Apollo

Horrendous food and service. We ordered two plates of meat and both were inedible. The meat tasted like it had gone bad.

DON’T LOOK UP! just don’t.
Let me start by saying I wish no stars (never again) were an option because Apollo would definitely qualify.
Last night was one of the best, most chill Thanksgivings I’ve ever had. Early turkey with family and then a night out in an uncharacteristically quiet Boston driving around looking for a place for my very hungry, slightly inebriated friend to get a meal. The Gallows was closed as were Gaslight and his favorite Sushi joint in Southie. Then he came up with Chinatown. I was like, are you serious? Chinatown restaurants are health hazards. No, no, this place is great, he said. You’ll love it, he said. So we made our way to Apollo.
Not a soul was there except the staff. Bad sign. The smell was the first thing you noticed though. They need to refurb pronto. Acrid oil in your face from the moment you step in. The cook woke up the kid waiter and had him sit us at a bar-​b-​q table (the smell was even worse in that corner). Across from us was staff eating their evening meal and kept looking over at us like there was something to see. Rude. Okay, I’ll just run it down for you…
Sake — served lukewarm from the microwave. I asked the kid to throw it back in there a few more seconds.
Miso soup — Served lukewarm. I give up.
The shaved steak and short rib were fresh but the side condiments were minimal and laughable. His sushi looked fresh but I wasn’t risking it.
Everything came and went and when all was said and done the bill came to $ 96 which is kinda pricey for this festering petri dish of a restaurant.
While we waited for the check, my worst nightmare became reality. It occurred to me to look up and there were about 6 little mouse carcasses lying on the frosted ceiling tiles. WTF? How hard is it to clean those once a month or something? I don’t even want to think about what’s going on in the kitchen.
Eww, just ewww.

If i can give this place ZERO stars i would. It’s only getting worse as time goes. I came here late night and the server took my order wrong… and the food came out HORRIBLE… and YES all they care about is your money! We tried to speak to the manager but apparently Steven? Or so he says his name is the manager and they don’t care what your problem is… if you ordered it you gotta pay. And they have a big black bouncer aka security guard that will just give you a ton of crap and then all the 7 asians will gang up on you that work there and kick you out. And the big black bouncer will just stand outside after and smoke. WORST PLACE ON EARTH. If i was dying of hunger and this is the last place i would rather starve.
Stay away from here, rude people working here and shit food.

bad. just bad
This place probably makes more money after club hours than it does the whole day combined. Who in their sober mind would come in here to pay $ 12ish a dish that tastes the same as prepackaged microwavable food from Stop and Shop. They need to hire more staff. The waiters are so rushed that they forget to bring some dishes that are ordered or charge you for dishes you didnt order.
I came here with some friends who wanted to get food after the club (I was sober)
The port katsu is probably the worst dish we ordered.
The crab rangoons are comparable to other drunk food hotspots
The seafood pancake is undercooked. It ended up being a limp moist pancake…
Their dishes DO NOT come with rice. (2.50 a bowl)
The chicken dish and the pork dish with the sweet and sour sauce w/​e its called was bad. The meat was overcooked and the sauce was crap.
The Teriyaki chicken. — dry. dry. dry? dry. teriyaki sauce probably came out of a jar
The serving sizes are small. We ended up paying $ 23ish a person. wtf. $ 23? damn how was the bill even $ 136. and we were still hungry. oh yeah. they also have a mandatory gratuity for not doing anything. great. just great.
Just go to Chau Chows or dumpling café instead. The serving sizes are a lot bigger and service is faster.
Ok im going to stop drinking this haterade ive been sipping on.

The minute I walked into this place, I smelled something bad. The interior was so neglected, I didn’t even want to think about the kitchen. I won’t even get into details about the bathroom, or what I witnessed the cleaning lady NOT cleaning.
The whole time you’re sitting at your table, flies are circling around. The service was ok I guess. The Korean BBQ was average, which is why I gave it 2 stars instead of 1.
By the time we were leaving, a guy definitely high on something walked into the restaurant, picked up a chair, and told the manager he was going to kill everyone in there. The manager just stared at him, didn’t do anything, so my husband had to stand up and tell him to leave. Luckily the guy complied and left.
After that experience, I will never again go to that restaurant. Beware of the crazies that hang around outside as well as the bathroom.

