When I was in High School I used to use all sorts of excuses to get out of doing P.E. I would say invent all sorts of ailments because excuses like “the dog ate my homework” wouldn’t exactly suffice (and does anyone really use that excuse anymore?). So when I first wanted to visit Cornersmith on a Monday I was dismayed to see that they were closed. But when I heard that they were closed on Mondays for pickling, well that just made me chuckle.
I was put onto Cornersmith by my cousin in law Catherine who is a Marrickville local. True to the name, it sits on the corner of Illawarra Road and Petersham Road, and has been open since January this year. Catherine’s advice was go later on in the day as she described it as intensely busy and full during lunch time. And even when Buxom Wench and I meet there one Tuesday afternoon at 1:30pm she nabs the only free table (although there are bar seats). The room is small and the menu in written on the chalkboard.
There is a list of “Produce this week” that outlines where all of the various ingredients are from. There is nitrate free corned beef, ham and duck liver from Feather and Bone, foraged pine mushrooms and King William “apples from Johnnie’s mum”. The bread is from Brasserie Bread and there is also a list of the items that they are bottling.
Salt and pepper containers
Menu items are broken down into sections like “morning toast”, “bowl” and “eggs” and we ask the waitress what she recommends. We decide on a sandwich and one of the plates. Prices are very reasonable and you could certainly eat here without breaking the $20 barrier. And the atmosphere is welcoming hipster except and you don’t feel like you need to have a pair of coloured Ray Ban Wayfarers to belong.
Soy chai $4.50
I tried the soy chai so that Buxom Wench could try some and it is aromatic and strong in star anise. I add some honey and it is very good-and you can’t really taste the soy much at all.
Soy Hot Chocolate $4.50
Buxom Wench is so taken by this soy hot chocolate that she orders another once it is done. I could taste the soy in this more than the chai though.
I watched this drink being carried to another patron and excited by the look of it. Buxom Wench followed my gaze and then whispered to me “Go on, ask him if you can take a photo of it!” Well I’m not that embarrassing (yet! 
) and I’d also have to try it too to be able to write about it and whilst he might be ok with me photographing it, I don’t think it would extend to me trying some of his drink so I ordered one of my own.
Pear, dried apricot and vanilla milkshake $4
The small version arrives in a cute little glass but missing the streaking detail on the side which made the other one so eye-catching. No matter though as the milkshake is delicious, not overly sweet but sweet enough. It tasted healthier than other milkshakes but not too healthy. Perhaps it’s the Goldilocks of milkshakes, it was juuust right and I’m not even a milkshake person.
Cornersmith plate for one $16 (or $28 for two)
The Cornersmith Plate had free range ham, cheddar, a red cabbage, pear, feta and pomegranate salad with two slices of crunchy toasted bread cut in half. The ham was lovely and went well with the salad and the onion and the currant relish brought everything together nicely. There were also sweet black seedless grapes as “dessert.”
Corned beef, cheddar, brussel and fennel slaw with piccalilli $12
The bread was fresh but after reading about the corned beef there wasn’t a lot of it on the sandwich and the filling to bread ratio was in favour of the bread. We should have probably ordered the baked beans or something else that would have gone better with the bread.
“So shall we have dessert?” Buxom Wench says and reminds me why I love dining with her. A quick chat to the waitress turns up four offerings: a muffin (neither of us are muffin people), a poppyseed scroll (one of the few items not made on the premises but apparently very good still) but we are tempted by the other two offerings.
Pear, almond and hazelnut cake $4
It looked unassuming enough but the freshly baked gluten free pear and almond cake is moist and moreish. It’s the kind of cake you might take one bite of and think “that’s lovely” and then pause and then finish off the rest within a minute.
Chocolate chilli brownie $4
The brownie here is topped with coconut and isn’t the traditional gooey brownie but a firmer offering. And when they say chilli they mean chilli. Here it isn’t a mild tingly afterthought, it is bold and it is there from the first taste and the chilli just keeps developing on your tongue heating it up until you just have to comment on the chilli!
