Phantom Gourmet: Certified Meatball Company In South Boston
SOUTH BOSTON - At a brand new restaurant in South Boston, it is safe to say that everyone is having a ball, because at the Certified Meatball Company, they have gone mad for meatballs.
Located along busy West Broadway in Southie, the Certified Meatball Company is rolling, cooking, and serving about a thousand meatballs a day. According the chef Bill Brodsky, these savory spheres go way beyond the standard recipe.
"One of the things I love about meatballs is every culture in the world serves a version of a meatball, and I don't know anyone that doesn't like some form of a meatball. So what a great opportunity to show some different spins on meatballs, and come up with some cool modern cooking techniques."
Connect With Phantom: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
The kitchen offers up six different types of meatballs, like beef, chicken, pork, and even veggie, served in all kinds of interesting styles.
"You can pick your meatball, you can pick your sauce and pair them together. You can have them on pasta. You can have them on other side dishes, with salads, in a panini sandwich, or on a bao bun. The meatball is way more versatile than you'd ever believe."
When it comes to mixing and matching your meatball with a sauce, the options here are almost endless, but Chef Bill is happy to offer some suggestions.
"Some of my favorite combinations are the chicken ball with the basil parmesan pesto; I love the traditional beef ball with roasted garlic marinara, the Moroccan lamb balls with stroganoff mushroom gravy. I love the veggie ball with the herbed spiced yogurt and of course the spicy Korean ball with a coconut lime curry."
Another great international option is the Turkey Mole Verde Balls with cotija cheese, sesame seeds and cilantro, but for a ball that really has it all, you need to order the Turducken.
"The Turducken is a pretty massive ball, and when it hits the table people are just in awe of the thing," Bill said. "It's a chicken meatball that is enrobed in a duck meatball, then wrapped in a turkey meatball. It's slowly roasted in the oven for about an hour, and then slowly poached in some poultry gravy. It's served with a little lingonberry sauce, and it is Thanksgiving on a plate."
Weighing in at more than a pound, this thing is a head turner, and a gut buster.
To start your meal at the Certified Meatball Company, there are Harissa Roasted Brussels Sprouts that come with a bit of a kick. If you are in the mood for the ultimate comfort food, nothing beats the Tater Tot Poutine.
"In keeping with our whole spherical theme here we wanted to feature the tater tot, and why not do it as a poutine?" Bill said. "So we have an awesome beef gravy and we pair that with cheddar curds and our tater tots and it is just decadent."
The balls keep rolling for dessert too. After a meal of meatballs, you can finish up with some sweet balls.
"They're little cake truffles and we have different combinations, including a lemon coconut meringue. We've got a Kahlua one, we've got a chocolate fudge one that's just sinful, and then we've also got a really great salted caramel and peanut butter one with butterscotch," Bill described. "We also feature a brigadeiro. A brigadeiro is a brazilian dessert, similar to dulce de leche, and we roll the dulce de leche into nonpareils and people just love it."
The sweet balls are great for something small, but if you are looking to go big before you go home, feast your eyes on The Lady Liberty Sundae.
"It's an Oreo waffle that's topped with four jumbo scoops of malted vanilla ice cream made by Bart's Homemade, then it's topped with four cake balls, whipped cream, butterscotch, chocolate sauce, and of course it's topped off with a sparkler. When that dish leaves the kitchen, heads turn."
On weekends, the Certified Meatball Company serves an awesome brunch, but come hungry, or hungover, if you are looking to finish the Butcher's Breakfast.
"The Butcher's Breakfast is a housemade biscuit that is topped with two chicken fried steak balls, and it's smothered in sausage sawmill gravy," Chef Bill explained. "It's definitely on the heavier side, so if you've been out a little too late the night before, this is the perfect dish for you."
If you would prefer something sweet, it doesn't get much sweeter than the Certified Donut Waffles with maple bacon glaze.
"We start off with making some donuts. Then we bake them in our waffle iron. Once they're done with that, we take them out, we glaze them with a maple glaze, and then we just douse it with chopped bacon on top. It's salty, it's sweet, and it will send you into a diabetic shock," he laughed.
Obviously, the food here is a whole lot of fun and so it the restaurant itself.
"When we designed this restaurant, we wanted it to be lively and fun. After all, it's meatballs, it has to be fun," Bill said. "We've got a frozen drink machine. We've got these crazy chandeliers. We've got meat grinders all over the place. We've got a skylight that opens up and it's over 30 feet long to the open air. If you're looking for a really fun lively vibe, great energy restaurant, with really good meatballs and some fun on the menu, Certified Meatball is the spot for you."
You can find Certified Meatball Company at 429 West Broadway in South Boston, and online at certifiedmeatball.com.
Watch Phantom Gourmet on Saturdays and Sundays at 10:30 and 11 a.m. on myTV38.
