Continental Flambe: Melbourne, Florida

January 3, 2012

Today, Mr. Parris and I wandered all over downtown Melbourne which is totally quaint. We had breakfast in a small cafe and then wandered around buying half price Christmas decorations and hitting all the thrift and antique stores. We visited the East Coast Wine Store and sampled a number of citrus wines. The shop is run by displaced Pennsylvanians. I actually thought I would hate the wine, but some of it was quite good and would pair well with dessert or barbeque or even be a big hit with folks that like sweet wine.  We wandered out to Vero Beach and saw the beautiful Kimpton hotel there. That was our first choice for our honeymoon until we discovered we could stay at Doubletree on Melbourne Beach for free.  It was a wonderful property and we will come back some day and stay there!  We enjoyed great ice cream at a Vero Beach institution called CRAVINGS.  Then we watched the sunset from the roadside on A1A and vowed to come back the next day and see it from Sebastian Inlet State Park.
When we got back to Melbourne Beach, we decided to try Continental Flambe for dinner.  http://www.continentalflambe.com

These folks are right at the top of the avenue when exploring downtown historic Melbourne. Although they had NOTHING on the menu flambe, they offer great prix fixe menu of a great variety and the service is good. They have an extensive and impressive wine list. We opted for the "flights." I had a white flight and Mr. Parris had the red. While they had amazing variety in their list, they offered generous but pedestrian wines in their flights. They were good, mind you, but something I could get in my local market. I would have rather had less wine (their pours were easily 4 oz each), but something unusual. However, what they had was tasty. I ordered the NY strip steak, a heaping 12 oz portion. The scalloped potatoes they paired it with were really luscious.

This steak was prepared exactly as ordered, medium rare.
Mr. Parris had the scallops (again!) three ways and I tasted it. It is pictured above.  The scallops were again, melt in your mouth, and the sauces added to the delicate nature of the seafood. Paul topped off his meal with a delightful apple tart in caramel sauce. No calories were spared!

Mr Parris's opinion of Continental Flambe: "Very good."

Overall for this dining experience-- very good food, nice atmosphere, good service, total cost with tip: $94.00.