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REVIEW | Meatball Shop

By on April 29, 2012 in Reviews, Travel Eats

Meatball Smash

Mangia Memoirs has transferred to the Big Apple and our first stop was to The Meatball Shop in Williamsburg.  A restaurant where the meatball is King. Different meat / non-meat varieties, as well as a spectrum of sauces, make this joint a place that all can enjoy.  Meatballs make people happy.

Our Mangia Memoir (what we’ll remember):  

After a whirlwind week of moving from Miami to NYC (like some real crazy fast shit), Weber and I took a break from the cardboard box graveyard known as our apartment, and ventured to Williamsburg for a St. Patty’s day celebration at the apartment of a friend of a friend (Have we lost you yet?).

Anyways, after knocking back a couple of green beers, meeting some new folks and dealing with the shocked expressions of everyone as we explained  “Oh, we just moved here….Ummm, yea about 3 days ago”, we could use a little comfort food. And what better comfort food than rolled up balls of meat?  Clearly, nothing.  As we walked back to the subway stop, The Meatball Shop lured us in.  I have  a feeling it won’t be the last time we go there!

Meat Grinder wall decor

My personal decor favorites:

  1. Meat grinders as wall art = legit
  2. Dry-erase menus that let you check the box to build your feast.  Brilliant.
  3. T-shirts with a giant cow/bull looking thing that says “We Make Balls” –classy and sassy
Dry Erase Menu
The Verdict:
4 out of 5 stars
  • FOOD: overall, the food was pretty good. The Meatball Shop let’s the meatball be king, where in most other restaurants they play a supporting role, usually to pasta.  The meatballs could have been a little warmer, but all of the flavors were good and the presentation was unpretentious.
  • SERVICE: They were definitely busy, but our server was friendly and on top of her stuff. Waters right away, answered questions, order in, bada-bing, bada-boom.
  • AMBIANCE: surprisingly pretty cool, in spite of an unassuming name like The Meatball Shop.  Meat grinders, old photos and warm lighting make the restaurant have a “feel”.
Items ordered:
  • Chicken Meatball Smash with Mushroom sauce: a solid choice.  Good texture on the chicken meatball, even though that’s not always the case and a flavorful robust mushroom sauce that can stand up to the meat. Balls could have been warmer.
  • Spicy Pork Meatball Hero with Classic tomato sauce: not as spicy as I thought or hoped it would be, but still pretty darn good.  Could also have been warmer.
  • Collard greens: no frou frou stuff here, just some good ‘ol collard greens.  Delicious. Could have eaten another plate.
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REVIEW | Sushi Cafe & Shilla Korean Restaurant

By on November 15, 2011 in mmm! - mini mangia memoir, Reviews
Korean BBQ Table

Grilling it Up!

Don’t let the sushi name fool ya! – it’s Korean grub!

What is more fun than sitting around a table of fiery flames grilling your own meat?  I mean, seriously….not much. Knowing our love for culinary adventures, Kelvin found Shilla Korean Restaurant that offers a Korean BBQ table that you get to man yourself!

Our Mangia Memoir (what we’ll remember): 

Driving our asses to Doral in the rain was well worth it for this meaty treat! Dan and his bf Andrew, Vince, Kelvin and Adam and I went back to our caveman roots, conquered fire and grilled our own meats. So much fun!  (Aside from being worried about cross-contamination of chicken juice into the beef and pork).    Did we mention they have Karaoke with a full band?!?  When we asked our waitress when they have karaoke, her response was “Karaoke? Oh we have Karaoke any time. You want to Karaoke?”.   Dreams really do come true.  Unfortunately, our crew was ill-prepared, but we WILL be back to dominate!

The Verdict:

  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • FOOD: awesome. We got the Korean BBQ table and a Dolsot Bibimbab (traditional Korean dish).  The meat was seasoned well and our caveman instincts allowed us to cook the meat to perfection.
  • SERVICE: our waitress was the bomb.  She was prompt, made great recommendations and had an awesome sense of humor. We loved her.  Wish we took her name, so we could give her a “shout out”.
  • AMBIANCE:  has a very laid back, cafe feel.  Not pretentious at all. The decor is Asian themed, but there is sports paraphernalia in the  bathrooms, remnant of probably a former sports bar.  Definitely gave it some character!