I would have to agree with the reviews. although this place is open all night… the quality really isn’t there. We just popped in here because I had never been and it was an interesting alternative.
They have Korean bbq tables in here. but they do not actually let you bbq at the table. We ordered bulgoki and beef tongue there that night. both were okay. but really, at $ 20 per dish. that’s kind of steep for the quality and quantity. This place is definitely run by Chinese not Korean peeps.
I think I would rather go back to the route of eating at Chinese restaurants late at night. Chau Chau. Peach Farm. Golden Gate. those are my friends.

Why one star… well first off everything in this place sucks evenly. Where to begin… it’s a dirty rundown dump where the white trash, OG wannabes and hard ass drunk dicks roam like wildlife on the Serengeti. The staff is no better… they try to rip you off in this place all the time… every single time I went there they added phantom items on the bill and played it off like it was a mistake. Get real… I know you are robbing me and I’m not stupid.
It also irks me off that the Soju they sell is not really Soju… it’s some cheap Chinese knock off that is made with sugar and not rice, grain, tapioca or sweet potatoes… it’s called Cham and has a label similar to Jinro Chamisul. It tasted like rubbing alcohol and not Soju.
There is one single reason for stopping by this place and one reason only. They are open until 4 AM and you are shitfaced. Basically this is a Chinese run and operated restaurant posing as a Korean restaurant and doing a pretty craptastic job at it. There is a reason why there are no four or five star ratings since Obama was first elected.
Hell I would raise it up a star or two if they simply got name brand Jinro Soju so I could enjoy some late night Korean alcohol… but alas they can’t even get that right.
Oh did I mention that the service sucked as well as being overpriced? I mean $ 20 for a bottle of fake Soju… give me a break dude… what a joke. Put the count down timer on until they go out of business… forget this place, you can do better. If you can’t do better, then you are very close to passing out drunk and have your food beer goggles on… no really, you can do better.

This place really blows. The sushi is so so overpriced. There are much more high class restaurants where the Philly roll is 5.50−6. Why the hell is a philly roll here 8 dollars? Are you kidding me? For six pieces of cream cheese, salmon and cucumber. They also put on gratuity. Tips are earned. They didn’t do shit. The food is so overpriced, the service blows. The tempura ice cream is premade because even the shell is cold. Overpriced, and trust me when I go out to eat, I’m not cheap and I know my Japanese food so I’m not kidding when I say, It’s overpriced.
They just want in for the money. The place is so dirt and gross. There’s plenty of other places where it’s not cheap and actually have wonderful service.

I’ve walked by this place a million times going through Chinatown. I grew up seeing this place but had never been. Finally came late night with my boyfriend to grab a bite. Let’s just say, places like this make Asian people look really bad. While service was prompt, the restaurant was very rundown looking w torn seating, sticky menus, dirty floors, and I kept expecting to see cockroaches scurrying about.
We had the veggie udon (soup tasted like soy-​sauce flavored tea and there were like 2 carrots floating to count as vegetables) and a kimchee beef ricecake thing (nothing special). The dishes were grossly overpriced for what we got and for a place that was run by Cantonese speakers, there wasn’t a single Chinese food item.
All I can say is, I should have kept walking. There’s no level of drunkeness that will make Apollo anything but «appallingly» awful.

Wow, what an annoying experience. I’m so mad I didn’t read any reviews first, but when it’s late and your hungry you have little to choose from.
First off, the staff is incredibly rude. They are indifferent to you in every single way. We were the only people here on a Wednesday night but that didn’t stop them from taking their time with everything. Our questions about food were met with blank impatient stares. Fine, we’ll just get the usual Korean fare. The bim bim bob was bland but it wasn’t terrible. You can’t really go wrong with that dish in my opinion. The bulgogi beef was stringy, dry, and devoid of any real seasoning. The squid was passable but this too was devoid of any real flavors.
The most annoying part of the night was the bill and this left an even worse taste in my mouth than the food. My friend looked at the bill and I simply handed over my card and said we should just split it. I’m assuming the waiter saw that only my friend looked at the bill to check it because when my credit card came back it had a place to insert a tip. I was about to tip on the seemingly large bill when my friend told me they added 19% tip already. It showed up on his credit card receipt that tip was added, but it sure didn’t say that on mine. Not cool at all buddy. I have NEVER had tip added to a bill with four people or less so this was something I would never have expected. He also came back before we left and LOOKED to see if I tipped him anything on my card. He looked very disappointed. I chuckled and left, never to return.

