LOCATIONLocated in Swanbourne.
PROFILED BY DE GROOTS MEDIAA good pizza joint needs a sound base, original toppings, and a good wine list. The Pizza Lounge now fulfils all three essentials after getting fully licensed in early 2007. Proprietors Ryan Bookless, Peggy Craig and Paul Craig have wasted no time in pulling together a nice selection of local Western Australian wines, as well as some neat New Zealand imports. But the wine merely complements the creative menu which, I am told, hasn’t changed much in the six years the Lounge has been open.
The main changes have been decorous – the interior has just undergone a classy renovation with retro detailing. The Lounge is now a casual, funky place to eat some quality wood-fired dough.
Pastas, salads and a few basic starters as well as dessert pizza embellish an already chockers menu. A creation meshing together spicy Italian sausage, chillies, ricotta, rocket, spring onion, cracked pepper and garlic was invented by Ryan “because of the colours” and given his nickname, the Nobook. The Train Smash is pretty much everything on a base, and we’ll pray there are no disasters on the Perth to Fremantle line which runs out front, lest they have to change the name. My personal favourite is the Vege #1, a classic gourmet veg done better than most places. It’s best with a tonne of chillies on top. For the die-hard meat lover there is plenty of variety, from Thai chicken (with pumpkin, cashews and chillies) to the Rockin Sheep, which is – you guessed it – Moroccan lamb.
Louise Burke