Barclay Prime may have one of the best selections of steaks in the US.  Certainly in Philadelphia.  And, of course, they are prepared perfectly.  The ambiance is subdued elegance and the staff is magnificent.  It is definitely worth a visit.

My martinis were very good: the stems were refrigerated, the mix was perfect,  and nicely chilled. The barkeep was professional and not overly chatty.

The first martini I ordered was stirred.   As you know I prefer my shaken, but I never specify that and if the house standard is ‘stirred’ I go with that.  However this time I thought I’d have a bit of fun, so for the second martini I asked the barkeep to shake it.  He didn’t bat an eyelash or say a word and went to work on a shaken martini.

So I had a martini stirred then one shaken, back to back.  An interesting and fun experiment.  The shaken martini was definitely colder, but perhaps also a bit more diluted.  (I did notice that the barkeep used warm ice in chilling the  drink.)  They both tasted the same though the stirred drink started out with the silky smooth mouth feel that seems to be driving reason some prefer the stirred versions.

Overall the Barclay Prime gets one Martini glass.  Both martinis were, indeed, very good, just not quite exceptional.  I think that if their stems were well chilled in the fridge it would put them into the coveted two martini realm.