The Meatball Shop

Occasion: Dinner with Ben
Location: The Meatball Shop on Stanton between Allen and Orchard (themeatballshop.com)
Edibles: the special "Bolognese" meatballs with spaghetti marinara and the chicken meatballs with seasonal greens and mushroom gravy

Musings: Meatballs are awesome. They just are. They probably rank around #4 on my list of all-time favorite eats - #1-3 being bacon, pie and lobsters. (I reserve the right to shuffle and revise this list at any time.)

I stumbled across a review for The Meatball Shop while clicking around on the interwebs and the idea of it just wouldn't leave my mind. Luckily, I was meeting Ben for dinner. I knew I could talk him into it. (And I did, easily.)

Like many other unitasker food places in NYC, The Meatball Shop was mobbed. We put down our name and went across the street to Móle for a margarita and a carnitas taco appetizer. The taco turned about to be somewhat ill-advised. On the one hand, I was starving and it was delicious, as always. It did, however, take up the room that might otherwise have been occupied by gingersnap ice-cream sandwiches for dessert. Oh, well. Next time.

(I'm pretty sure the hostess forgot about us, even though we left a cell number, but we were seated about 15 minutes after we circled back.)

Ben and I had a split vote on the meatballs. I really liked the special "Bolognese" ones, made with beef, mortadella and carrots. $11 for four meatballs and a "side" of spaghetti. The spaghetti was clearly a grocery-store-quality dried pasta, but cooked to a nice al dente.

Ben, who was skeptical about the chicken meatballs before dinner, ended up preferring them in our second dish. Called "Everything but the Kitchen Sink" on the menu, it's three meatballs with your choice of sauce served over market greens. $8 for that one. I found the assortment of greens, frankly, weird: we got sautéed spinach, some uncooked arugula, collard greens, broccoli and some corn shorn off the cob. I found the chicken meatballs slightly rubbery and a little heavy-handed on the fennel but Ben loved them.

If I have one criticism about the menu, it's that you can't mix and match meatballs (they have four kinds plus a daily special). I get that "one of each" orders would be a pain, but I think you should get to choose two kinds with an order of four.

All in all, an enthusiastic thumbs up. The food and drinks (we each had a pint) were very reasonably priced and the vibe was fun and casual. There are lots more meatballs in my future, for sure. Will budget stomach space for the gingersnap ice-cream sandwiches next time.