The Polpetini at Naples 45 is Tasty, But Way Too Small & Expensive
Naples 45, which was voted “Best Pizza” in this year’s Midtown Lunch Readers’ Poll, has entered the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge with a “Polpetini” sandwich (which just means mini-meatballs). When I first posted about the sandwich last week, commenters remarked (correctly) that a meatball sub wasn’t exactly “sandwich challenge” material, but a deal is a deal. So last week, I went to check out this “polpetini”, thinking that this better be the best meatball sub ever if they want to impress the Midtown Lunch eating public…
Served in the take out section of the restaurant the polpetini are pre-made (understandable, but regrettable), and cost $8.95 (regrettable and not understandable.) So let’s quickly talk about the good (because I like to be positive)… the bread is really good, and the meatballs were pretty tasty. Mozzarella *and* provolone… fresh basil… Neapolitan meatballs (made with pine nuts, bread, herbs, and spices)… it’s all good. And there is no denying it is a tasty sandwich. But $9?!? For a 6″ long sandwich? With 4 mini meatballs!?! Dios mio man. That’s just not going to cut it… did they even see Lazzara’s fried calamari sandwich? Shit, even Lazzara’s normal meatball sandwich puts this to shame… and that’s just on their normal menu. This was supposed to be a sandwich “challenge”. Something new and exciting.
Don’t get me wrong, if you’re treating the Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge as a checklist, by all means get the sandwich once. It’s clearly made from quality ingredients, and there is no denying it tastes good. But unless they discount this thing after 2pm (ala their famous pizza specials) I don’t see myself heading back for a second.
Naples 45, 200 Park Ave. (on 45th btw. Park+Mad), 212-972-7000
Posted by Zach Brooks at 11:15 am, February 24th, 2009 under Midtown Lunch Sandwich Challenge, Naples 45.
6 Comments | RSS comments feed for this post
6 Comments
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Zach – my company just took away our access to flickr. Is there anyway you can post the pics not through flickr. Reading the descriptions and not being able to see the pics is driving me insane!
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@anon,
that sucks. maybe you can look into remote desktop connections
http://lifehacker.com/5113791/bypass-network-blocks-with-remote-desktop
then your work can’t block anything! until they block remote desktop connections…
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@anon,
You can also try using a proxy and try to access it from there.
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ha. i just tried the remote desktop connection and they already blocked it.
they are one step ahead of me. -
I am one of the checklist people. :) I tried this today. The service had more of an impact than the food.
My first impression was that this is a meatball hero. How is that special enough for the challenge? But whatever, I order it. They pull it off the tray you have pictured, out it on a plate, and put it in a brown paper bag. No heat. No wrapping. No nothing. I ate it at the counter and it was somewhere between room temperature and warm. It tasted good, though I doubt they are using good ingredients for the meatballs.
Looks hella good. Sucks about the size though.