It’s around 3pm and closing time when Buxom Wench and I depart ways, I turn left down on the corner and she turns right. And the lesson learned? “Gone pickling” is just as valid an excuse as any.
So tell me Dear Reader, what’s the best excuse you’ve ever heard or given? How chilli tolerant are you and do you like the chilli and chocolate combo when the chilli is mild or hot?
Cornersmith
314 Illawarra Rd, Marrickville, NSW 2204
Tel: +61 (02) 8065 0844
Open Tuesday to Friday 6:30am – 3pm, Saturday to Sunday 8am – 3pm
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47 Comments | Add your own
the salt and pepper arrangement looks like two little terracotta “diya” lamps. What a cute arrangement!
love how fresh, seasonal and thoughtful this menu is!
and LOVE the chilli / choc combo!
I would like to go here. I like the sound of the milkshake. Not your usual unchocolately chocolate or fake strawberry flavour.
I am new to chilli with sweets combination and sometimes it works for me, sometimes is doesn’t. I haven’t tried chocolate with chilli yet. Need to make a cake and try.
Hi Lorraine,
I would definitely have chocolate and chili — I think I’d love that cake, although I am not a dessert person. I’ll have to ask my SIL’s sister for the best excuse, she is a grade school teacher.
I have been to Marrickville once or twice but have never been here before – thanks for the review because seems like a trip there is so long overdue
Especially for the pear and almond cake with a nice big vanilla dried apricot pear milkshake!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
I also hated PE with vengeance in the first 10 years of my high school. After joining basketball…let’s say my skin turned from a sickly ivory colour to hot cross bun colour
I was eating near here on Sunday and couldn’t help but notice how busy it was – people even waiting outside.
Will have to give it a go sometime! I want to try that milkeshake
Go Cornersmith! great coffee and good produce it’s been a very welcome addition to our little Marrickville scene. I only wish it was bigger so we don’t have to wait…
I spotted this place the other night when Pete & I got our Phõ fix a few doors down. Looks great I’m going to visit soon
Closed for pickling? How cute! LOL
That pear, almond and hazelnut cake looks scrumptious!
LOVE LOVE LOVE Cornersmith! I went there a couple weeks ago because we’re writing a blog post on them too! And it is the cutest little cafe. Gorgeous shots, Lorraine! And thanks for the link love
You go to the coolest places!
Sounds like a great place to eat. Honest, good food with no surprises. Well done!
Now, where have I been that I’ve missed Busty Wench?? Is she a new friend or hasn’t been around? Maybe we’re related.
PE was the only lesson I didn’t try to get out of! If you were late to my high school you had to go to the office to get a late note. My friend and I used to walk to school together and one day during a thunder storm we were hideously late so we went to the office and told them the house had been struck by lightening. All the women in the office were enthralled with the story and wanted to know more and more details so we just kept making it up and it was becoming more sensational by the minute. I do love how that milkshake has been presented xx
Amazing how many of your bloggers have found this little gem! Obviously fun if you are in the area and the Cornersmith Plate looks very moreish
! Not being a PE gal at school either somehow a certain monthly occurrence which could kind’of ‘curtail’ your ability to go hippety-hop seemed to arrive far more often than that 
!
Always a lovely area to visit, TRUE!
Thanks for today for letting us enjoy the food and view!
ABSOLUTELY Love chill is, the hotter the beter for me!
As LOVE the great combinations of HOT & Spicy but chocolate and chilli combo does not appeal to me!
sounds like a pretty nice milkshake combo! pear, apricots and vanilla – could work in a cake as well
I am totally charmed by the idea of the place being closed for pickling–and I’m even charmed by the name, Cornersmith.
I used to be a teacher and I think I have heard every excuse, but I feel a bit more tolerant now. I even had the grace to be embarrassed recently when I had to truthfully tell the phone company that the dog ate my bill. They laughed when I handed them the shredded bits.
