Continental Seafood Restaurant 辛運海鮮酒樓 – Banquet Menu

Restaurant: Continental Seafood Restaurant 辛運海鮮酒樓
Cuisine: Chinese/Seafood/Dim Sum
Last visited: June 19, 2011 – **Updated post
Location: Richmond, BC (Richmond)
Address: 11700 Cambie Rd
Price Range: $10 or less dim sum, $20-30+ dinner

1: Poor 2: OK 3: Good 4: Very good 5: Excellent 6: Tres Excellent!!

Food: 2.5
Service: 3
Ambiance: 3
Overall: 3
Additional comments:

• Traditional Cantonese cuisine
• Chinese/English menus
• Live seafood tanks
• Popular for dim sum
• Push cart dim sum
• Popular for take-out BBQ meats
• Known to Chinese locals
• Nightly live entertainment
• Ballroom dance floor
• Very affordable prices
• Large space/venue
• Free parking
• Dim Sum/Lunch/Dinner
• Monday 10am – 12:30am
• Tuesday 10am – 12am
• Wed-Thurs: 10am – 12:30am
• Fri-Sat: 10am – 1am
• Sunday 10am-10pm
• Continental a la carte dinner menu post

**Recommendations: Double Boiled Winter Melon Soup with Mixed Seafood, Black Cod & Eggplant, Sauteed Beef and Seasonal Vegetable with Satay Sauce, Golden Crispy Roasted Pork

It was another Chinese banquet and this time it was at a restaurant I can’t say I’m too excited to go back to each time. So why do I go back to it? Well it’s mainly because of the dance floor. So this is where Mijune gets her boogie down? Actually no. But it is where my parents do. They love ballroom dancing, so this is one of the spots to do it. Being that it was Father’s Day I decided to partner up with dad and do a little jiving myself!

Banquet food. I’ve never been a fan, however there are some hotels, restaurants and catering companies that do a great job of it. It doesn’t always have to taste “mass produced”, but quite often it does and I have to kind of expect it. As long as everything is served at it’s intended temperature and the quality of ingredients isn’t sacrifice I’m usually a happy girl.

I can’t say Continental Seafood Restaurant is my preference for a Chinese banquet dinner, but it’s a big venue so it is a popular choice with very reasonable prices. People also like coming here for dim sum because of the old-fashioned push cart system they offer. It’s better than Floata in Chinatown, although this exact restaurant used to be Floata a few years ago. I came here when it was too, so maybe I just have bad memories all together.

The menu on this occasion was one of their more affordable banquet menus (around $28/person) and it was quite average, but the venue is what people like. For me, I look forward to my Dairy Queen Blizzard I usually get after dinner here. It’s located in the same mall complex right in front of it… and sorry hot red bean soup just doesn’t do it for me.

On the table:

XO Sauce

• This was better than I expected and actually quite gourmet, but not as good as the one from Top Gun J&C or Red Star Seafood. I actually think it might better than Kirin’s though.
• It was made with dried mini shrimp and dried scallop which are pricey ingredients. The smaller shrimp is more affordable than the large.
• It was mildly spicy, but could have been more aromatic and I think the quality of the dried seafood just wasn’t as high, but still good for this restaurant.

Roasted Suckling Pig – 3.5/6

• We were really hungry, so we ordered a pre appetizer a la carte.
• Roasted suckling pig is usually a celebratory item that traditionally comes out on special occasions.
• For anyone that enjoys porchetta or “crackling”, the Chinese have been doing it for centuries.
• For traditional Chinese tastes, this was actually a very good roasted suckling pig, but for my “Westernized palate”, it was too fatty.
• The skin was crunchy and sweet like meat candy and the meat was juicy, fatty, creamy and rich just as pork belly should be.
• It’s too fatty and gelatinous for my liking, but authentically it’s common to find it like this.
• All the clear gelatinous fat layers did melt away and there’s no chewy tough parts at all.
• It’s not the best roasted suckling pig in Richmond, but you can get this at pretty much any Chinese restaurant.
• Butcher shops are solid and affordable options for it. Try HK BBQ Master which is an award winning take out butcher shop in Richmond. (Of course it’s in Richmond.)
• I actually really like the one from Jade Seafood which doesn’t have the fatty layer, and the meat is lean, but not dry, and the skin is still very crispy.

Cold Appetizer Platter – 3/6

• The BBQ pork – 3/6 – was relatively lean, but not as flavourful or saucy as I prefer. I prefer mine a bit juicier, but this one was still good.
• Jellyfish –  2.5/6 – was marinated with sesame oil, but a bit bland and not sweet nor spicy. Although different styles, after having the jelly fish at Blue Water Café it’s hard for me to go back to the Chinese stuff.
• Hokkaido Clams – 3/6 – was chewy and it’s one of the more modern options included on the appetizer platter.
• Soy Sauce Chicken – n/a – I missed this one.

• Mushroom Tofu Wrap – 3/6 – I love these. They were sweet and juicy and stuffed with lots of Shiitake mushrooms in a bean curd wrap. Not as smoky as it sometimes is, but still good.

