Last Christmas, my family and I attended the AM1320 CHMB Christmas Dinner at the Continental Seafood Restaurant in Richmond. My dad is an avid listener of AM1320, a Chinese radio station in Vancouver, and he thought it would be a good idea to go to their event. It was a ticketed event priced at $55 per person or $499 for a table of 10. The evening also included entertainment by the station’s radio hosts, singing performances, a photo booth, appearances by Santa as well as a raffle draw with an impressive number of prizes.
The restaurant interior seemed a bit dated but it’s spacious and can handle a dance floor, stage, etc. I’d say there were about 500 people in attendance.
What We Tried
In general, I thought the food from Continental restaurant was okay. There were a few dishes that tasted a bit bland and could use more flavour. For our table of 10, portions were reasonable and we left the dinner feeling like we ate our money’s worth.
These fried tofu puffs were nicely crispy on the outside.
The scallops and veggies were nicely tender.
Excellent job by staff dividing up the piping, hot imitation shark fin soup.
The hoisin shrimp and broccoli dish was probably my favourite. The shrimp tasted very good as they were quite snappy.
The Shanghai noodles weren’t particularly flavourful. I didn’t think there was enough sauce on each noodle.
The red bean soup tasted a bit dilute and was quite sweet enough for me.
Service
The service was quite smooth considering the number of diners. The food was sent to our tables in a timely manner and I could see the staff working hard. I guess the staff is used to handling such a large event.
Overall Impression of Continental Seafood Restaurant
The multi-course Christmas dinner I had at Continental was just OK in terms of the food but the service was quite good for such a large event. However, based on the food alone, I don’t have much interest in returning. Rating: 3.5/5