The Continental Mid-Town

In the 1933 film Flying Down to Rio, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers danced a very long number called The Continental. I’m not sure restaurateur Stephen Starr had Fred and Ginger in mind when he opened The Continental at Second and Market nearly 10 years ago, but when he did it became an instant hit.

Starr is a genius when it comes to restaurant concepts. If The Continental is successful in Old City, why not open another? He did just that more than a month ago with The Continental Mid-Town at 18th and Chestnut.

As soon as the first martini was stirred, long lines formed to get in. I figured an early dinner was the way to go, especially since no reservations are taken.

We took our cousin Murray, who arrived in Philly for an internship just in time for his 21st birthday.

The place is tri-level, including the rooftop deck. A giant ’50s-style crystal chandelier is the focal point. There’s a bar on both floors. We climbed a flight of steps and settled into comfortable booth-like seats. Blue is the color of choice here; the walls are variants of blue tile. The seats for the tables-for-two are swinging oval rattan chairs.

Meals are served family-style. You simply order as you go — which is my favorite way to dine.

We toasted Murray with a bottle of Corona ($5); a perfect Bombay Sapphire martini ($9.50), which our server poured into my glass from an individual shaker that she set down before me; and glasses of Pinot Noir ($8) and Pinot Grigio ($7).

The menu was filled with New American bistro fare. There are no appetizers or entrées per se. You also can order a side as a main dish. Italian, Thai, Japanese, Spanish, French and Israeli cuisines take pride of place.

The kitchen is under the direction of chef Michael Hazen, who is quite adept at turning out the cuisines of the world. Few chefs can do this with such care and ease, but I must tip my toque to the people on the line as well. The kitchen is so perfectly orchestrated that we never had to wait long for a dish to appear, even when The Continental was busy.

Our server brought us a large basket of tasty warm rolls along with a ramekin of whipped tofu with a sweet orange sauce — which none of us liked. Next time I’ll ask for some sweet butter.

Pad Thai ($11) was a big bowl of piping-hot rice noodles filled with succulent sweet crabmeat, julienned veggies and sliced scallions. It arrived with two thick red plastic chopsticks for tossing, and we had fun trying to dish it out. A small pair of scissors would have done the trick.

Tuna and avocado sushi roll ($12) was sliced into five or six thick rounds. The sticky rice was perfect, not a bit gummy. The sushi arrived with slices of fresh ginger and hot wasabi carved into the shape of a thimble.

We were in for a real surprise when the beets/fennel/goat cheese side ($6) arrived. I expected to see sliced beets with sliced fennel along with bits of goat cheese. But Hazen had an inspired idea here: He cut the perfectly roasted cool beets into small dice, did the same with the aromatic fennel, added tangy goat cheese and fashioned it all into a large round timbale. The timbale was then inverted onto the plate and topped with a sprig of baby micro greens. We loved this dish.

Next up was crispy calamari salad ($12), an absolute triumph of tastes and textures. A nice-sized handful of crisp-fried calamari rings was strewn on a Mt. Etna-sized mound of greens. Squiggles of cool beet strands added color and flavor. The salad was properly tossed in a tasty soy-ginger vinaigrette.

We’ve loved grilled octopus ever since we tasted Dmitri Chimes’ perfect version at his namesake Queen Village restaurant many years ago. The Continental Mid-Town’s version ($11) was disappointing. The octopus was scrawny, overcooked and chewy, and lacked flavor. The pita toast points included with the platter were raw on one side and burnt on the other. We spoke with our server and she removed the dish.

Instead we went for the spinach ravioli ($12), which were downright delicious. We received four big round ravioli made with paper-thin dough, filled with spinach and cheese and bathed in a light, refreshing homemade tomato sauce infused with basil oil. My mom raved about this dish.

The desserts are mini portions. We selected three, each of which sat in separate square white plates on a long white rectangular serving platter. The root beer float ($3.50) was a tiny ice-cream-soda glass filled with root beer sorbet, soda water and ice cream. The square peanut butter cup cake ($3) was made with rich dark chocolate and creamy peanut butter. The strawberry shortcake ($3) was light and topped with a gelato spoon of homemade vanilla ice cream. The strawberry sauce was infused with bits of basil, which we all thought was a brilliant idea.

Service was the finest you will find anywhere. But I have two requests: I would like to see linen or high-quality paper napkins instead of the flimsy paper ones, and serving spoons should be included in each dish.

We had two beers, two glasses of wine, one martini, five dishes and three desserts — all totaled, $105, including tax. What a delicious bargain.

Two-and-a-half tips of the toque to The Continental Mid-Town.

The Continental Mid-Town
18th and Chestnut streets
215-567-1800
Bathrooms down a flight of stairs
Open for lunch and dinner (no weekend brunch yet)
No reservations taken