A large group of us went to Apollo for some Korean barbecue. We chose a variety of meats, and the spicy pork was the clear winner for me.
All in all, it was pretty average for me.

Saturday nite after a club. Had a big disagreement over the bill and manager had no respect to solve it.
Charged close to $ 100 (for real??) for 5 people, each had average quality meals in the $ 10-​$ 20 range or so. Automatic 19% gratuity added for late, non existant service. Pretty sure one item around $ 10 may have been added by mistake. May have lost $ 20 for the bill… had a fight with friend who said she did pay… Terrible at working with multiple cards. waitress couldnt explain. bring cash.
DONT bring ur card or they will hold you hostage over ANY DISPUTE!

Meh. I’ve definitely experienced better.
I ordered miso soup and tempura shrimp udon. The waitress was shocked that I would order two soup items, but I just wanted some warm soup in my belly. What was wrong with that? She raised her eyebrow at me and said it was «too much broth.» Yeah, whatever. Except that it really wasn’t too much broth, considering that the portions were not overwhelmingly large at all.
The miso soup was just okay. It was as good as any other miso soup I’ve had, except for the fact that they really skimp out on the tofu pieces! I didn’t think tofu came smaller than the size of my PINKY FINGERNAIL, but it sure does here. Also, the amount of miso soup was as miniscule as it usually is in any other restaurant.
The tempura udon was fine. The tempura shrimp was actually quite good, as it was breaded in panko and still crispy; it was freshly fried and not soggy at all. The udon noodles were fine, and the broth was just okay. The serving size was actually perfect (not too much, not too little), so I was really left scratching my head as to why the waitress would comment on the amount of broth I’d be intaking. I drank all of it, just to prove her wrong.
My friend ordered a couple of rolls, and she said they were fine but nothing outstanding.
Also, I’m guessing that the Korean food isn’t exactly authentic, unless the waitstaff is Japanese and the chef in the kitchen is Korean. I’m pretty picky with Korean food, so I decided to stick with the Japanese food.
What irked me the most about this place was the fact that the entire staff seemed engrossed in the TV show that was playing above the sushi bar. It took a while for our waitress to get to us, and considering the fact that there weren’t many people in the place, I would have thought we would have had more attention paid to us than the TV. It’s pretty disrespectful, and I wouldn’t recommend this place to any of my friends unless they were too drunk to notice that the service is awful.

Never in my life have I ever been so disappointed. I should have guessed when there was absolutely no one inside the restaurant.
My friends and I decided to go there for dinner because we were craving Korean food. As soon as we stepped inside the restaurant, we realized it was dirty, sticky, and just plain disgusting.
First off, we ordered Korean food and got the side dishes. The kimchi was DEFINITELY spoiled. Next, my friends and I all ordered soup/​stew, which was completely bland and you could already tell that the ingredients are not fresh.
Better yet, they charged us an 19% gratuity, when they never even came to us and was just sitting near the sushi bar watching the basketball game.
Throughout the entire dining experience, NOT A SINGLE PERSON CAME IN…
Overall, I would NEVER in my life go back. I would rather buy instant soup packets then eat there again.
This place should be shut down!

My friend dragged me here in the late night hours for drinks in the past few weeks because it’s one of the few places in Boston that’s opened til 3−4am. It was not a good experience. Both times, there was absolutely nobody in the restaurant except the waiter and the sushi chef.
I haven’t tried much of the food here, but the few plates that we did order were simply not cooked/​prepared correctly. The sushi was supposedly horrible — my unwise friend ordered it and he said it was simply inedible — i didn’t dare to try it. Not a surprise because restaurants that get very few business usually has no fresh supplies of fish.
The lemon soju was heavily watered down — it tasted like diluted Sprite, you can’t even taste the alcohol. A small pitcher of diluted Sprite — $ 20.
If you have to come here, do yourself a favor and only order drinks (not mixed drinks like the diluted Sprite that we regrettably ordered) and appetizers that’s impossible to be screwed up (edamame, etc.).
Apollo definitely cuts the cake for the worst Korean/​Japanese food I’ve ever had and I got a feeling it’s going to hold the title for a very long time — it got to the point where you wonder how this place existed for so long. I’m never coming back.
One last note — they add 18% gratuity into the bill, so you don’t even have a choice of how much to tip them. For the very little service that they provide on both occasions, adding gratuity to the bill is simply not right. Just goes to show much confidence they have in their services and quality!