Items Ordered: 

The BBQ table is meant to be shared, so we ordered a bunch of meat items and got grilled, forking out meat onto each other’s plates as it was finished.

  • Bibimbab: stone pot creation with fresh vegetables, rice, meat and a fried egg on top.  Very delicious and our waitress was kind enough to mix it all together for us table-side.
  • Korean BBQ items:
  • Daiji Bulgoki: shredded marinated pork
  • Bulgoki: shredded marinated beef
  • Another Beef Dish which happened to be our favorite!!  I wish we remembered the name.
  • Dak Gui: marinated chicken
  • Fried Dumplings
  • Complimentary Sides – include a lot of veggies, like kimchi, marinated mushrooms, sprouts, broccoli, etc.

 

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REVIEW | All-You-Can Eat Argentinean

By on October 3, 2011 in Reviews

For meatlovers, dreams really do come true at Lo De Lea Argentinean Grill

Our bud, Dan, introduced us to Lo De Lea Argentinean Grill in Mimo.  For $15 (on Monday nights only) you can indulge in an unlimited amount of traditional Argentinean food. Sounds amazing, right?

Our “Mangia Memoir” (what we’ll remember) 

Adam (my husband) and I vacationed in Argentina for our honeymoon.  It was a truly beautiful country, comprised of so many surprises, different terrains and most importantly, the best meat we’ve ever had in our lives…in copious amounts.

How Argentines live past 30 and don’t need colon cleansing monthly is beyond me, because these gauchos are crazy with the amount of meat they eat.   Dan at All-You-Can-Eat Argentinean RestaurantNeedless to say, Adam and I took full advantage of this while on our honeymoon, each bringing home a pretty beautiful souvenir — a “meat gut”.   It took me quite a while to lose the “meat gut” and also to revitalize my craving for meat, but after about 8 months when Kelvin and Dan asked me to accompany them on their meat adventure, I gladly accepted.

Upon reaching the entrance to the restaurant, I asked Dan to get in a photo near that sign and as you can see, Dan was a happy man.  He was happy because he knew what glory we were in store for.

We started out dining on their terrace, but Dan and Kelvin were getting the shit bit out of them by mosquitoes, so we transferred inside, where they oh so conveniently had paper tablecloths and crayons, making it ever so easy for me to “tag” their restaurant with a Mangia! Memoirs call-out.

The meal itself was pretty quiet… I think a lot of that had to do with the fact that we were stuffing our faces the entire time.  When we started the meal, we thought “Yeah, man!  We are gonna order like 3 rounds of this stuff… keep it coming!”, but honestly, it was soooo filling, we only had 1 round.  Can you believe that?!  One round at an All-You-Can-Eat meat fest!  Sounds pathetic, but you check it out and let me know how far you get!

Items Ordered:

  • 3 All-You-Can-Eats for $15 each, which consists of:
    • Starter plate of traditional sausage, morcilla (blood sausage) and chorizo
    • Salad with house dressing
    • Main Course of Bife de Lomo, Ribs and Chicken
    • Roasted Potatoes

Morcilla (blood sausage), chorizo and traditional sausageThe Verdict:

  • 4.5 stars
  • FOOD: succulent, perfectly cooked meats of great quality and beautifully al dente seasoned potatoes.  Felt like being back in Argentina.
  • SERVICE: above average service for Miami.  Friendly waitstaff.  Being a Spanish-speaker would definitely be a plus. Some things seemed to get lost in translation, but everyone had a smile.
  • AMBIANCE: dining “al fresco” started out well.  Their terrace is a small sectioned-off area with about 4 tables, right on the side walk.  There are plants surrounding the tables and it was fun to see the basil and rosemary plants they use for the food right there next to us.  Downfall would be the mosquitoes, unfortunately.  The inside of the restaurant is perfect for what you’d want from an Argentinean restaurant – exposed brick, wine bottles, quaint but inviting and dark, but not too dark.  If you are looking for a quite evening, get their early.  As Monday night progresses, larger parties of boisterous Argentines arrive and the restaurant really gets lively.
  • Would You Go Back?  Definitely!! And I can’t wait to bring my husband.  Maybe make an anniversary date out of it!

