Would You Eat This? #1: Fish Balls – NYC Restaurant Reviews | donuts4dinner.com

While riding the bus down 2nd Ave. a couple of weekends ago, I forced Dr. Boyfriend out the back door and into a shop called Schaller & Weber, thinking it was a cheese store. Because its sign is yellow and red, which everyone knows are the universal colors of cheese. But no, it turned out to be a totally famous and ancient meat shop that we later saw profiled on this Anthony Bourdain special about disappearing Manhattan culture (about two minutes and 45 seconds in).

One wall of the store was taken up by a display case of various sausages and terrines, the other wall was a refrigerated case of smoked whole fishes and cod roe, and the single section of shelves that filled the entire middle of the tiny room was stacked with foreign chocolates. Which is even better than cured meats, obviously. But there was one little shelf hidden around a corner in the back that contained this:

And the question is: how much would I have to pay you to eat fish balls in their own bouillon?