The mid week hump can be as much a glorious occasion as a rather excruciating one. So depending if you’re a glass half full or a glass half empty type of person, you’ll most likely read the next sentence and be thankful that I’m becoming increasingly lazy at writing about my dining experiences and would much rather just show you photos (coz lets be real… I am THAT Asian you frown upon in the latest eatery too busy taking photos of everything on the table before allowing anyone to eat!) This particular hump day turned out to a be rather glass half empty kind of night… I’d begun my evening at an ‘art show launch’ … i don’t have enough eye rolls and i don’t know how to insert emoji’s on wordpress to illustrate my lack of excitement!!!
So a (very bad) cheap wine later I left the artists/VCA students/hipsters to meet my favourite people N and Z at the newly opened Meatball & Wine Bar for a feed in good company! My glass was finally on the verge of getting filled!!
We arrived (after a short wait in which I began my glass filling with a proseco on the house at GoGo bar) t0 a friendly waiter and prompt service. I can’t be bothered talking about the lovely, very USA style interior! Going to cut straight to the Balls!!
There’s a few options with the Meat Ball menu. You can get it just balls and sauce, or Balls and All which entails balls, sauce and some sort of substantial base (i.e. something carbie) to go with the slice of bread that comes with the balls. We decided to start with a Burata, and chose a balls and all situation each (weirdly enough, I was the one that chose the Vegetarian option. Obviously my stars were out of whack that day and even my brain had given in by choosing the vegetarian over meat). Our meal went something like this:
500ml 09 Montepulciano, Abruzi $30
Burata $16.50
Veg- Cauliflower, Chick peas, Corriander with Pesto sauce $18
Pork balls served with red italian sauce and italian beans $18
Beef balls with creamy polenta $18
Whoopie Mac: Pistachio macaroon ice cream sandwich $11.50
All in all, I’m not likely to rush back – although the novelty of the place makes it worth trying. To continue my downer glass half empty mentality, I’m going to say I’ve most certainly had better meat rolled into a ball! The Balls and All situation was kind of dry and the ball to sauce ratio wasn’t quite right – it would have been better with a more generous serving of sauce. Thank god for the exceptional company, lovely interior (which brought back warm and fuzzies of living in the states) and a good carafe of wine… the only saviours to an otherwise rather underwhelming hump day!
(Oh and a word of warning if you are going for the whoopie pie – its massive!!!)
135 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
(03) 9654 7545
Double Dutch Oven 