 

 

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RECIPE | Bolognese Meat Sauce

By on September 1, 2011 in mmm! - mini mangia memoir, Recipes

Bolognese meat sauce over linguine

Bolognese meat sauce is the perfect Sunday Night meal. Maybe this weekend?

The Meal: homemade bolognese meat sauce over linguine. Shared with friends on a Sunday evening to unwind from a busy weekend and get charged up for Monday morning.

The Details: combination of pancetta, various ground meats, “soffritto”, fresh bay leaves and a slow 3 hour cooking time.

The Verdict:

  • 5 stars
  • Everyone joined the “clean plate club” this night and we purposely made extra so we’d have enough for “to-go” containers for lunch the next day.  Bolognese is the gift that keeps on giving.
  • Would You Eat It Again?:  Everyone agreed, yes!
  • What Would You Change?:  serve a nice light salad with this dish. Between the meat and pasta, it is quite a hearty dish and it’s nice to something light between bites.

bolognese meat sauce clean platesOur “Mangia Memoir” (what we’ll remember):

Gathering around a table for dinner with friends on a Sunday night, makes it feel like family. It’s nice to have this Miami “family” to be able to relax, unwind and just feel at ease.   Kelvin smiled from ear to ear the whole night (because Bolognese is his favorite), while there was a silence over the table as everyone devoured their food. Sometimes, words aren’t really needed to feel completely content.

The Recipe: (inspired by Williams-Sonoma Pasta Cookbook)

What I changed from recipe below: substituted additional pork/beef instead of using veal because it can be pricey. I use half/half instead of heavy cream and totally skip on the veal demi-glace. I feel like there is enough going on this sauce, that for a normal night, we don’t need to spend another billion dollars or add another million calories.

Ingredients:

  •  4 Tbs. (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
  • 2 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
  • 3 thin slices pancetta, finely chopped
  • 1 large yellow onion, cut into small dice
  • 1 carrot, peeled and cut into small dice
  • 1 celery stalk, cut into small dice
  • 1/2 lb. ground beef
  • 1/2 lb. ground pork
  • 1/2 lb. ground veal
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
  • Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
  • 1/2 cup dry white wine
  • 2 cups unsalted beef stock or canned broth
  • 2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
  • 5 fresh sage leaves
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1/3 cup heavy cream
  • 1/4 cup veal demi-glace
  • 1 lb. homemade tagliatelle (see related recipe at left) or purchased fresh fettuccine
  • 1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

Directions:

In a Dutch oven or large, heavy flameproof casserole dish over medium-low heat, melt 2 Tbs. of the butter with the olive oil. Add the pancetta and sauté until just starting to crisp, about 3 minutes. Add the onion, carrot and celery and sauté until aromatic and very lightly golden, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the ground beef, pork and veal, stir to break up, season with salt and pepper, and add a generous pinch of nutmeg. Increase the heat to medium and sauté until the meat is lightly browned. Add the wine and simmer until it is almost evaporated.

Add the stock and cook until reduced by half. Add the tomatoes, sage and bay leaf. Reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 1 1/2 hours. If the sauce seems thin, cook it, uncovered, until thick and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Skim the surface of excess fat. Add the cream and demi-glace. Taste and adjust the seasonings with salt and pepper. Remove the bay leaf and discard.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Generously salt the water, add the pasta and cook until al dente (tender but firm to the bite), 1 to 3 minutes, depending on the freshness of the pasta. Drain and transfer the pasta to a warmed large, shallow bowl. Add the remaining 2 Tbs. butter and 2 Tbs. of the cheese. Toss until the butter melts. Add the sauce and toss gently. Serve immediately. Pass the remaining cheese at the table. Serves 4 to 6.

Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Collection Series, Pasta, by Erica De Mane (Simon & Schuster, 2001)

 

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mmm! | Let’s make Rellenos de Papa

By on August 29, 2011 in mmm! - mini mangia memoir, Recipes, Travel Eats

papa de relleno

I might not be a Latina, but my SOUL is. Rellenos de Papa are AMAZING!

