by MARK SLUTSKY

Emile Zola's novel L'Assommoir tells of the poverty of the working class in 19th-century Paris, and how alcohol knocked the poor senseless, impeding their chances of escaping from a hard, squalid life. An "assommoir" is loosely translated as a club, pole-axe, or other kind of instrument used for battering - it's also, tellingly, the name of the bar in the novel. So, really, as a name for an upscale new bar/resto on Bernard, it's a no-brainer.

But don't hold L'Assommoir's name against it. It's got nothing in common with Zola's drinking establishment beyond the fact that, well, booze is sold. In fact, it's a fun place with an interesting menu and an estimable selection of cocktails (in a city where decent cocktails are often sadly overlooked). On a recent Wednesday night the crowd was rowdy and stylish and clearly enjoying themselves at the bar at the front of the room. The back room, with long wooden tables and videos projected on the wall, was a little more subdued. With its arched doorways and copious dark wood, the whole place had a very continental feel; it wouldn't be out of place in, say, Madrid.

If L'Assommoir could be said to have a specialty, it would be the ceviches, featured prominently on the menu. Raw fish, or other variants of seafood, "cooked" in citrus juice, ceviches aren't usually served with much variety, but L'Assommoir offers 10 different exotic kinds (with suitably exotic prices, natch). The sockeye salmon ($14) was my favourite, arriving in visually spectacular style: it was arranged on a donut-shaped ceramic plate bearing an oversized wine glass in the middle, which itself was tipped onto its side, spilling out a green salad that mingled with fish. The salmon was prepared in a marinade of Sicilian blood orange and passion fruit, with a healthy dose of ginger, and sat atop a cold sweet potato purée.

Whew! Each bite offered a different taste sensation; sometimes you'd get more of an orange flavour, sometimes the passion fruit would take precedence or the ginger would rule. Overall, delicious.

Less overwhelming visually, but also worth trying, is the vivaneau wasabi ($15). The vivaneau (or red mullet), a snapper-ish fish, is prepared with a wasabi/tobiko vinaigrette, and served encircled by fresh endive leaves and atop a little avocado mousse. Ginger is a prominent flavour here, too.

If you want an appetizer (or some assorted nibbles) but aren't in the mood for fish, or you're just hankering for something heartier and more savoury in taste, try Le Petit Gueuleton ($18), an excellent rustic plate that can easily be shared by three to four people. Mushrooms soaked in port, fatty slices of kielbasa sausage, black olives, bright orange-red harissa and zatar-seasoned flatbread make up this wonderful dish, which could easily fill you up before you even touch a proper main course.

In fact, the emphasis is on the nibbling at L'Assommoir, preferably with a cocktail or glass of wine at your side. They do offer a few larger dishes, of course. Most intriguing to me was the porc au whiskey jameson et café ($21). A perfect-tasting cut of pork served with mashed potatoes, the dish suffered a bit from the whiskey/coffee sauce, with its strong, bitter flavour. Still, it seemed like the kind of thing that, if perfected (maybe sweetened a little?), could be a real monster. The merlu ($22), or hake, was another refreshing fish dish, made with sherry and a variety of citrus juices (although unlike the ceviche, the hake was oven-cooked). The fruity flavour, combined with the sherry, gave the dish a taste I associated with freshly baked cookies, which doesn't really make any logical sense, especially as we're talking about fish here. Still, I swear it to be true, and while a counter-intuitive experience, it was definitely a pleasant one.

If you're looking to splurge on an evening of rich foods and booze, L'Assommoir is a good place to do it - you'll get a beatdown alright, but a decadent one.

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L'Assommoir
ADDRESS: 112 Bernard W. (at St-Urbain)
PHONE: 272-0777
HOURS: Mon–Wed 5PM–3AM, Thu–Sun 11AM–3AM
BEST FEATURES: The variety of ceviches and other amuses-bouches
ALCOHOL: Yes
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes
VEGETARIAN FRIENDLY: Not really
CREDIT CARDS: Yes (but no Interac, be warned)
NO-SMOKING SECTION: Yes
PRICE: $20–$40 per person, before tax, booze or tip
Rating: *** out of ****