My first Continental

Over this holiday weekend, T and I headed downtown to get a nearly summer's night meal in the city. We wanted to go to Samson Street Oyster House, but boo, it was closed. We were bummed. So then we walked around and around in the vicinity looking for a good place to eat, but nothing really appealed to us. With all the walking, we kept getting more and more hungry. So after rounding the blocks again, we saw the Continental, again, and just said hey, why not?

It was my first time to the Continental. I've never been to the one in old city and I've never been to the midtown location either. It's pretty cool on the inside, there's a huge funky light installation hanging down from the middle of the ceiling. There are two levels, with tables and booths on the first, and tables lining the edge of the second floor with the middle of the second floor being floorless, so it overlooks the first. The bar is all the way in the back.

So it is a martini bar, so we had to get a couple of drinks. Somehow, we both picked the Buzz Aldrin, which was tang, peach vodka, and triple sec in a tang rimmed glass. You get your drink in your own cute little mini shaker. It was good, but a little too strong. Perhaps, it could have used a tad more tang. You would think T would have ordered a more manly drink, but no. We were both sitting around sipping these little orange drinks.

I ordered the lobster mashed potatoes as an appetizer and T ordered the crab cakes. The mashed potatoes were GINORMOUS. Way too much. The portions for them were just out of control. It could have easily fed a family of 6. But I quite liked them. I have a soft spot for mashed potatoes in general, and these had good hunks of real lobster. The crab cakes were small and you got three with your order. I'm not a huge crab cake fan. I tasted it and it was a bit too mustardy for my liking.

I had the thai chicken lettuce wraps as an entree and T had the fish tacos. The lettuce wraps were ok, but nothing spectacular. I'm no great fan of PF Chang's or the Cheesecake Factory, but really, their lettuce wraps are much better. Plus, they only gave me three pieces of lettuce. And there was enough chicken for plenty more wraps. Come on Continental, stop being so skimpy with the lettuce. The chicken itself was ok. There was a spicy ginger sauce that came with it and that was the best part. I tasted the fish tacos and I liked it. T did not like it. There were two of them, and the tacos were filled with a lightly battered and fried fish, some kind of sauce, and a red cabbage sauerkraut type of concoction. T kept taking very small bites, looking puzzled each time, as if he wasn't sure he liked it or not. Turned out he didn't like it. They did have a very strong fish smell, which probably did not help. But I like sauerkraut an I especially love red cabbage, so I enjoyed the crunchy and sour bits. But neither of us would ever order it again.

I'm not quite sure what I expected, as I never really had any desire to go to the Continental. Not ever. But I thought it was ok. The prices on the food isn't too bad, it's really only the drinks that seem a bit high. The service was good, attentive, and my water glass was filled most of the time.