GET SOME MEATBALLS

I really really liked this place, The Meatball Shop in New York. I don't know what it is, but it felt especially New York to me. I felt like it's a place that people who've lived in NYC for a while have a certain level of respect for, and it is seriously popular, with a line of people at the door waiting for a table. So glad there was only 2 of us, cause it was freezing that night in December. There are a few locations for the Meatball Shop but the one we went to was in the Upper Westside on Amsterdam Ave. They present their food in a unique way, allowing the customer to kind of build their own experience without making it feel stupid or gimmicky. You basically piece together your meal by selecting the ingredients with a washable marker on the menu (no I didn't draw anything rude in the margins, but it did cross my mind!). You can go with hmm, 'naked balls', or you can have them any which way you like, with potatoes, mash, polenta, salad, in pasta, in a bun, as a slider, with or without sauce. You choose your ball - pork, beef, chicken, veg, you choose your sauce etc etc. You get it? Then for dessert, it's ice cream sandwiches, where you choose your cookies and your ice cream flavour. I had chicken meatballs with pesto sauce, on mashed potato. It's simple, it's fun, it's kind of like being at Grandma's, but with waiters who are really loving being there and some kinda music that nanna never played! Came home with the Meatball Shop Cookbook - oh yeah!