On a roll with new restaurants - The Continental

There's been a number of new restaurant openings in Hong Kong recently, and this evening we dropped by to one of those, The Continental, in Admiralty.

The restaurant, only officially opened this past Monday, took over the space formerly housed the fine Italian restaurant Domani on the terrace of the Pacific Place complex. Under the high ceiling with glass panel surrounding the structure sandwiched in between tall office buildings, the vast dining room features dim lighting and dark decor, booth tables on one side and simple wooden table and comfy sofas with green upholstery on the other. It's quite a comfortable setting. There's a little bar near the entrance for a drink or quick bite, and there's also an outdoor dining space which I think would be great when the evenings get cooler, probably in a few weeks' time.

Menu featured a wide selection of items, especially in the appetizer section, from oysters and seafood, to a few hot starter dishes, pasta and cold cuts. Choices for main course are mainly meat (fish, lobster, lamb, steak and pork) cooked on Josper Grill with a number of side dishes offered on a la carte basis. (I am sure there's vegetarian option somewhere which I probably conveniently overlooked)

I had my eye set on starting the meal with half dozen oysters, when C convinced me to go for the Assiette d'Ecailleur platter. It came as a sumptuous display on an elevated metal tray with 6 oysters (Fines de Claires), 6 cherrystone clams, 6 prawns and then winkles. The oyster has a mild flavor but very juicy, and I loved the rest of the platter too.

Going through the number of grilled items as entree option, I opted for the Pork Chop with sage butter, with a side of Ratatouille. Both were brilliant - the meat was tender and flavorful with a good balance of fat, though I personally would prefer a deeper grill mark on the meat giving it a more charred flavor. The dish also came with a small side of sauteed kale underneath and a thin strip of crackling on top - that and the ratatouille was pretty good and on par with what I expected from a top restaurant.

The portion of the dishes was very generous - even with a big appetite like mine I only barely finished my main dish. That's why I could only order a simple scoop of plum sorbet to conclude our dinner. The wine list has a decent number of options at various price points, including quite a few available by glass. The mark-up from retail price seems to be fairly reasonable at first glance. I had a glass of syrah to go with the main dish - that was quite pleasant.

I think The Continental is a typical grill serving predictable food with solid execution in an elegant setting. Predictable may sound like a negative word, but that also means it gave you choices that you know you are comfortable with and wouldn't leave you with bad surprises.

I think the restaurant is well-positioned in this office/shopping mall/hotel kind of area and the place was great for any occasion, be it power lunches, entertaining out-of-town guests, family meals, friends' gatherings, fancy dates, so on and so forth. If they manage to keep up with the food quality and service - like what we have experienced this evening - I think this one is here to stay and would be a popular spot for many.

When? October 16 2014
Where? The Continental, Level 4, One Pacific Place, 88 Queensway, Hong Kong
Menu Highlights? Assiette d'Ecailleur Seafood Platter
Drinks? Domaine du Grangeon Syrah 2011