Continent Restaurant & Cigar Lounge — Restaurant in Chamblee

Last night, my husband and I went here for dinner and libations with friends. It is off the beaten path, but the ambiance is quite impressive. Art work on the walls, plush red velvet booths, and a DJ was mixing one the ones and twos with a great playlist.

Impressive cocktails: Ice cubes with edible flowers frozen in them, martinis with edible hibiscus flowers, smoked old fashioned, and other creations made by a mixologist. Because of this, the price reflects the artisan nature of the drinks. Expect to pay $14-$20 for cocktails. The only critique is that the drinks were slow to flow out to tables so hiring extra bar staff may be necessary.

Food: At our table we had the oxtail bao buns, the tarmiand wings, and mussels. For dinner we had the lamb shank, the salmon, the oxtail ramen noodles, the roasted chicken, everyone agreed their food was great. I will speak to the salmon and lamb shank as those are what my husband and I ordered. The salmon was delicious! Perfectly paired with a beurre blanc, tri-color carrots, gnocchi, and corn and with a great pan seared crisp. The lamb shank was extremely tender you could eat it with a fork only. It was served pair with spinach and au gratin potatoes which I was not a fan of as they cream sauce had a sweet flavor to it (almost as if vanilla almond milk was in it's creation) and that didn't marry very well with the rest of the dish. The dessert was pretty basic and tasted store bought.

Staff: One of the owners/chef (Scottly) came to our table to speak with us which is always a nice touch. He even brought over a shot for a member of our party because it was his birthday. The server was very lovely but she seemed like she knew only the basics of what was on the menu and didn't seem to understand that the entrees are a whole plated meal. Still, a very lovely person.

I will say that this place is run more like a nightclub: there is a security guard with bulletproof vest and gun at the door which made us go "what kind of establishment is this?!" as we walked in. However, it's nice to know the owners care about safety. They apparently like to create a line at the door after about 9pm when they begin funneling people to the other side who are their exclusively for the cigar lounge side. We did request the music be turned down just a notch as we had to scream over the table to talk to each other and that request was honored and we greatly appreciated that.

It's a great find. Be prepared to spend money, and be prepared to drink artisan cocktails...leave unadventurous eaters, the thrifty, and those who do not understand the importance of a...

(My review from Yelp) I truly enjoyed this restaurant. Recently open within the last couple of months if I’m not mistaken. I found out about it from an IG post. So glad I was tuned in to Instagram that day. From the plentiful parking, seamless and attentive check-in, decor, no odor from cigar bar which is adjacent to the restaurant with a completely different but still dope vibe, placing orders and all order recommendations from our waitress Nelly was ON POINT.

On to the food… MUSSELS 5/5 Very good. Someone else on Yelp had posted this and raved about it. My dining companion was set on this so I was able to try and I LOVED this dish. So much that the lobster tail that came with the lobster Mac and cheese I had to let soak in the red sauce the mussels came in because I loved it THAT much.

Lamb with suya peppers (appetizer) 4/5 Good. Why four stars? I’m not a lamb fan and I wasn’t wowed by the suya spice. For those familiar with suya, it is supposed to be spicy. This wasn’t. It was good but I wouldn’t order again. Heard the lamb shank (entree) was very good. I have my eye on this next time. Yes, this restaurant is more than worthy of a second visit. Multiple visits even.

Tamarind wings 5/5 I walked in this restaurant with my heart set on trying this appetizer. The waitress highly recommended it, said it was her favorite. VERY good. It was sweet, tangy (accented with lime), and sour with that tamarind flavor. Very good!

Lobster Mac and cheese 5/5 Cheesy, gooey, and delicious. PLENTY of lobster is included in this dish. You get the lobster tail which isn’t just an empty lobster tail (has lobster in it, this is what I let soak in the remainder of that mussels sauce), and a huge chunk of lobster is embedded in the Mac and cheese as well. I love that the Mac and cheese isn’t too wet. I dislike a wet Mac and cheese. It was perfect. Maybe a tad bit more pepper and salt (my personal preference). But I still loved as is.

Too full to try anything else. I did have my eye on the oxtail lo mein, oxtail bao and Escovitch lobster. Definitely next time.

The icing on the cake as if this dining experience wasn’t amazing as is was when walking out, Jay (who I later found out was the owner) helped open the door for us, stopped us to ask about our experience and he was so eager to hear about what we thought. He also showed us the cigar bar and that place is WELL ventilated. When he opened the double doors, no odor or stench of cigars. Very alluring and the vibe was sooo dope. Just as nice as the restaurant but different. I really wish Jay all the best with his restaurant. It’s off to an...

Start to finish: There is plenty of parking b/c this restaurant is in a strip mall. We were greeted outside of the restaurant (had a reservation and masks were required for entry which was a + for me). After our reservation was confirmed, we did not have to wait to be seated. Seated at a small table and barely had room for all of the food were were about to order. Our waitress was not very attentive although she was nice. We couldn't help but notice other wait staff on several occasions, but not the waitress assigned to us. On the the food and ambiance. The restaurant is much smaller than I originally thought. They do have large booths to seat as many as 6-10 comfortably. Tables were a bit close for my liking so I was about uncomfortable while we waited for the food. We definitely waited 15 mins for our drinks and 52 mins for the food. We ordered starters and dinner. ALL of the food was good. The shrimp was fresh (it's definitely served whole, so if you aren't used to the head on the shrimp, perhaps ask for it to be removed before they bring it out). I didn't care for the pickled veggies that came with the Bao (which is more of a decontructed Bao). The lobster is not baked inside of the macaroni either, there's just a lobster tail placed on top of the macaroni (which didn't add to the flavor of the macaroni). The lamb chops may have been cooked on a grill, because a part of the lamb chop was cooked to perfection, but there was other parts that were overcooked. All the being said, the flavor of the food was still good. The jury is still out on the price for the food (this is not a restaurant with table cloths). Drink prices were typical and expexted. Our drinks were delicious. I especially like the drink with the edible hibiscus 🌺. The restaurant is attached to the cigar bar. So, if you aren't into cigars, then no worries, the cigar bar is next door and will not interrupt your dining experience. I appreciate a good clean ladies room. The bathroom is very nice and it was clean (water temperature could be adjusted, soap and paper towels). Some women are funny about the ladies room. If they keep up the good work and attention to the ladies room, people will continue to patronize this place. Black owned, so please give it a try. Paying the bill was challenging as our waitress was nowhere to be found when we were ready to pay and leave. The main reason for the 4 stars and not the five was for the waitress and some of the food items mentioned above. Other that that a great eatery. See pics of the food...