DTLA: The Continental Club is Now Open
coupes on ice
The Continental Club just opened in Downtown Los Angeles. Next door to Bar Ama, you enter the swanky lounge street side during the week and down the alley during weekends. We were there early enough that we didn’t need reservations.
We admired the coupes on ice and the wall of booze lockers. You can buy a bottle to await you every time you swing by. We decided to try out the drinks first.
Boulevard
My friend ordered the Boulevard, better known as a Boulevardier. It’s basically a whiskey Negroni. She liked it well enough. I was a bit bothered by the name as the Boulevard (also known as a Boulevard Manhattan) is actually a drink with orange curacao (often made with Grand Marnier). There’s no Campari in a Boulevard. Continental makes theirs bourbon, Campari, sweet vermouth and orange bitters.
Martinez
If my friend’s drink was a minor deviation from the classic, then mine was totally an 180. A Martinez is old tom gin, sweet vermouth, maraschino, bitters. I prefer mine with Boker’s bitters but most bars do halfsies of orange and Angostura bitters. Continental decided to go with London dry gin, orange curacao, grapefruit-infused vermouth (assuming a dry vermouth) and orange bitters. The whole thing was just wrong. It is really a martini. It didn’t taste bad, it just wasn’t a Martinez. Actually, I’d drink this again if they would rename it the Continental Martini.
The rest of the menu was probably just fine. I’d stick with the shaken drinks next time. Perhaps rum or mezcal.
wall of booze lockers
116 W. 4th Street, Los Angeles, California 90013
© The Minty 2014