When we visited Puerto Rico, our friend’s Irmaliz and Ignacio gave us the local tour. They introduced us to this roadside restaurant called “Donde Olga”. We relaxed and drank local beer called Medalla and had some Puerto Rican noshes. While dining outside, we enjoyed the cool breezes and scents of smoked meat and fried treats. We had tons of things we’d never heard of before… alcapurrias, chicken and beef pinchos, bacalaitos(salted cod fritters) and our favorite Rellenos de Papa (basically a stuffed and fried mashed potato, usually has beef).

Since, then I’ve heard the constant yearning from both of the gentlemen in the house for rellenos de papa.  So, on one random weeknight as a little surprise, I finally tried to make these things. And let me tell ya, it really was a pain in the A$$.   There are a lot of steps involved, but it was an adventure and I”m glad we tried.

This YouTube video from “Elba” is what I watched to get the jist of it.

The Meal: Rellenos de Papa

The Details: mashed potatoes stuffed with seasoned beef, rolled in to balls and fried.  We served over a nice light salad.  These little guys are a standalone meal.

The Verdict:

  • 2-3 stars
  • Given that is was our first time making these, I think we were did alright.  Were they as good as the ones we got in Puerto Rico?  Not even close.
  • Would You Eat It Again? Yea, but would prefer eating them in Puerto Rico or a restaurant that has them down pat.
  • What Would You Change? Ours were not as crispy as they needed to be and were a little dense, so we’d need to figure out how to get that nice crunch.  Probably use corn starch and a little more oil so they were submerged more and we didn’t have to roll them as much.

Our “Mangia Memoir” (what we’ll remember)

The smells that were taking over the house kinda took us back to that weekend we had in Puerto Rico.  And gathering around the kitchen, rolling, stuffing and frying these bad boys was really a group effort.  I think it made us appreciate these meat filled treasures a little more.

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mmm! | Skyline Chili in South Florida

By on August 25, 2011 in mmm! - mini mangia memoir, Reviews

skyline chili 3-way cheese and cheese coney

Whenever you’re feeling good and hungry, it’s Skyline Time!!

Living in Miami means not having immediate access to our favorite casual restaurant from back in Cincinnati. For those of you who have never enjoyed Skyline Chili or even heard of it, well, it’s a Cincinnati hometown tradition comprised of menu items like “3ways”, “4ways”, “5ways” and “cheese coneys”.  Sounds quite odd from an outsiders perspective! Skyline can only be found in Cincinnati (and a few satellite locations in other cities).  I’m not even going to get into the rivalry and debate over which chili is better, Skyline or Goldstar chili, because I’ll never get to tell you about the BEST SUNDAY EVER!

My husband, best friend and I had to take a trek to IKEA in Sunrise, FL (about 30ish minutes from us) and learned that there was a Skyline Chili just minutes from IKEA (we found a satellite location!!! God is great!) . All three of us were craving Skyline since we haven’t been home in while and had planned to have a gluttonous adventure.  Needless to say, we did NOT disappoint!

Restaurant: Skyline Chili in Sunrise – They have their own website and Facebook page, so check them out and give them some love

Cuisine: Cincinnati-style chili

Items Ordered:

  • (2) 4-ways –spaghetti topped with Skyline chili, onion or bean and shredded cheese (we got onion)
  • (6) cheese coneys – hot dog topped with Skyline chili, mustard, onion and shredded cheese
  • (3) chilitos – flour tortilla filled with Skyline chili and shredded cheese. They boys opted to add onion AND spaghetti (because another pound of cards is TOTALLY necessary)

The Verdict:

  • 5 stars (bright and shiny stars!!)
  • FOOD: just like in Cincinnati, which is exactly what we wanted! Full-flavored chili, perfect thinly shredded cheese. Yum!
  • SERVICE: speedy AND polite!  A real pleasure.
  • AMBIANCE: relaxed, filled with Skyline memorabilia, sports memorabilia with a local South Florida flare that made it have the “hometown feel” for the people that live here.

Skyline cheese coneyOur “Mangia Memoir” (what we’ll remember)

The anticipation of going to Skyline in Florida was crazy, so when we finally had that first bite, it was seriously pure happiness.  Gluttony ensued and we actually re-ordered more food after Round 1.  Kind of embarrassing, I guess, but definitely memorable!  We also found out they have a “Coney Cave”, which is a private dining room for large parties.  Guess where our next birthday celebration will be housed?!?!

