Now That's A Spicy Meatball!

On Saturday night, Matt, Greg, Susan, Dave and I headed to the LES to celebrate Susan's successful fundraising event for the Gulf Coast oil spill cleanup efforts.  Susan put together a fabulous New Orleans themed event (think: bloody marys, hurricanes, king cake, Popeye's, beads, and a great raffle) so a little afterparty was in order and The Meatball Shop was just the place.

This niche café recently opened to praises, and I've been itching to check it out.  The process is simple:

1. 
   
   Pick your meat: Beef, Chicken, Spicy Pork, or Vegetarian
2. 
   
   Pick your sauce: Classic Tomato, Spicy Meat Sauce, Mushroom Gravy, or Parmesan Cream
3. 
   
   Choose your style: Meatballs can be served as four meatballs in a bowl wih sauce and a piece of focaccia, as a slider, as a hero (with cheese if you'd like, served with side of arugula and apple salad), or as a smash (mushed up meatballs on a toasted brioche bun with cheese if you'd like, also served with arugula and apple salad) 

There are also some tasty sides on the menu, but I was way too focused on the meatballs to allow any side dishes to take away from their glory.  Our table was covered in meat and we shared around (though only the smash and sliders are pictured).  I worked on two of the items: the spicy pork meatballs in parmesan cream (served as just meatballs in a bowl) and the special smash.  There is a weekly meatball special, and this week's was delicious: buffalo chicken meatballs in a blue cheese cream sauce.  We decided to hold off on extra cheese so as not to detract from the sauce.  Both items were amazing.  The meat was moist and the sauces were rich.  I would like to sample some of the other combos, but I have a feeling it will be hard for me to deviate from the ones I just tried.

The restaurant is tiny and crowded (the five of us stood hovering over a two-top for our entire meal) but the food and the prices are worth any discomfort caused by the wait and the tight space.  The portions are large and nothing goes over $9.  To give you an idea how much I liked it, I woke up this morning, two days post-meatball feast, and I was still thinking about it. 

For all you folks with your minds in the gutter, you should be elated to know that when you go there, you get to say "balls" a LOT.