Despite knowing that the menu at Ace Pizza is devoid of gluten free pizza options, this has been a venue that has remained on my wish list for some time. Don’t be fooled by their name, whilst I’m told Ace’s pizzas are far from shabby it’s their share plates that I was keen to try. Being paid monthly means when we hit the end of the month we are scratching for a cheap place to eat out without compromising on our needs for quality or flavour. I was hoping Ace Pizza would fulfil this basic need.
Dishes are certainly cheap, reasonably sized and served with lickity split, no fuss speed. Perhaps too much so as within about ten minutes of placing our order all of our dishes had made their way to our table. There were a number of gluten free and vegetarian options to suit both our needs however as is often the case, we ordered far too much food.
The grilled corn was a refreshing way to start with each of the juicy cobs lavishly drizzled in thick chilli mayo and balsamic.
The beet salad came with crunchy walnuts and dollops of whipped salted ricotta. The ricotta had the texture of soft serve giving a great play in textures with the remaining ingredients.
I was in a rare mood for a morsel of red meat and ordered the chop chop beef without the bread. There was sadly no gluten free replacement for the bread which would have been a nice touch. I confess that after having eaten the steak tartare a bunch of times at Rockpool I am yet to find a match of that calibre elsewhere in Perth. Whilst Ace’s chop chop beef was enjoyable it lacked the smooth finesse and fresh aftertaste of Perry’s signature version. I reminded myself that it was also half the price.
The squid was my favourite dish of the evening with the surprising element of super crunchy deep fried chickpeas mixed with rings of squid all drizzled in generous lashings of chilli aioli. I love it when you don’t have to ask for more aioli! The Boy and I have a bad habit of eating quickly and before we gave our stomachs a chance to register what we had already eaten, we jumped ahead to ordering another dish; the crispy potatoes with Nduja mayo.
Nduja is a spicy spreadable type of Italian pork sausage typically made using the shoulder, belly and jowls along with the stomach lining (tripe). I wasn’t sure how this would work in a mayo. Basically it turns the mayo into some sort of strange meat sauce. The Boy was horrified at the mere sound of this yet once the dish was brought to our table he couldn’t resist a taste. The spuds were perfectly crispy with soft velvety centres and the “meat sauce” was in no way overwhelming. I decided I was certain there would be no room for any more food after this.
Exploding at the seams we paid our super cheap bill and with some spare change in our pockets we agreed to waddle up the street to Enrique’s School for to Bullfighting for a night cap. On Sundays, Enrique’s serves their signature sangria for $5 per person – a total bargain. It is served with a cute little jar of sherbet for an added element of zing.
After a round of drinks I became aware that I did indeed have a teeny bit more room to end our night of cheap gluttony. Neither of us could agree on whether we ordered sweet or savoury so to avoid a squabble we ordered one of each. The Boy’s choice was a hard goats cheese; Queso de cabra Pedro Ximenez. This is a smooth semi-soft cheese that is bathed in Pedro Ximenez wine for four months. It was quite a dense almost elastic cheese with a slightly sweet flavour.
My choice was the gluten free dessert option. Hardly surprising really, I mean, shouldn’t I make use of that second stomach of mine? 😉 The gluten free dessert option was a Pannacotta served with honeycomb, salted caramel ice cream and chocolate soil. I was initially confused by our first waiter who told me that the chocolate soil wasn’t gluten free. Thus when it was served to us with the soil I humbly asked for it to be sent back to the kitchen. I hate being a pain in restaurants but it’s not like I can just eat around the gluten on the plate!
Returning from the kitchen our second waiter had double checked with the chef and thankfully assured me that the whole dish was actually gluten free. I nervously ate it hopeful that I was given the right advice, whilst grateful that I could eat it as it was the bomb! I had absolutely no ill effect that evening and have since contacted management who confirmed that this is correct, the dish is completely gluten free. Bit of a mix up but it was all good in the end.
Ace and Enrique’s are both affordable places to hit up for a decent meal when you’re on a bit of a budget but want more than just fast food. The music is pumped up loud, the lights are dimmed and the service is quick and friendly.
Chompchomp dined at Ace and Enrique on her meagre end of month budget with an equal contribution from the Boy. Ace Pizza 448 Beaufort Street, Highgate WA 6003 | 0499 448 000 | www.acepizza.com.au Price $$ Share plates $6-32, Pizzas $15-26 (no GF pizza available)Enrique’s School for to Bullfighting 484 Beaufort Street, Highgate WA 6003 | 0438 248 414 | Facebook
Oh, I do like the look of the corn, Martine – will have to tuck that idea away for when the corn makes an appearance here – not too far away.
Such an easy treat! Nothing beats eating them in season, agreed!
Dear Martine,
The squid looks sensational and how clever to pair it with deep fried chickpeas.
Was a great textural combination. The chickpeas were super crunchy.
Yum! Love both of these places – so glad you go to try Ace out finally. Hopefully in the future they might have a gluten free pizza base on offer
Better late than never I say! Fingers crossed I can try pizza there one day, they looked really good.
Oh gosh, look at that corn!!! And the panna cotta yum!
Julie
Gourmet Getaways
The pannacotta was out of this world. Planning another visit, will have to sample the sangria again too! 😉
LOL I love your disclaimer…
And YUM – I would have so put in a honey pannacotta delivery order if I knew you were in the area. So hard not being able to drive!
x
Oh you poor lass. Will have to bring something tasty over to you!
You totally had me at nduja mayo! Glad to hear that it was good 😀
It could gave gone either way but was a total artery clogging success! Yum!
The corn looks lush, and I’m such a huge fan of tartare. You definitely need something for textural crunch though.
Agreed, was a shame they didn’t have a GF replacement.
Woah!! That corn looks heavenly. Much better than the one I had at El Publico where it was all taken off the cob. Yesterday I revisited Cantina :)! The potatoes there were phenomenal least to say! Much better than the ones at Bread In Common.
I was inspired by this dish to buy corn at the local farmers market…looking forward to cooking it just the same. !
Sounds great but such a shame that there were so few GF options for you. It seems like such a simple thing for restaurants to do.
Love the sound of whipped salted ricotta, that got my mouth watering.
It was a shame to not get to enjoy the pizzas I agree. They looked incredibly delicious.
Thanks for the blog, It’s good and pictures make it better!!!
Thank you! It was a great meal.
Pics are yummy…I have to come now!!
I’ve been wanting to try Enriques for ages and I still haven’t made it (I was rather scared that the ‘pop-up’ would disappear before I had a chance but I’m relieved that it’s still there!). As for the share plates at ACE… they look amazing! I’ve only tried the pizza so far (and the soft serve… oh my gosh. Yum) but I might diverge into share plate territory next time. So glad that you enjoyed your choices, despite the lack of GF pizza bases (hope that changes soon!) xx
Oh you do have to go! I loved the atmosphere, dark red lights, booming music. It felt very Spanish!