Suspicious of an agelessly slender, asexual clown doubling as the face of childhood diabetes?

Good news ... Ronald Mcdonald has ditched the clown suit and is wooing a more refined audience. The vehicle is The Corner by McCafe in Camperdown.

Warming the chairs are value-conscious students and RPA Hospital food refugees. I'm right at home with my shoe-string budget and desire for a medically inoffensive lunch.



Set-up is McCafe stapled to a Qantas Business Lounge salad buffet. Wife and trusted DSLR operator has just emerged from labour and is absent. Phone camera will suffice.

Eyes are set on the gourmet (Qantas) section. Respectably unique salads: mixed farrow, lentils and red quinoa and pumpkin; aka the superfoods of 2014. To my amazement, these are rotated daily.



Add some slow cooked proteins in giant pots. I read Pulled Pork and breathing becomes laboured. Ashamed to admit wasted box space on Moroccan Chicken and miscellaneous vegetables.



The result is an unaesthetic but highly satisfying, gourmet cafeteria style feed for $10.

Salads? Can't complain over these fresh versions of pre-made Woolworths' mixes. Lentil dressing is a let-down; sickly sweet. Complexity is still good, shown below.



Proteins? Pull-apart pork is absolutely fantastic! Indistinguishable from a high-end meat-house. If this were to be teamed up with a brioche bun and a creamy slaw, hospital patient visitations would skyrocket.

- Food - 7/10 - rotational well marinated proteins straddled over cafe-quality salads;
- Value - 8/10 - incredible utility from a $10 note.
- Other - 6/10 - clean, cafeteria-style dining, no-frills service.
- Overall - 7/10 - a formidable foray into gourmet fast-food.

Remove the food snob hat and accept The Corner as forgettably good feed. Not worth the detour but the stomach will not complain.

Today's lesson?
Even clowns can run a decent kitchen.

Will I be returning?
When child #2 is born, yes.
A few environmental shots below.