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They say familiarity breeds contempt. But when a restaurant touts itself as a back-up choice, it's probably an asset.

Plan B Lounge and Eatery is a likeable enough new Yaletown tapas bar. It just feels like I've been here countless times before.

The room, located in the old Soho Café and Billiards spot, has strong bones. It's a long, narrow space with lots of exposed brick, wood beam and dark, cozy nooks divided by a bustling bar.

If you moved a few of the tables around, it would look awfully similar to Brix Restaurant and Wine Bar next door.

Owner Glenn Cormier, former food and beverage director at Granville Island's Dockside Restaurant and Brewing Co., designed the room himself, with some close attention to detail.

Glazed oil paintings by local artist Tanya Slingsby are a sumptuous accent. And note how the mosaic tile in the bathroom matches the tables' inlaid motif. Well, you may need an extra candle to see the dining room tiles - or read the menu, for that matter. The lighting is perhaps a touch too romantic.

Mr. Cormier, who came across this location on the same day that his original plan for another restaurant fell through, says he wanted to open a "Bin-style restaurant that catered to a Yaletown crowd."

Funny, I always thought those crowds were one and the same. But at least that explains why he hired Ryan Zuvich, most recently chef de cuisine at Bin 942, to create a similar small plates menu for sharing.

I love Bin 941 and Bin 942. They're fun and funky and relentlessly ripped off. I hope that some day owner Gord Martin is given a special medal or a key to the city. He certainly deserves it, considering how much he has influenced Vancouver's dining habits and the countless imitators he has spawned.

To its credit, Plan B's wine program offers a wide selection and the welcome addition of three-ounce pours. But come on, the 25-cent markup seems a bit stingy. You can save your pennies by ordering a six-ounce glass and splitting it.

The menu brings back that feeling of déjà vu: a salad of roasted beets and Salt Spring Island goat cheese; beef strip-loin tournedos with buttermilk onion rings; Alaskan black cod and squash ravioli; sake-braised pork belly. Haven't we seen this same selection a dozen times before?

Mr. Zuvich has included a few pleasant surprises. Lightly pan-fried panko-crusted oysters ($18) come with a hefty portion of butter-poached lobster and salty kick of steelhead roe. Roasted Cornish hen ($16), glazed in a zesty lemon-sage jus, is moist, meaty and served with a comforting side of chive-whipped potato. The dish is prettily plated with four baby carrots that come in a palette of orange hues.

The chef does a very nice job with presentation, especially at this price point.

Unfortunately, some of the dishes are overly fussed up with flabby flavours.

Pork rillettes ($9 from the bar snacks menu) tastes strangely of mayonnaise; yellow chanterelle risotto ($13) is overwhelmed by nasty, old truffle oil - the Aqua Velva of seasoning.

Mixed baby lettuce ($9), which is actually grown-up red leaf, is creamed under a bland snowfall of feta. But the salad's dehydrated apple, crushed almonds and swirled shoestring potato crisps do add nice textural touches.

All in all, I wasn't turned off by Plan B, but it didn't do much to excite me either.

That said, if a date took me here, I would probably be very offended. Doesn't the name say it all?

Plan B Lounge and Eatery,

1144 Homer St.; 604-609-0901

agill@globeandmail.com