There are few restaurants in Denver that go above and beyond the typical night out. Ace, off Colfax and Pennsylvania, is one of those restaurants. It takes an innovative approach to the typical Asian food dining experience. A sister restaurant to popular Vesta Dipping Grill and Steubens (located right next door), Ace offers a twist on Asian comfort food classics as well as local craft beers and unique cocktails. It features a modern vibe while throwing one more factor into the mix—ping-pong.

On a Tuesday night, when I ventured to Ace, there were not too many people eating. Most of the people there were drinking and playing ping pong. We were on a mission—to sample the best of everything this restaurant has to offer. The night began with a glass of wine and an Old Fashioned. Take caution, fellow drinkers: the wine comes in “hipster” glasses, so-called by our server, which looked more like tiny juice glasses. Even though he claimed it was the same amount of wine as a normal glass, I am quite convinced that it was less.

However, once our appetizers came out, I was won over once again. Ace has four different sauces you can choose from for your appetizers and main course, ranging from spicy to sweet. They went perfectly with our chicken dumplings ($7). Bao Buns, which were like mini flatbread sliders, arrived next. We tried the fried mushroom, crispy shrimp and dynamite chicken ($4-5 each).  Picking a favorite was impossible and all are highly recommended. Finally, we got our entrees: tuna poke ($16), which is a lot like a sushi salad with a little wasabi and a lot of sweet, spicy citrus-y flavor, and the Mongolian beef ($12). Everything was prepared perfectly, presented beautifully and eaten more quickly than I’d like to admit.

The only complaint from the food service was, well, the service. Even though it was a Tuesday night and we were one of three groups in the restaurant, our server was relatively absent for most of the time—especially when I was finishing mini glasses of wine fairly often.

The delicious dinner was followed by a few rousing games of free ping-pong. The ping-pong area works in a straightforward manner—pick up your equipment, dibs a table and go. You can play for real but most people don’t, generally because of the bar just adjacent in between the restaurant and ping-pong area.

Overall, Ace is the whole experience: food, drinks and fun, all in one place with a great vibe and a location close to DU.