My glam best friend and I went to The Meatball Shop for dinner last week and had a lot of fun. On my way to this new lower east side restaurant I was thrilled to be able to stop at Russ and Daughters, a NY institution with the BEST smoked fish I've ever had. I always enjoy my experiences there but they were never frequent enough as the shop isn't really near anything I do very often and wasn't open hours that were convenient for me. Now that they are open an extra hour in the morning and evening I think I can make the special trip over there more often. My mouth is watering even now, at the beginning of the story when no food has even been mentioned. And they have begun to open on Sunday!!!!! That night I bought smoked tuna (haven't tried that yet), smoked trout (my father and I share a passion for it and I bought a big one and will give him half, I didn't tell him yet so his happy surprise will be complete over the weekend). I had to try to choose between the 8 smoked salmons they had and each one looked more gorgeous than the next! I often judge a book by it's cover and would have chosen the salmon with the deepest darkest color but to my delighted surprise the palest one was the most wonderful. The lovely woman who helped me was knowledgeable and passionate about the fish, my favorite kind of food counter person and at some point each "counter man" got involved in the conversation and I think we all had a lot fun. But the reason I knew that "the palest beige specially flown in from Danish waters only during it's season" was the most delicious because she let me taste ALL the salmons. Can it get more exciting!?!?!? This fish was like the kobe beef of smoked salmon, fatty with many layers of silky rich salmoniness that I can recall the taste of in my mouth (giving me much joy even at 7am). It made the other salmons taste like stuff you might scrounge in the supermarket. We talked about the different tinned tunas from Italy, toro packed in olive oil but I didn't want to carry cans around the lower east side-too heavy. Next time. I was thinking about how to serve the Danish smoked salmon and realized I forgot to buy the bottarga-oh well, next time, too. I also bought salmon roe-Scottish wild salmon roe. I thought I would have to forgo that because it was 80 degrees at 6:30 pm in NYC last Wednesday evening and I was first going to dinner but no, she assured me, there is a special bag they have that will keep my fish safe for 10 hours!!! I snuck a taste when I got home and knew I was in huge trouble. I could have easily eaten the whole container of roe right there! It was even better than what I get at Wild Edibles. I am not sure I can describe the taste of salmon roe as it's just bubbles of the sea exploding in your mouth. Sometimes roe is too salty or has an off taste but these were perfect-just a hint of salt. Which is why I couldn't stop eating them by the forkful. I'm thinking about pasta with the salmon and some roe mixed in, but will probably have leftover matzo instead, it's blandness enhancing the flavors and textures, and so much faster. My mouth waters every time I think of it.
I then walked around the corner to the restaurant-something really adorable happened which I posted just before this one, otherwise this will become too long.
The Meatball Shop is a really cute farmhouse looking place that serves, well meatballs. They have 5 choices, fish, vegetable, pork, beef, and a weekly special which, this week is lamb. There are a few sauces-spicy meat sauce, classic tomato, mushroom, and parmesan cream which can mix and match at will. Then you can order from among several of the world's iconic starchy side dishes ie polenta, mashed potatoes, spaghetti, risotto. There are sliders and other sandwich styles too. We shared the lamb and the beef meatballs both with the classic tomato sauce (though I would have really liked to try the mushroom gravy and he would have liked to have tried the spicy meat sauce but there is pork in that-we each sacrificed a little for the other) we loved the lamb-rich and full of flavor in a firm meatball; we liked the beef a little less as it was less firm and rather less flavorful but that is also an inherent difference between lamb and beef in this country today. We also loved the polenta which was silky and cheesy, seasoned just right and didn't overpower anything. Dessert is just as terrific-we chose, ok, well, I chose and he was willing to eat, the chocolate ice cream encased in chocolate chip cookies. There are 4 ice cream flavors listed and 4 cookie choices + one brownie option (YUM!!!),
The restaurant is loud and buzzy, right on trend in it's farmhouse decor-it's just a fun au courant idea. Even though it had no air conditioning and our waitress was a bit of a ditz who couldn't handle the number of tables she had. Overall, we enjoyed ourselves immensely.
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