I love chile and chocolate–such a Mexican, such an Aztec thing.
This place looks so good! I know this is quite a minor item but their salt and pepper ‘shakers’ are so cute!!!
I love the look of everything at this place. From the dishes, to the drinks to the salt and pepper holders! What a great find! Well, revisit really ;p
Hahaha I like the atmosphere of this place
it seems realy relaxed hehe ~ i dunno why but I m really interested in the milkshake because it’s like a cross between a milkshake and a smoothie ~ I do the same thing all the time lol see what others order and then I d like it myself hehe
As for excuses I use the ‘ sorry I ve got the cold’ excuse all the time hahaha and chilli is my
best friend love it hehe
The milkshakes are so adorable served in those glass milk bottles. Love places like this. Now, if only I had a friend named Buxom Wench to enjoy it with. LOL Alas, none of my friends would fit that physical description without a little help.
Oooh, that soy hot chocolate looks good!
Pear appeared twice in this post. Both looks nice – the Pear, dried apricot and vanilla milkshake sounds really unique and must be nice one to try. The cake totally make me drool. What a great place!
This is my local. FYI, their bircher muesli is amazing!
Love chilli – will have it in everything…what a gorgeous place
i wish i could close off my office for “pickling”!!
Oh to have a massive sandwich in favour of the bread right now *diet thoughts*
The milkshake and a slice of that pear, almond and hazelnut cake would be wonderful please
Argh ….glass milk bottles brings back flashbacks of the past.
It all sounds so delicious that I can’t wrap my head around the fact that it’s all so healthy! (As for chili in chocolate? Bring it on, I say!)
I love the fact that they tell you where the produce is from!
What a fun place! Can’t think of any good excuses.
This cafe really appeals to my desire to know the provenance of everything I put into my mouth – the fresh, season approach to the food.
how I wish I was there to enjoy the hot chocolate and The Cornersmith Plate
Oh my. I had a little moment to myself reading about that hazelnut pear cake. It looks divine. I once had a chilli + choc gelato from Dolce & Gelato in Newtown and it was addictive because the hotness from the chilli makes you go back for the cool sensation and then you are fooled ALL OVER AGAIN – until you finish it and are just left with a burning tongue.
Oh my god, next time I don’t want to do something, I’m totally going to say “Sorry, I’m closed for pickling”.
That snacky-type plate looks amazing! And I’m super chilli tolerant. Bring on the heat I say!
I adore chilli and on a scale of 1-10, I am probaly an 8.5. But, when it comes to chilli in chocolate, I prefer a milder flavour, which goes really well with the sweetness of fulce de leche too. And I really suck at excuses.
That snack plate for one looks great with the fruit and veg!
Love,love,love that pear & apricot milkshake and the bottle it’s in!
Im a bit of a spice addict & so when I get miffed when the chilli is so mild as to be almost indetectable..
As usual, the list of places to visit grows ever longer.
I like chocolate with anything, but…. when I bite into chocolate with chilli, I hiccough. another bite, another hiccough. But this does’nt happen when I eat savoury food with chilli! Weird. Maybe it’s my body’s surprise at being bitten by dessert.
That cake sounds delish, and that plate is just amazing- how much food!
That Cornersmith plate looks like my childhood “stuff on a plate” lunches my mom would prepare for us finicky kids.
And I like a subtle chilli, but one with a fair heat.
This place is so popular it’s ridic! I love that they’re closed for pickling on Mondays though.
Totalllllly putting this on the (long) visit list! For that milkshake alone!!!
Wow! What a fantastic place. Going to make a visit this week!
Definitely a big fan of the chilli chocolate combo. Preferably a reasonable sized hit of heat!
Im s intrigued about that choc chilli combo. They def arent messing around with theirs! Some people are quite subtle but I like it when its bold – especially in desserts
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