How fast does time fly by us, we are
already well into 2016, and to think that a month ago I was running
around like a headless chook. Christmas shopping, eating, celebrating and work
life was busy in finishing up before the holiday break and those last minute
calls to work in the restaurant due to lots of bookings.
Fitting in with the majority, the gang and
myself had our annual Christmas party organised by our all time favourite and
best host, Miss CC, at The Apollo this year.
With a party of 10, we went with the Full
Greek banquet for $55 per person, but we like to eat so we decided we needed
more food because there was only one meat dish as a main. We like our variety.
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| Olives |
I’m not an olive eater, but I was told by
those that do, these were a little on the salty side.
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| Taramasalata mullet roe dip |
This dip was smooth; it went down easy with
the warm pita bread, not to mention that pop of flavour with the roe. Also a
little on the salty side, but it just means you aren’t allowed to be too greedy
with the amount you spread on your pita bread.
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| Warm pita bread |
Extra pita bread was served in a cute
little pizza take away box.
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| Village salad cucumber tomato feta olives |
The salad gave you everything you would
expect of a greek salad, not too overpowering with the vinegar but enough to
let you get that sour touch mixing with the fresh vegetables. And there is
nothing more pleasing than seeing a block of feta sitting on top.
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| Saganaki cheese honey oregano |
When the cheese arrived at the table, we
were all left in awe. The honey leaking off the cheese creating bubbles around
the hot pan left our mouths gaping wide. Tasting the cheese was almost like
reaching heaven, I think, as I wouldn’t know but if I had to imagine it, this
would be it. The sweetness from the honey did not overpower the cheese, as you
still got that goodness with that pan-fried touch. But eat this while it’s
still fresh, as you know what cold cheese can be like. I also decided to eat
this with some of our left over pita bread, YUM!
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| Oven baked lamb shoulder lemon greek yoghurt |
The lamb shoulder
was tender, falling off at the touch of a fork, a touch of lemon gives you that
zesty touch adding the mint brings the lamb to a new refreshing level.
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| Greek style BBQ chicken $34 |
Winner, winner,
chicken dinner; this was not on the banquet menu, and we had added this simply
because we are big eaters. The chicken made an impression, and we are glad we
did not pass on this. We found this was much tastier than Chiswick and was
succulent. The mash under was smooth and I was digging in for more, hoping no
one noticed I was cleaning the plate.
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| Roast chat potatoes garlic herbs |
I knew I wanted to
demolish the plate when the potatoes arrived, but I knew better than that,
maybe. But they were crispy around the edges with just the right amount
seasoning. I could live on potatoes….
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| Walnuts filo pastry coffee cream |
The banquet comes
with the filo pastry for dessert, little bits of walnuts and raisins were
wrapped inside the filo pastry. The coffee cream is one not to be missed. Not quite baklava, but they do bring on some similarities
with the texture.
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| Loukoumades (honey doughnuts) |
And I said, we
like to eat and we like variety, so we had the Greek doughnuts added. But our
waitress kindly made our pastry servings smaller and added a doughnut each for us.
These were delicious; they had a slight hard exterior and soft and pillow-y
interior. The first time I had Greek doughnuts; they were hard all around, so
this was definitely something I enjoyed much more.
The Apollo catered
well with their sharing menu, it is generous and there is definitely enough to
cater to everyone. We just love food and like to maximise our experience by
adding more food, we did all walk out hugging our stomachs.
Do you add more
food to your set menus or do you just go with what has already been offered?
The Apollo
44 Macleay Street,
Potts Point