Deep Fried Prawn Ball Stuffed with Scallop – 3/6

• I prefer the lobster version, but given the set menu price the scallop was fair.
• It was lightly breaded and crispy and the pawn ball was juicy with a firm spring to it.

• The scallop was soft and the quality of it wasn’t great, but I still enjoyed it.
• It’s dipped in either red vinegar or sweet and sour sauce before enjoying.
• The vinegar cuts the grease a bit and the sweet and sour sauce makes it reminiscent of a gourmet spring roll. I like both dipping sauces.

Sauteed Mixed Vegetables, Chicken & Squid – 2/6

• The celery was overcooked and old and I was hoping for more snow peas and other vegetables. A generous amount of celery is usually the case with this dish though.
• It was simply sautéed with garlic and the chicken was a bit bland, but the squid was tender.

Shredded Chicken & Dried Scallop Consumme – 2.5/6

• I’m not a fan of this soup, but I’ll still eat it and somewhat enjoy it. I think I’ve just had it too many times by now.
• It was a bit watered down, but at least it wasn’t thickened with too much corn starch and it wasn’t gluey or that slimy.
• Naturally it is a bit slimy though and it’s full of slippery ingredients and crunchy textures like bamboo shoots, green onions, Shiitake mushrooms and of course shredded chicken and dried scallop.
• There was lots of dried scallop, which is the delicacy, so it was nice to see so much.

Sauteed Sweet & Sour Prawns – 3/6

• I usually look forward to this dish.
• It tasted like fresh prawns sautéed with garlicky Sweet Thai Chili sauce and sweet and sour sauce.
• The prawns were slightly overcooked, but not dry and I wish they were crispier to the point where the shells are edible. These weren’t quite there yet.
• It’s quite aromatic as it’s sautéed with aromatic vegetables like Chinese celery and bell peppers, so it’s more developed than just plain old Sweet Thai Chili sauce or sweet and sour sauce.

Braised Pea Tips and Bean Curd in Consomme – 2.5/6

• This is a healthy and light vegetarian side dish.
• I wish there was more garlic flavour, but the pea tips were sautéed quite well maintaining their colour and texture.
• The bean curd was silky soft and absorbed the consume well.
• It’s a rather boring dish, but it’s meant to be like that, so I can’t really say anything more about it.

Steamed Chicken with Deep Fried Garlic – 3/6

• I was expecting the standard deep fried chicken course next, so this was a bit of a change.
• I think it was braised before it was steamed, but the sauce it was sitting in was great.
• The sauce was sesame oil, natural chicken oil, and Chinese cooking wine and it was nice and light and not too oily or salty.
• It was a tender free range chicken but the meat itself was bland, although tender and decently juicy.
• There was a hint of Chinese 5 spice powder, a bit of white pepper, and then crispy nutty garlic chips on top.
• This was meant to be eaten with the ginger and green onion oil served along side.
• For this style of chicken, my favourite is The Jade Smoked Grandpa Chicken from The Jade Seafood Restaurant.

Steamed Fish with Soy Sauce & Onions – 2.5/6

• I have to admit, this totally freaked me out a bit.
• It looked like eel and I’ve never had this type of fish served at a Chinese banquet dinner. It was unusual.
• I think it was a Snakehead fish and the meat was white, and it was firm and almost like tuna, but perhaps more mild in flavour.
• I prefer the standard steamed Rock Cod, but this was okay and there weren’t many bones which was nice.
• It was cooked perfectly and the sweet soy sauce was fine, but at times it was a tad fishy tasting.

Fried Rice with Tobiko – 2/6

• I found the rice really bland and there was no dried scallops or soy sauce or salt or anything as seasonings.
• The crunch of Chinese broccoli (kai lan) was nice, but the frozen mixed vegetables and lack of egg whites made it a bit sad.
• The tobiko on fried rice started maybe a year and a half ago, and I do welcome the new garnish.

Braised E-Fu Noodles (Yee Mien) – 2.5/6

• It was soft buttery noodles, but a bit heavy with the soy sauce and a little wet.
• There was some green onions and Shiitake mushrooms, but hardly any and then a couple strands of Enoki mushrooms too.
• The noodle itself is a somewhat chewy soft egg noodle made with wheat flour, and they’re unassumingly rich, but you can’t tell just by eating them.

Chinese Dainty Two Cookies – 3/6

• Almond Cookies – 3.5/6
• I’ve always like these cookies.
• These weren’t very crispy, but they were very tender and soft in the middle and very lightly sweetened.
• It was less sweet than normal and it was a bit on the eggy side and almost like an eggy almond cake cookie.
• The whole Chinese almond on top was an ideal garnish.
• Sesame Cookies (Laughing Balls) – 3/6
• These are pretty much deep fried balls of dough rolled in sesame seeds.
• It’s crumbly and harder and not like a donut, but more like a cookie.
• This one was a bit soft in the middle and nutty from the sesame seeds and again not that sweet.
• The crack in the ball is supposed to represent a laughing smile. (Wow that sentence sounds weird)

Red Bean Soup – n/a

• Yup! If you know my blog, you probably know how I feel about this.
• We’re not friends, yet it always shows up on my dinner table even though I never invite it.
• This is the part when I head over to Dairy Queen, which is located within the same mall complex almost next door.

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