Corner Deli, Woolloongabba: Cafe serves up heart-stopping fried chicken burger

A new Brisbane cafe is sure to get diners talking, with its fiery chicken burger just one talking point on its juxtaposing menu.

‘Our primary objective is to feed people good and wholesome food, but there will still be plenty of more indulgent offerings,” said chef and co-founder Ben McShane when he opened Corner Deli at Woolloongabba at the end of April.

The casual eatery takes over the tenancy next door to McShane’s modern European restaurant Clarence, and is a joint venture with new business partner and long-time friend Matt Kuhnemann.

Corner Deli cafe in Woolloongabba.

The gents’ mission statement was that the heritage space – all rich with exposed original bricks, soaring ceilings and tonal polished timber floors – would provide extra seating for the restaurant of an evening and on weekends, as well as a “real food” option for the thousands of hospital workers at the Mater, just a stethoscope swing away.

The so-called “real food” McShane speaks of consists of everything from congee and omelet-loaded muffins of a morning, to cold and hot sandwiches, salads and soups for lunch.

For those looking for the “good and wholesome” fare, the lentil soup ($16) tastes like a flu-fighting, congestion-easing, winter health tonic. Thin and watery – not thick like dal – and stained with turmeric and cumin, it heaves with ribbons of kale, fragmenting cubes of pumpkin and al dente puy lentils.

The menu includes a range of hot and cold sandwiches.

The black barley and broccoli salad ($12) – one of three salads available – also tastes abundantly salubrious, though I’m not sure how many doctor customers will appreciate the profusion of sliced spring onion when they have to put their masks back on in the hospital.

If all that’s too virtuous for you, though, McShane brings dichotomy with a handful of hot and cold sangas, burgers and rolls, from a confit duck number with horseradish and green bean chutney to a curried mortadella and provolone situation that sounds intriguing.

Then there’s the fried chicken burger ($17) that, no doubt, has the nearby cardiologists in a tizz.

The fried chicken burger at Corner Deli.

As greasy as Danny Zuko’s hair in the hit movie, the poultry fillet delivers audible crunch against a powdery soft white bun, with a hot sauce that just might stop your heart if the oleaginous chook doesn’t.

For those struggling to navigate the juxtaposing menu, the congenial and good-natured staff at the counter – where diners order – are more than happy to help while engaging in a little friendly chitchat.

They also make a terrifically silky coffee with a slight lingering bitterness, using local Bancroft beans.

There is a handful of boutique soft drinks from StrangeLove, plus a couple of local beers and a cider, and a clutch of price-focused wines at $12 a glass.

With somewhat of a chasm of local food options in the area, Corner Deli will no doubt go some way to fill the void.

Corner Deli

615 Stanley St, Woolloongabba

clarencerestaurant.com

Open

Mon-Fri, 7am-3pm

Verdict – Scores out of 5

Food 3

Service 4

Ambience 3

Value 4

Overall 3.5