engaging menu

We took our time pouring over the menu before realising then and there, that we were definitely coming back! There were several items I was drawn to and  when I went in to order I abandoned them all in  favour of something I saw on the specials board, that being the 'Tasting Plate'.

Hubby ordered the Chicken Schnitzel Burger. I think they need to give this dish a different name as burger doesn't do it justice. Hubby said it was excellent, really, really nice, and folks I can confirm to you that he is an even bigger fussy fuss pot than I am! So that dish must have been all kinds of amazing! I should have tried it but I was too in love scoffing my tasting plate! But back to the burger. Firstly, it was a thin styled schnitzel which is my  preferred type of preparing chicken schnitzel. The Bendigo Corner Cafe use a free range fillet and they do a Parmesan crust on it. The burger has cheese, salad, red onion, semi dried tomatoes and free range bacon, and the bun was amazing. It was a pumpkin semi sour dough roll. Visually the whole dish was very appealing, the colours of each component kind of leaped off the plate and really got the taste buds going!

hand cut wedges complete the dish

My Tasting Plate was no slouch either. Once again the visual appeal was there, so that as soon as it was placed before me I was keen to get started! The roasted corn fritters with garlic prawns pulled me in first, swiftly followed by the house cured duck proscuitto. At first I was a bit confronted by the sort of fattiness of the meat, but oh my it was good! In fact everything on the platter was excellent and I finished my grazing with the beetroot, goats cheese and pistaccio dip with Turkish style flat breads, that I feel were also house made.

beautiful presentation

To be honest neither myself or my husband could find fault with anything. The only teeny, tiny, weeniest point we could find is in reality a personal preference. We like Bonsoy and a different soy milk is served here. But like I said that's personal.

So from our end it has to be a ten out of ten.

Is it a Great Eat? Well and truly!

Bendigo Corner Store Cafe

305 View Street
Bendigo
(03) 5442 2008

click here for Bendigo Corner Store Facebook page 

Like to see more pics?