The Apollo: Definitely no ancient Greek

Another week, another new restaurant in the 2011 postcode. With chef Jonathon Barthelmess (ex Manly Pavilion) and Sam Christie (Longrain) at the helm, The Apollo is an exciting modern Greek opening in Potts Point with a corner, window-lined location that's attracting many a local.

The Apollo, Macleay Street, Potts Point

The arched windows are a fabulous feature of the space, allowing plenty of natural light and passersby to have a nosey look at this latest Potts Point restaurant. I'm a little in love with the decor too, which involves well-spaced tables, paint-peeled concrete walls and bare, unvarnished bentwood chairs (some with arms).

Nemea Driopi 2008 Agiorgitko

Greek wine is completely new to me, and somewhat new to the staff too, but we happily go with the recommendation for a red wine that's light and fruity. Turns out, Greek wine isn't all that different to Italian or Australian even, and this Agiorgitiko is well-balanced and an ideal partner to a lot of the food.

The dishes of food are designed to share, with a few appetiser-like dishes followed by the entreé-like ones, then "dishes cooked over wood and charcoal" and sides.

There's also a $55 banquet meal called "The Full Greek". Between two, we were very well advised to order one 'main' and a few of the smaller dishes to share.

Veal and sweetbread meat  ball, avgolemono

It was difficult to go past the idea of a veal sweetbread meatball, and I had wondered how the glands would be presented in the dish. One giant meat ball was served up, in a foamy pool of avgolemono lemon and egg sauce, which was light with citrus yet had meaty depth in the broth and was an unexpectedly excellent accompaniment.

The crumbly innards of the meat ball seemed to have been held together with a skin of some sort, while the sweetbreads were in a roughly chopped state that was still noticeable but not in an overwhelming manner.

Grilled octopus with chickpeas and cucumber

The octopus came highly recommended and I really hadn't expected it to look as it did. An entire small octopus, legs splayed and grilled golden all over, came resting on pylons of pickled cucumbers and a puddle of creamed chickpeas, while whole, golden-surfaced chickpeas rolled artfully around.

It was tender, for octopus, and the pairing with pickled cucumber was inspired while I'm not so sure about the chickpea partnership.

Pig's tail salad, walnuts, sorrel, currants, pomegranate, farro

I'm letting you in on a secret here - this is the best and probably naughtiest salad you're ever going to have. Indeed, farro (so much like barley) and sorrel are good for you, as too walnuts that add crunch - but not quite as much crunch as the pig's tail which has been flattened out and cooked as crackling.

Crackling salad - you read correctly. Sweetened with currants and pomegranate seeds, the jumble of farro hides a fair amount of the rectangles of pig's tail crackling which are devilishly satisfying, as can be expected. If modern Greek food is about putting pork crackling into otherwise healthy dishes, I'm in to it.

Slow cooked lamb rib and loin, lemon, Greek yoghurt

Not much was going to sway me from having lamb as the main which was a petite pile of charred meat in total food magazine style, served with a pot of tzaziki and a cheek of lemon.

We had some trouble moving the dish around on the table as we were still going on all the other dishes, so my first piece of lamb loin was probably not as hot as I would have liked. Nonetheless, the big flavours of a herby, lemony marinade just exploded in my mouth, even without the accompaniments.

The lamb loin was so very tender and easily one of the most outstanding lamb dishes I've had - Greek or not. The lamb rib, some parts without bone, were covered in a bit more fat, but tasty for it too.

Deep fried okra, vinegar, mint (half-eaten dish)

From the list of sides, we excitedly ordered the okra, or lady's fingers, which came lightly deep-fried with whole leaves of parsley and mint. The light vinegar dressing was just perfect for the seed-filled vegetable, which had none of its trademark inner sliminess, although some of the larger ones were stringy and tough to chew.

Rosewater jelly doughnuts with chocolate sauce

It took us a fair amount of time to get through the four dishes of dinner, as they seemed to be deceptively more filling than their sizes would suggest.

But I was convinced to share a dessert of rosewater jelly doughnuts, which rather resembled sugar-dusted arancini. Five of these hefty doughnut balls were served to share, with a delightful ceramic bottle of milk chocolate sauce.

Rosewater jelly doughnuts drizzled with chocolate sauce

The cinnamon sugar scented dough was a little heavy and chewy but revealed a solid cube of 'rosewater jelly' or indeed, Turkish delight. I might have thought the addition of chocolate sauce to the dessert would be sugar overload but it wasn't. Rather, the combination of sweet jelly, quality chocolate and doughnut dough was spot on in terms of flavours.

Throughout our (early arrival) meal, it was impressive to see how many people walked through the door, most sans booking given reservations are only taken for groups of six or more. The Apollo appears to be the latest restaurant hotspot, where the uber-cool factor is sky-high and there's not a touch anything ancient.