Apollo is the go-​to spot for the late-​night clubbers/​bar-​hoppers who are too liquored up to go home yet. You can usually tell by the half-​dressed girls with mascara smeared all over their faces who stumble into the bathroom at 2am while mumbling to themselves about how their boyfriends are a-​holes. It makes for some interesting nights.
I’m not sure how exactly to review Apollo, seeing as how most of my experiences here revolve around being in college and having post-​party hunger pangs at 2am. The palette isn’t often very discriminatory past 9pm. Past that, if it’s edible, it’s good.
Korean barbeque is pretty good here. Whenever you walk in, all you hear is sizzling and all you smell is bulgogi. Apollo’s been my food savior more than a few times during my late nights out, so I think that’s deserving of at least 3 stars. Even if you do wake up the next morning with a slight headache, smelling STRONGLY of beef.

I came here in search of Korean barbecue after striking out at some other restaurants in the area. I don’t know if it’s an official menu item or not, but I told the waiter that all I wanted was my usual: barbecued spicy pork and steamed rice. Although I paid more for it than I had intended to ($ 14), I also got more than I’d bargained for: at least two meals’ worth of pork, rice, steamed broccoli and bean sprouts, kimchi, and miso soup. A nice little bonus is that rice is free before 11. They’re open until 3, which should be a selling point in itself.
Finally, something that hit the spot! There are few feelings better than eating the EXACT thing you’ve been craving all day, then slipping into a dream-​like state of food coma. The sauce on the pork had the perfect balance of sweet and spicy with some onions thrown into the mix too. I usually douse everything in Sambal Oelek for ultimate spiciness, but this didn’t need any. So f-​ing good. Other than the meat, though, nothing stood out. The veggies were run-​of-​the-​mill veggies, the miso soup was passable, and as for the kimchi, well… I’ve had better kimchi out of jars sold at seedy Asian markets in Dorchester. It wasn’t crunchy or spicy enough for my liking. God knows I love me some kimchi, so this was a big part of what I was looking forward to in my meal. Alas.
Great food, but I still think $ 14 is kind of a rip. Too expensive for me to make it a regular thing. Yeah, it’s a lot of food, but you’re paying for all the filler crap that comes with it. Just give me my heaping pile of pork for half the price and get on with it!

After a rough night of clubbing, my friends and I ended up getting seated… and before we could even order, we (and by we I mean I) ended up taking care of my drunk friend in the ladies room. Despite never tasting the food, I will award 4 stars to Apollo solely because of the AWESOME bouncer who saved the day by carrying my belligerent friend out of the bathroom.
I promise, I will update with a more legitimate review. I’m actually really curious as to how the Korean BBQ is like here.

Because I’m a fan of going out late at night to bars/​clubs downtown on the weekend, and usually after such fun I am hungry, often hungry for sushi, I give this place 4 stars by default because it’s one of the only places open late enough to feed my hunger.
Plus it’s not shady like Café Pompeii.
I’ve been here countless times, let’s be real, and I usually run into everyone I just saw at the bar/​club here too. For a late night restaurant in Chinatown, they have some fabulous food. Everything I’ve had here has been delicious– miso soup, spicy seafood soup, sushi, beef bulgogi, and shrimp&veggie tempura have all been delicious.
The prices could be a bit lower, because let’s face it this place isn’t gourmet. But I’ll never say no to Apollo late at night. I’ve never been here before midnight haha so my review is purely a nocturnal one but considering my first experience with apollo was being woken up by my friends at 3 am after being home from the club, by them saying «hey we’re going to get sushi down the street are you coming?» Sushi at 3am? yes please.

This is always my go to place for an after dinner site to go drinking and performing sake bombs. The waitstaff don’t mind and once our Sapporo or sake ran out, they immediately asked if we wanted to refill.
In my opinion, they were pretty attentive to our table.
After our sake bombs, I ordered a salmon handroll as a snack and my friend ordered a salmon roll. The Salmon Handroll was huge with lots of salmon sticking out. It was fresh and tasted so good. Same for my friend’s roll. I guess places such as these, I would rather order the simple sushi to taste the freshness and quality.