The Cornerstone Ale House

With a son and a few friends living in the Butler area, we’re always on the lookout for places with decent food so we can check them out when I’m visiting. Yes, I know it’s not far away but when you live close to the city, driving to Butler can seem like going for a very long drive in the country :)
We haven’t found many that tick all the boxes unfortunately, but there are a few that serve reasonable food, and the Cornerstone Ale House is one of them. This no frills pub is family friendly and serves large portions of food at reasonable prices. Sometimes that’s all you need.
On a Sunday evening, the couples and families start arriving early, and several large tables filled very quickly. My friend and I shared a bottle of the special wine of the month — a reasonable SSB for $ 26.
My choice of the chicken schnitzel was served with mash potato, a rather yummy mushroom sauce, and broccolini. I managed to polish off the lot and was impressed with how delicious a basic dish could taste when the ingredients were fresh and thoughtfully put together.
My friend’s dish of the fried barramundi fillet with sautéed baby potatoes, olives and tomatoes was another hearty serve that she thoroughly enjoyed.
Overall, this was a positive dining experience with pub grub that’s a cut above many other similar establishments.

The CornerStone Alehouse opened their doors for business 7 years ago with only 3 items in their menu. As the Brighton Estate started to evolve, the business also strived to improve on their food offerings to the locals and other visitors. These days they are serving a variety of new items whilst still keeping the popular daily specials in the menu.
The restaurant was brimming with people on Sunday night but since it was quite spacious, we were shown to our table straightaway. In one look, the premise can probably host up to 60 – 80 people at any given time. There are some outdoor seating available as well and during the daytime people can enjoy the beautiful lake view.
I ordered the Chefs Selection as it was comprised of most items in the entrée list and is a good option if you are looking for variety. The nice waitress (Alyce) informed us that the tasting platter’s portion was quite large and other patrons who ordered it struggled to finish their mains afterwards. With this in mind, I decided to order the platter as my main.
The platter came with a bowl of buttered garlic prawns, lime aioli spiced whitebait, rocket salad, crumbed camembert cheese, arancini, chorizo, bruschetta, and Turkish breads with dips. The arancini with tomato relish, mushroom and melted mozzarella cheese was my favourite of the selection. This was a good dish if shared among 2 people and could certainly hold its ground as a main for 1 as the waitress attested to.
Hubby ordered a lamb rump and it was so scrumptious that I kept on taking some for myself. The lamb rumb was cooked in medium rare and the portion was generous for $ 34. The rump was rested in a good composition with pesto potatoes, broccolini and roasted capsicum jus. The meat itself was very tender.
Hubby’s meal came with peppery gravy which mixed really well with the jus from the lamb. The dish was definitely a mark above the average «pub grub» standard. The beauty of this dish was that the portions were in line with what you’d expect from pub food but the presentation and flavour was leaning more towards the finer dining side of the spectrum. This was winning combination and the lamb rump will definitely be our go-​to-​dish next time and I’m keen to try the paella that they just put in the menu too!
Desserts were chocolate macadamia brownie punked up with salted caramel sauce as well as tiramisu with Tia Maria.
One of the enjoyable parts after eating was when we had a chat with the Supervisor, Jack, about the restaurant. He was very friendly all throughout the night and there was no fault with the service that we received. Cutlery and napkins were brought to the table straight after it got cleaned, which was quite efficient. We felt that it could be more than just a local pub. If anything, the CornerStone Alehouse restaurant was very fitting for a fancy dining or date night especially with its realistic prices, pleasant space, and accommodating staff.

Went out for dinner to the cornerstone having not been there for about 5 years!
I ordered the lamb rump and my dinner partner ordered the chicken Royale! After a long wait for our entrée the bruschetta arrived cooked to perfection and delicious however the 35 minute wait took the lustre off the dish.
The mains arrived about 15 mins later and the lamb was perfection! The lightly charred outer part and the perfectly cooked centre with pesto potatoes and semi-​sundried capsicum was a flavour explosion in my mouth.
The chicken Royale on the plate opposite me looked amazing and I’m assured the macadamia and Dijon and mashed potato crust was amazing in the mouth. The bacon wrap cooked perfectly and the chicken breast tender moist and delicious.
How was dessert? Couldn’t fit it in didn’t have room :)

Pretty average place — the food was mediocre but cheaper than other similar style places I’ve eaten. The staff were friendly enough and service was good — my drink order was taken straight away and brought out not longer after, and the food was quick and hot. Meal wasn’t bad but it wasn’t anything special. Although I wish I’d had the burger as apparently those are pretty good. The main draw card for this place is that it is walking distance for locals. The outside area overlooks the park but isn’t in the afternoon sun so it was quite chilly and windy.

I don’t rate this pub/​restaurant as highly as I do the Whale and Ale, there food is not brilliant compared to that of the whale and ale, they do however have a few stand out meals, the steak is very nice as is the lamb shanks. However it does seem to be quite slow and not as good as I would hope. However the bar in the Cornerstone can be quite nice, however on some nights it can get really rowdy in the bar, really depends on the sport and events. Otherwise an OK location.

The prices were about average but the serving size was quite small. The main issue I had with this place was the service. The restaurant section of the pub was only half-​full when I went for lunch. After standing around for five minutes I finally got seated and was served about 15 minutes later! My meal then arrived after another 40 minutes. Haven’t been game to try it again…