Shakin' Not Stirred

Rather than the all insightful and deep probing articles that Food to Miss Your Plane For reader’s are accustomed to, this is a rather brief post aimed at the Vancouver local who likes to have a few martinis on a Friday night, and who also might enjoy nibble or two of dessert.

If you are in the mood to find yourself at the wrong end of a bottle of Bombay Sapphire, but wish to maintain a semblance of class while getting there, there’s a new place in town that fits the bill quite nicely. What was until quite recently Plan B in Yaletown, is now a little martini bar and eatery called Shakin' Not Stirred. Despite having a completely rubbish name and still using Plan B branded cocktail menus, Shakin' Not Stirred has a serious appeal. In a town, and more specifically an area of town, where you are expected to not bat an eye at a $14 cocktail or martini, Shakin' Not Stirred’s $7, 3oz martinis are somewhat of a revelation. The people next door at Brix must be substantially miffed with their new neighbors.

Shakin' Not Stirred, as you may have been able to deduce, is a James bond themed martini bar. Whether or not that is a great idea in itself, I’m not sure. Other than the name of the bar itself, a few vintage bond posters and the rather irritating price list format – they put 007 on the end of all prices: $10.007 – the bar doesn’t really scream James Bond.

Anyway, Bond or no Bond, the bar pours a pretty decent Gin Gibson, and at $7, or $7.007, my Friday night started off pretty well.

I know this is Food to Miss Your Plane For, but we didn’t go there to eat and so I can’t comment on their menu or dishes. However, somewhere between martini three or four, we did get a bit of a hankering for some dessert. Without too much persuasion, we found ourselves with a big slab of something that looked like cake. I don’t like cake in general, but this dish, which was Cookies and Cream Cake with Jack Daniels caramel sauce, was something quite different. The quantities of gin may have skewed my judgment ever so slightly, but this thing blew my mind. It was like a fresh baked Mrs Field’s double chocolate chip cookie getting dirty with a spatula full of soft, cookie dough, while sticky bourbon caramel sauce dripped all over it. This is kind of a disturbing mental picture, but this was basically what happened in my mouth. It was to be shared between three people, but I’m pretty sure I ate two-thirds of it and threatened to impale my sister-in-law with my fork if she tried to stop me.

So, if it’s Friday or Saturday night, and you notice that you’re far too lucid and coherent, head to Yaletown and check out Shakin' Not Stirred and slurp down a couple of martinis. Whilst doing so, delving into the dirty and decadent world of cookies and cream is also highly recommended.