So this Brooklyn native visiting from Texas (along with my nephew) walked into this Williamsburg joint that seemed unassuming from the outside. Immediately, I tried to guess what happened to the missing "L" in Apol(l)o. An unfortunate typo or an attempt to avoid some kind of copyright infringement were my first two guesses.
Place is small-ish...like a max headcount of 25. Most of the customers kept to themselves, except for a loud and raucous group of 10 or so who forgot their indoor voices at the door. Guys with mouths full of chow mein throwing shade at each other. Girls who would alternate between shreiking laughter and "OH NO U DIDN'T" type callouts. No shock to me because that's typical Brooklyn. For the unsuspecting patron however, it would trigger that fight or flight switch that flips when you sense imminent danger. So don't go looking for ambiance and charm in here.
Anyway...we take a seat. A peek at the menu quickly reveals that this a Chinese/Spanish food fusion restaurant. So you could go for either General Tso's chicken or arroz con pollo, depending on what your tastebuds are craving. We decide on the original objective of Chinese cuisine and peruse our options. Some of the item titles were obscure. "Beef Special With Rice" and "Chicken Or Shrimp With Spicy Sauce"...you get the idea. I get the Beef In Garlic Sauce With Fried Rice and my nephew gets Szechuan Chicken with Chow Mein. And three eggrolls.
Can't continue without mentioning the drink menu (there's a small bar near the back of the room). Options that included cocktails named after almost every character in the MCU/DC realms (Spider-Man, Batman, X-Men, etc.). And most notably, something called the "Alien Secretion", which I had to sample. Vodka, melon liqueur, coconut rum liqueur and pineapple juice. Sugary and stiff as f$%k, but a perfect way to enhance the crazy vibe of this joint. We could tell that the narrow aisle between the tables and booths was the place where many knock down, dragged out fights took place.
Food shows up. What stood out from the top was tthe fried rice. It was a burnt orange color. Thought I got Spanish rice by mistake, but nope, that was the fried rice. And every server, busboy, bartender, etc. in the place was Asian. Yet another add-on to the weirdness of the New Apolo.
Our meals tasted better that expected. My only gripe was that my beef dish was almost completely buried in sauce, making it more like a stew. That along with orange fried rice created a conflict between my eyes and my mouth, but I still ate about half of it (the rest being leftovers).
This place had a "2-hour customer visit limit" rule and when the rowdy bunch broke out in a "rap-along" of some $h1tty hip hop song, I was hoping that their time had run out. But we were about to pay the check, so we split.
Overall, this was a dining experience that featured OK food at a reasonable price and decent service. But it was all overshadowed by a lingering "wtf just happened?" feeling that was hard to shake after we left. So if you do check this place out, be prepared for an odd experience that you won't have at any other Chinese restaurant.
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