Ginza: THE APOLLO (アポロ）
Summary: Hearty Australia style modern Greek cuisine in a swanky neighbourhood.
When my ex-manager messaged me recently for a lunch date, I knew I couldn't say no.
She is one of the most stylish, but chilled out character I know, and no one loves good food like her. I have gone out with her for a meal a couple of times before, and I have always been blown away by her recommendations.
I immediately knew that my tummy was going to be in for a treat.
We decided to meet up at Tokyu Plaza Ginza, a brand new lifestyle shopping mall located at the Sukiyabashi intersection of Ginza.
The upscale shopping mall, which opened in March of this year, features 11 floors and 2 basements floors of shopping and dining (14 if you include the ‘rooftop’ terrace).
Under the concept ”Creative Japan”, the exterior of the mall has been designed to recreate the motifs of traditional Edo Kiriko glass craft. In contrast, the inside houses trendy high-end clothing stores, gourmet food, kitchen and lifestyle goods, and some petite cafes and eateries, creating a increasing mix of old and new Japan.
Some of the well-known shops include Tokyu Hands's new Hands Expo, Danish lifestyle brand Skagen, and a Lotte-operated tax-free shopping haven that's the largest of its kind in Tokyo.
We head to the 11th floor, where a popular Modern Greek Restaurant awaits us.
THE APOLLO is an Australian Greek restaurant started by Sam Christie and Jonathan Barthelmess; two gentlemen who are connected by their Greek heritage and their love for good food.
They pride themselves on their use of fresh ingredients and plenty of olive oil to create healthy, wholesome Greek cuisine。
We ordered their Full Greek.course for our lunch.
First, we started off with some greek Olives, Taramasalata Mullet Roe Dip and some warm Toasted Pita Bread as our appetizers.
The creamy dip, which was presented very beautifully in a glass jar, is made up of Mullet Roe is blended to a smooth texture and served with some fish roe on top.
Crunchy vegetables, tangy feta, and olives, dressed with lemon, olive oil and oregano - light and refreshing.
Just from the words 'honey' and 'cheese', I knew that I was going to love this.
The lamb shoulder is slow cooked for 10 hours before being baked in the oven.
Avgolemono Pie - basically a lemon meringue pie. Lemon curd is covered with an olive oil biscuit crumble, and then topped with toasted meringue.
When my ex-manager messaged me recently for a lunch date, I knew I couldn't say no.
She is one of the most stylish, but chilled out character I know, and no one loves good food like her. I have gone out with her for a meal a couple of times before, and I have always been blown away by her recommendations.
I immediately knew that my tummy was going to be in for a treat.
We decided to meet up at Tokyu Plaza Ginza, a brand new lifestyle shopping mall located at the Sukiyabashi intersection of Ginza.
The upscale shopping mall, which opened in March of this year, features 11 floors and 2 basements floors of shopping and dining (14 if you include the ‘rooftop’ terrace).
Under the concept ”Creative Japan”, the exterior of the mall has been designed to recreate the motifs of traditional Edo Kiriko glass craft. In contrast, the inside houses trendy high-end clothing stores, gourmet food, kitchen and lifestyle goods, and some petite cafes and eateries, creating a increasing mix of old and new Japan.
Some of the well-known shops include Tokyu Hands's new Hands Expo, Danish lifestyle brand Skagen, and a Lotte-operated tax-free shopping haven that's the largest of its kind in Tokyo.
We head to the 11th floor, where a popular Modern Greek Restaurant awaits us.
THE APOLLO is an Australian Greek restaurant started by Sam Christie and Jonathan Barthelmess; two gentlemen who are connected by their Greek heritage and their love for good food.
They pride themselves on their use of fresh ingredients and plenty of olive oil to create healthy, wholesome Greek cuisine。
We ordered their Full Greek.course for our lunch.
First, we started off with some greek Olives, Taramasalata Mullet Roe Dip and some warm Toasted Pita Bread as our appetizers.
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| olives, taramasalata mullet roe dip, warm pita bread |
While it was really yum, I am not a big fan of fish roe (besides salmon roe), and found it a little too fishy for my liking.
I thought it was cute that the pita bread came in little carton pizza boxes.
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| pita-boo, i see you! (sorry that was really lame!) |
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| village salad cucumber tomato feta olives |
I have tried to recreate this some many times at home, but it just doesn't taste the same as what I had at here.
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| saganaki cheese honey oregano |
The saltiness of the cheese, sweetness of the honey, sourness from the lemon and earthly taste from the oregano was a match made in heaven. I can definitely see why this is one of the most popular dishes at THE APOLLO in Sydney
Just looking at this photo is bringing up pleasant memories from that lunch.
This was definitely one of the highlights of my lunch that day.
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| oven baked lamb shoulder lemon greek yoghurt, roast chat potatoes garlic herbs |
It was served with Tzatziki, which is yoghurt sauce made with Greek yoghurt, cucumber, garlic, olive oil and lemon juice.
The portion was (too) generous, the meat tender, juicy and slightly fatty. It's difficult to find a restaurant with good lamb, but here, they definitely nailed it right!
The Roast Chat Potatoes were also good, roasted and seasoned perfectly. I was trying to cut down on my carb intake, but I think I had one too many of these little potatoes.
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| avgolemono pie |
I never liked meringue pies, but after having this I realised that maybe I just never had a good meringue pie before - this one was creamy yet light and airy, not too sweet with a slight lemony zest.
I like meringue pies now.
Quite a good cafe latte - not artisan quality but great with my dessert.
Overall, I had a very good impression of the food here - simple, stylish and hearty, though a little pricey.
For the two of us, the bill came up to about 10,000yen excluding tax for lunch.
The servings were also too much, and my heart breaks for all that lamb and potatoes I left behind.
I can almost hear my dad nagging at me about all that food wastage and the starving kids at Africa.
If you have cash to splash and you're curious about modern Greek fusions, you should definitely give it a try!
Address: 11F, TOKYU PLAZA GINZA, 5-2-1, Ginza, Chuo-ku Tokyo 104-0061
〒104-0061 東京都中央区銀座5-2-1 東急プラザ銀座 11F
Phone: 03-6264-5220
Hours: Mon - Sun 11am - 11pm
Website: http://theapollo.jp/
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| cafe latte |
Overall, I had a very good impression of the food here - simple, stylish and hearty, though a little pricey.
For the two of us, the bill came up to about 10,000yen excluding tax for lunch.
The servings were also too much, and my heart breaks for all that lamb and potatoes I left behind.
I can almost hear my dad nagging at me about all that food wastage and the starving kids at Africa.
If you have cash to splash and you're curious about modern Greek fusions, you should definitely give it a try!
Address: 11F, TOKYU PLAZA GINZA, 5-2-1, Ginza, Chuo-ku Tokyo 104-0061
〒104-0061 東京都中央区銀座5-2-1 東急プラザ銀座 11F
Phone: 03-6264-5220
Hours: Mon - Sun 11am - 11pm
Website: http://theapollo.jp/
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