Review: The Meatball Bar in Fremantle; tasty mouthfuls of meat

WITH names like the “ball breaker” and the “pulled ball bag” you’d be reluctant to find out what you’re getting.

But these deliciously cheekily-named “balls” are just a taste of what you can find on the menu at The Meatball Bar.

Now in three locations (Mt Lawley, Leederville and Fremantle), this Italian tapas-style eatery-cum-cocktail bar, serves “balls” in all their glory and with specials all week-long, it’s definitely worth a visit.

Taking advantage of the three-course Monday – Thursday deal where you can enjoy an entrée, main and dessert for $39, we turned up to the Fremantle location on a Tuesday evening.

While not busy, it certainly had a nice vibe and staff were quick to help us choose from the menu.

For entrée I went for the chorizo, sun-dried tomato and kipfler potato, croquettes topped with grilled Spanish chorizo, smokey chipotle sauce and crispy banana shallots, while my friend ordered the golden crumbed Middle Eastern pulled lamb meatballs served with green olives, preserved lemon and grilled Haloumi.

I love croquettes and these were cooked perfectly.

Golden and crispy on the outside with a delicious potato filling topped with Spanish chorizo, they gave my mum’s version of the fried treat, a run for their money.

For my main – I went traditional, trying “Mamma’s Balls”, Italian beef and pork meatballs served with hand-made gnocchi, 12hour slow-cooked Napoli sauce, crispy basil, house cashew pesto and parmesan chips.

Traditional in every sense of the word, this dish was a massive serve, just as you’d expect “mamma” to make.

Beautiful meatballs in a rich sugo, atop a very generous serve of freshly made gnocchi – delicious.

After eating my (three) croquettes, it was definitely going to be a struggle to get even through half of this, but I managed to make a little dent.

For dessert, yes, dessert, I tried Reese’s peanut butter custard, chocolate lined cannoli served with Reese’s peanut butter cups and Reese’s peanut butter drops.

But whether I was super full at this point, I felt dessert didn’t quite hit the mark.

Dry, and disappointing I should have gone for the Nutellamisu served with Kinder Chocolate which my friend devoured without taking a breath.

Regardless of dessert, this mid-week special at The Meatball Bar represents extreme value for money and if like me, the balls become too much, there’s also the option of grabbing them to go.