If you want Portugese Tarts in Sydney, Sweet Belem is the place to go. Their display is packed full from the old-fashioned good slices to decadent chocolate creations, but the main highlight is their Portugese Tarts. You’re in for a treat if you get them fresh, still warm, the buttery pastry flaky and crisp, the custard sweet and milky. I didn’t know before this how big the Portugese community was in Petersham; so if you have a hankering for good Portugese chicken, this is also the right area to be.
After picking up half a dozen tarts, Night Owl and I go for a meander under the station to the other side of Petersham, a leafy quiet side of the suburb where Brighton The Corner was situated.
We sit where we like and we start with coffees (Little Marionette blend #11). They are out of the Coconut Infused Cold Drip, so I select the regular Cold Drip ($4), while Night Owl goes with her regular strong cappuccino ($4). The Cold Drip is earthy and refreshing – more cacao and fruity-flavoured than coffee.
The menu is surprisingly small and simple – maybe I’ve been eating out around the inner west for too long. There’s all day breakfast with the usual toast and spreads (bread from the Bread and Butter Project), granola, house-made crumpets, lentils and eggs, a bacon and egg roll. From noon there’s a cheeseburger or chicken burger, and for the vegos there’s the smoked eggplant sandwich or beetroot quinoa salad, or pulled pork sandwich option for the carnivores.
I select the Serrano ham, corn puree, greens, soft boiled egg and toast ($15); the waitress tells me they are out of serrano but it will be replaced with sopressa (salami) and I decide to stay with it.
The sopressa was beautifully spiced and tender, but very saucy and I found that with the roasted whole tomato, corn puree and soft-boiled eggs, the whole plate became a rather watery mess quite quickly, which was more than I could mop up with my toast. I found after a while that the saltiness of the sopressa was building, and when I switched to the salad to try and cleanse my palate, I was dismayed to discover that there was salt on the salad as well.
Night Owl originally wanted the Pork shoulder, spinach and lime mayo sandwich ($11) but had thought she ought to have more vegetables and so had asked for the Smoked eggplant, tomato, spinach and feta sandwich ($11), only to be told they were out of it; they did seem to run out quickly! She was happy enough to go with her original choice.
Lovely soft bread, and a generous amount of saucy pulled pork but despite the sauce it still required a little more punch – maybe some passata or chilli while it was being slow-cooked? Night Owl ended up squeezing a fair amount of lime over it for extra punch.
It’s a very child-friendly establishment evidently popular with the Petersham locals. I do think that some elements of the menu could do with some tweaking, but having said that, it’s reasonably-priced for good-quality ingredients, and its distance away from the bustle of New Canterbury Road is very peaceful and soothing.
Brighton The Corner
49 Palace Street
Petersham NSW 2049
(02) 9572 6097
https://www.facebook.com/Brighton-the-Corner-576378069127790/
