The Meatball Shop

Have a hankering for meatballs? Get thee to The Meatball Shop in the Lower East Side — just look for the cute red and white striped awning. Also the huge sign on the side of the building.

Each table is equipped with dry-erase markers and laminated menus for ease of ordering. It’s oddly satisfying to write on a menu.

The Meatball Shop offers five kinds of meatballs: classic beef, spicy pork, chicken, vegetable, and a weekly special (the day I went, it was corned beef and cabbage). They can be ordered à la carte or in sandwich form, with your choice of sauce, cheese, and bread.

Sliders ($3 each): chicken with tomato sauce, chicken with basil pesto (daily special), vegetable with mushroom sauce.

The hero ($9) with chicken meatballs, tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese on a white baguette; I really love chicken parmigiana sandwiches, so I couldn’t help but gravitate toward this combo. A big thumbs up to the chicken meatballs — they were tender and delicious! The side salad is a perfect counterbalance, light with sweet apple slices on top. This plate was filling and a meal in itself, as opposed to the à la carte or slider options, which may require a side dish depending on hunger level.

Side orders ($4 each) can be served on the “side” or “under” — underneath your meatball entree. The “side” side order of daily roast veggies that day was honey roasted carrots with coriander, lemon, almonds, and watercress.

The mashed potatoes had actual potato lumps, which I prefer over lump-free mash. We also ordered polenta; it was creamy and cheesy, but we both liked the mashed potatoes more.

Customizable ice cream sandwiches for dessert ($4 each)! Please order one, unless you are lactose intolerant. Maybe even then. I went with a classic: chocolate chip cookies with vanilla ice cream filling. The ice cream can also be ordered sans cookies for $2; the special flavor of the day was tangerine and there were actually little bits of tangerine in it.

For night owls and those who suffer from jet lag/insomnia/late-night cravings, The Meatball Shop is open until 4 A.M. Thurs-Sat and 2 A.M. Sun-Wed.

The Meatball Shop
84 Stanton Street (between Allen & Orchard)
New York, NY 10002

Totto Ramen

Totto Ramen opened less than a week ago, and apparently it already has an Ippudo-length wait time for seats. Luckily, it was fairly empty when we got there at 6 PM on Monday; by 6:30 though, the place was completely full with a line outside.

The shop is a few steps below street level. There are only 16 seats total, at the bar or one of the (few) small tables.

One of the perks of sitting at the bar is watching your ramen come together – a wondrous sight. How can you fail to be entertained by someone using a blowtorch on a tray of unassuming pork slices?

Totto Chicken Ramen: chicken based broth with sliced pork ($9.25). I really liked the chicken broth; compared to pork based broth, it seemed lighter – though still flavorful – and wasn’t as salty after it cooled down.

The noodles complimented the broth, but they weren’t particularly memorable. At Ramen Setagaya, I usually order the tsuke-men (the noodles and broth are separated) just because the noodles are so chewy and delicious; Totto Ramen’s forte is definitely the chicken broth.

As of now, Totto Ramen is only open for dinner and none of the side/rice dishes are available yet. Still, it’s a worthy addition to Manhattan’s ever-growing ramen scene.

Totto Ramen
366 West 52nd Street (between 8th and 9th Aves.)
New York, NY 10019

Spring Street Natural

Spring Street Natural is reliable casual dining in Soho. The food won’t blow your mind, but there are plenty of vegetarian and vegan options, seating is plentiful, and prices are reasonable. I was wary that “natural” in the restaurant’s name stood for macrobiotic dining, but it actually means they aim to serve foods that are “minimally processed” — huzzah for organic carbs.

The grilled vegetable sandwich was indeed chock-full of veggies: grilled portobello mushroom, grilled zucchini, roasted red peppers, fresh mozzarella, and sun-dried tomato pesto.

The grilled free range chicken sandwich was more bread than chicken, but still satisfying. Next time I’m in Soho, I might stop by for lunch again to try their chicken burger.

Spring Street Natural
62 Spring Street (corner of Lafayette)
New York, NY 10012

New York Philharmonic: Le Grand Macabre

Last night I saw György Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre at Lincoln Center. This “anti-anti-opera” is not for easy listening enthusiasts, but the visual production was amazing; puppeteers from Giants Are Small performed live on stage in front of a camera and projected the results in real time — all in sync with the orchestra and singers.

During the exchange below, the live animation provided comic book-style speech bubbles above the performers’ heads (especially helpful since there were no supertitles):

Piet: Ghost Astradamors, are you dead?
Astradamors: Yes.
Piet: Am I dead too?
Astradamors: Yes, ghost Piet.
Piet: Since when?
Astradamors: Since midnight last.
Piet: Sincerest condolences!
Astradamors: Thank you, likewise!

If you ever find yourself dead and conversing with a fellow ghost, I can’t think of a better response to “sincerest condolences!” than “thank you, likewise!”