And additional key component that will NEVER be forgotten is riding home in the back seat of the Jeep lounging on the IKEA couch we just got fixed, because there was nowhere else to sit and thinking about how I should have gotten a cheese coney for the road!

Ikea couch in back seat of carIkea couch in base seat of car

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MMM! | Blog Launch Party with Crazy Creations

By on August 23, 2011 in MMM! - Major Mangia Memoir!, Recipes

red snapper

Adventure anyone? What better way to celebrate the launch of a food blog than with fresh whole fish, a raw meat concoction and great friends? I don’t thing anything!

My loving husband decided that we needed to have a “launch party” for the birth of Mangia! Memoirs because of the hard work that went into it.  I believe that to be true, but I also think he may have been looking for a good excuse to have friends over, eat some food and down some wine.  Regardless, the impromptu launch party took place and let me tell you, we went on a culinary adventure joy ride!

beef carpaccioWe were thinking to go big or go home, so ended up creating food items that we had never ever made before and honestly, really had no idea how to.  First up, beef carpaccio.  For those not familiar with carpaccio, I’ve included a link, but it’s basically very very thinly sliced raw “something”.  There are seafood carpacci, beef carpacci, vegetable carpacci – you get the point. We’ve had these many times in restaurants, but the real kick here is that it is 100% RAW and I was serving it IN MY HOME.Blog Launch Party

I’d tried to do all the gruesome meat pounding before everyone got here, in order to salvage their appetites, but I’d have to say my favorite quote of the evening from our pal Kelvin, (as I lay delicate slices of meat on a plate), was “Soooo, uhh…that was marinated like ceviche, right?”  NOPE! Sorry, buddy, when I said raw, I meant RAW.  I honestly got a little nervous after that point, thinking “Alisa, what the hell are you doing serving raw meat to your friends?!  But the show must go on.  We served up the beef carpaccio with fresh arugula and shaved parmigiano, olive oil and fresh cracked pepper.  Overall, a HIT.

The “sleeper” favorite of the evening ended up being the pasta.  I really just made this as a “filler-up” dish from things we had lying around. Fusilli lunghi (long spirally pasta that looks the way someone’s hair would look if they got electrocuted)  pasta in a mildly spicy artichoke heart, tomato, garlic and white wine sauce.

Next up was the MAIN EVENT.  I’d been wanting to cook a whole fish for sometime (just to see if I could do it), and this ended up being the perfect night for it.  My husband and I went to the local fish market, Garcia’s Seafood, and purchased two jumbo red snapper and decided to follow the directions of 2 awesome ladies from Florida that demonstrated an ancient technique for baking fish.  Naturally, we found this on YouTube.  You can stuff the fish with any herbs you like (I chose lemon, rosemary and thyme), then pack the fish in course sea salt, creating a salt cast that develops over the fish and keeps it moist while baking.  The craziest part, is that the salt becomes hard like concrete and you have to literally CRACK the mold to get the fish out.  It was totally wild and so much fun! I used my grandma’s rolling pin for extra drama – thanks Gram.

The Verdict:

  • 5 stars!
  • Would You Eat It Again?: Heck, yea with multiple exclamation points
  • Would Would You Change? Buy more fish.  For a party of 6, two fish was a bit of  stretch as a main course.

Our “Mangia! Memoir” (what we’ll remember):

This was a food event worth remembering and I definitely recommend it.  The fish was moist and fell right off the bone.  The herbs that we had stuffed within the fish cavity infused the fish with flavor. And surprisingly, even though the fish was encased in salt, it wasn’t salty (Heads up, though – there were a few salty areas, mostly around the edges where the fish was right up against the salt cast).  Since this was a new technique for everyone, the whole party was centered around seeing this come to life, which ended up being pretty darn cool.

Every one watched in anticipation as the fish was stuffed, packed in salt and then put into the oven.  We then held our breath as the rolling pin smacked open the cast and inside lie the fully in tact and cooked fish.  Once we slid the fish from the bones, everyone, as if on on queue, starting picking at the remnant pieces.

I mentioned that the fish cheek is supposed to be very succulent and instantly everyone started going for it!  Then conversation shifted to how if you are ever stranded, you should eat fish eyes, because there is water in them.  Next thing I know,  people are going for the EYES!!  It was like be shot back to caveman era – everyone was so primal!

 

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