Do refer to the Gayatri review for the other comments on this challenge (from the gayatri perspective)

I used to eat here when I was young. When I was young, I didn't know what was service. All I knew was that the moment my butt landed on the chair + 2 minutes, I would have a banana leaf laid in front of me with some Indian waiter bringing my papadams and lime juice, ready to take my order.

Perhaps I'm older and have eaten at other Indian restaurants like Delhi, Muthu's, Gayatri, Jaggis that are along the same road, and my expectations remained the same....only that Apolo has not kept up with its service standards.

As mentioned in the Gayatri review with the same title (almost), I had eaten the two Indian Fish Head Curries over two consecutive days. Each place was different - either in terms of the way it cooked its Fish Head Curry or the service experience. Here's the verdict:

Fish Head Curry - For $18, the portion was the same size as the Gayatri one. In terms of freshness, the chunks of fish flesh was cooked just right and it kept the fresh taste of the fish very well that at one point (when my tongue was in so much pain from the spices) that I ate the flesh without any curry sauce. Yes, the fish meat was nice...that was until I reached the part of the fish where there were bones and I suspect, quite near the stomach area. Then the taste of the fish became laced with bitterness of the fish bile (they must have excited the fish before they bashed the head to kill it)

The fish curry came with ladies fingers ONLY (unlike the Gayatri version that came with brinjals too) and it was undercooked and probably 20% on the "old veg" side.

The spiciness of the fish curry gravy was sharp and gave me many moments of sweaty, runny nosed pain - which only encouraged me to pour more gravy on my rice to relive that spicy kick to my senses.

Service Experience - From my observation, the Apolo service staff are very efficient with their service. They'll sit you down at your table, bring you your menu, ask you what you want to drink, take your order, bring you your banana leaf with one set of cutlery each, serve you rice, scoop the "all you can eat" vegetables onto your leaf, bring you your papadam and then your food order. I observed....5 minutes is all it takes. That is, if they see you in the first place.

When I arrived and took my seat, they said they would be with me in a minute. 2 minutes passed. No one.

I waved. Someone saw me. He gave me "the hand" - WAIT. I waited....I thought it was an Indian restaurant at Race Course Road...they are busy...so it's acceptable. Another 3 minutes passed. No one

I waved in a different direction to attract the attention of the pink shirted manager. He sees me. He gives me "the hand" too! - WAIT he mouthes...I thought...ok, he is the manager. I'll wait. Another 3 minutes passes. No one. (at this point, I notice new customers who get their menus, rice, order and drink....and I look at my empty table....)

I wave again. This time I catch the eye of the waiter who seems to be doing most of the serving on my side of the restaurant. He sees me. He, too, gives me "the hand" -WAIT he mouthes....I think, ok....this is the old guy...I can still be nice here. He has the power to bring me the menu since the pink shirted manager seems pretty good at standing where he is near the order system "looking busy". So I wait.....I wait....I wait....and WAIT A MINUTE! It's more than 5 minutes and I'm watching the old guy attend to other newly seated tables and then it dawned on me....They are never coming....

So I had to walk up to the pink shirt manager to tell him that we had been sitting there waiting for our server to arrive. The Pink Shirt Manager then tells me "I didn't see you...." WHAT THE??????

Anyway, I thought I would let is pass as today could be the day where I'm the 1% customer that encounters bad service at an institution like Apolo...so I let it slide.....till I got my bill.

THE BILL
Apparantly at Apolo, ordering a fish head curry does not include rice and vegetables (unlike Gayatri). Moreover, without asking what rice I wanted, the server gave me Biriyani (which I didn't want but didn't bother changing it since the old man was obviously busy)....and then charged me $3.50 per person for the Biriyani rice which was not my first choice....I prefer white rice.

VERDICT
Do you really want me to recommend Apolo to you after what I went through? Out of 5 stars, I'd rate the overall experience - food and service and value - as 2.5.

Neither fish head curry blew me away because there was something wrong with either the food (the way it is cooked...Gayatri uses coconut milk in a traditionally Southern Indian fish head curry while Apolo does it the non-coconut way) or the service.

I'm quite certain there are other restaurants along Race Course Road that will do the fish head curry just the right way and serve you well without compromises. Just let me know when you find that place