Apella, Eatontown (NJ)

This is how I did those ribeyes I made recently and I enjoyed every bite! Looks good.

Nice Seal. I think I missed your post. What kind of marinade did you use?

Usual italian dressing but added a bit of balsalmic and a little sugar to it. Gave it about a day in the marinade.

Buuuump!

I’ve had another weekend of eating out (no complaints–it’s just unusual for me to be out on Fri and Sat and Sun)
 Last night I hit Apella with 3 friends who hadn’t been there yet, and they absolutely loved it. We ate and ate well; stuck mostly with mezze so we could get a variety. They turned to me for recommendations, so after diving in to the bread, we all shared:

Loukanikos (sausage–a DO NOT MISS, imo)
Halloumi (with a yummy fig spread)
Meatballs w Greek yogurt
Garides Santorini (Sautéed Shrimp with Organic Tomatoes, Garlic, Herbs, Olive Oil & Feta Cheese)
Prassini Salad, which is a giant bowl full of Romaine lettuce, fresh dill, scallions, capers, and Feta dressing
Octopus
Lemon potatoes
Pastitsio

If there was one ‘disappointment’ it was the shrimp dish, which I had never had; just too plain for me, but it certainly wasn’t bad by any means. The Prassini salad was new to me, and we ordered it because my friends were raving about the version at The Greek Spot, where’s it’s known as the Green Salad. I really enjoyed it (I love fresh dill) but they said the GSpot’s is even better.

Everything was delicious at Apella and it’s BYO to boot (unless you want to buy the CA wine-Domenico-which they’re now selling). The tab for the four of us was $90 before tip; definitely a terrific value.

This post shouldn’t prevent you from joining us at Stamna, however
 lunch on 2/25! Look for that post to get bumped up again soon. :slight_smile:

You tell your friends the story about the a-hole who gorged himself on the mixed grill for 2?

Well OF COURSE! :grin:

Love Spiedies!

Sorry to report this, but it appears that Apella has closed. They’ve been dark for over a month now; I was hoping it was just a vacation back home, but when I drove by at 6:30 last night the lights were still out. A quick Google shows them as closed on multiple sites, including OpenTable. That’s a shame


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Really? Interesting. I pass there almost every weekend and recently (although I don’t know how recently) their parking lot was packed, I figured they were hosting a party. I guess once word got out that the Apella food challenge was defeated it was all down hill from there.

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That’s a shame. Was known to be a great place and good people running it. I guess we needed more meat challenges. Yet, McCloones lives on

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You know one time I was there someone came in looking for the owner.

Who was out for the afternoon at the track.

Don’t know if that had anything to do with the closing


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Do we have confirmation that it’s donezo? If so I wonder how the location had to do with it, that particular stretch isn’t screaming out high end dining or an nice romantic evening on the town.

They need to bring back the roller rink! Lol.

Besides the mixed grill there, do any other insane meat platters like that exist locally? @joonjoon

Port chop had a decent mixed grill for 18 bucks not that long ago and now it’s like 30 and smaller
I wrote that place off. LB BBQ is a better deal but off the beaten path compared to route36/joline.

You mean between the Lowe’s and the urologist?

Yes, I do have confirmation that they’re closed (as Apella)–and from someone who knows–the guy who owns The Greek Spot! I think when I first wrote about the GSpot that I mentioned he told me he used to work there. When I stopped in tonight for a GREEN salad, I asked him
 He said there were a bunch of reasons; they closed originally to go on vacation for a couple of weeks, but he also heard that the owner fired the last chef, who was good but maybe not so easy to work with. As he told me, employees aren’t able to take 4-6 weeks off, so many of them bailed. And finally, the location is really hard because they don’t have a liquor license. He said with Red Bank so close by, people would rather go there and walk around vs driving. All of this makes total sense to me. But then (OY) he said he has heard that the owner (he owns the building) is going to change it to Italian. Or seafood. Or a combo.

I realize some/all of this is second-hand, but I think he’s a fairly reliable source. As long as I have the GSpot for takeout/lunch, I’m fine driving to Stamna in Lincroft for a sit-down meal! And @corvette_johnny I know Stamna has a meat platter but don’t know how huge it is. NOTHING will beat watching @NotJrvedivici tackle that PLATTER at Apella, though. :slight_smile:

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Ta da!

The Monmouth corollary yet again confirmed.

There are a few brunches we could try.

And then there is the sushi buffet at Tokyo in Freehold.

Jr is obviously a well respected beast and a
food connoisseur. My hat is off to him for hammering that challenge.

I wish I could have seen that in person. That isn’t something you see too often
or ever lol.

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So is this place definitely closed? If so, does anyone know what will go there? Hopefully not a diner or more Italian.

Read my post (above) from Oct 5.