Smorgas Chef Downtown/Wall Street

A few weeks ago, I totally had no time to pack lunch so I decided to check out this place near my office.  Actually, I’ve been meaning to check this place out for a long time now, but never had the motivation to go since it’s a little more pricey than a lot of other places.  But Swedish meatballs… (although my friends reminded me I am right near the ferry that would take me to Ikea for cheap meatballs, it’s just not doable for a 1 hour lunch break… sigh). 

After much pondering, I chose to order the Swedish meatball appetizer ($8) along with a sandwich that’d caught my eye.  I would just take some home as leftovers because I know that’s way too much food for a lunchtime meal. 

The place wasn’t busy when I went just after 1 pm.  A point to note here: the sandwich comes with either mashed potatoes, mixed greens, or potato salad.  I asked the waitress which she’d recommend, and she said the mashed potatoes were really good, so I went with that.  Almost as soon as I’d placed my entire order, I was brought the above, piping hot, as my appetizer – 7 meatballs (one is hiding behind the mound of mashed).  I was kind of frustrated because I wanted to try as much as possible; had I realized the meatballs would come with mashed, I would have opted for something else.  After a minute’s debate, I decided that I would rather look a bit indecisive or fussy than to get that much mashed potatoes, and asked her to change it to a salad with the sandwich.  To her credit, she actually looked surprised when I explained why – like it had never occurred to her that a person might not want so much mashed potatoes… 

As for the meatballs itself – wow!  Wonderfully soft and flavorful, the lingonberries over the mashed potatoes really quite delicious, though the gravy – the watery brown stuff at the bottom of the plate – was completely overlooked and didn’t add (nor detract, I hasten to say) to the dish at all.  I really liked these meatballs, and at $8 for the above platter – which could certainly suffice as an entire meal by themselves – I don’t think it’s a bad deal.  (I took half home, and had them for dinner later that day.)

The House-Cured Gravlax Club sandwich ($16) – avocado, lettuce, bacon, tartar sauce on eight-grain bread, and mixed greens on the side.  The mixed greens were vry lightly dressed, sharp and quite yummy.  I scarfed that down with the quickness, to lighten up my mashed potato-leaden stomach.  The tartar sauce on the sandwich was very mustardy, the gravlax mildly seasoned, the bacon excessive, and the avocado an excellent foil in its creaminess against the salty bacon and salmon (which was also creamy in texture).  Overall, though it doesn’t sound like it went well together, it really did – coming together to make a party in my mouth.  The bread, interestingly enough, looks toasted but felt and tasted like regular bread.  Heh. 

I took half the sandwich home for dinner as well, and it all was delicious.  The waitress seemed to think I was a bit odd to pack up half of everything, but that’s a LOT of food for one girl to eat for lunch! 

At a total of $30 for everything (including tax & a nice tip), it wasn’t a cheap lunch.  BUT bear in mind, it fed me for two meals.  And I’m pretty sure I could get just the appetizer to go, and be really happy with that lunch portion. 

Yvo says: I think some of their offerings are a bit overpriced, but at the same time, I understand.  The ingredients are mostly more expensive than regular sandwich shops or anything.  Everything I tried was really quite good, and I can see myself going back to try other sandwiches.  If I can get past the meatballs, that is…
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