by MATHILDE RABBAT

The days are getting longer, but you'd never know it at Zen Ya, a Japanese spot located smack dab downtown where daylight is purposely filtered out. If sunblock were a restaurant, this would be it.

While there's nothing out-of-the-ordinary regarding the central location of this Asian eatery, that this type of space hovers two floors above Ste-Catherine in an office building where you would normally expect to find a few vending machines, or a cafeteria at best, grabs your attention. Grey stones mimicking a stream run beneath (or aside) a mock bridge that leads you from the steep office staircase and the sterile hallway to a highly stylized eating area complete with bar counter, two tatami rooms, a sushi bar and a long dining hall with lots of square footage.

The business crowd mostly makes up Zen Ya's lunchtime clientele, taking advantage of the lunch menu ($11.95-$16.95). This includes a salad, soup, a main course and a dessert. The small (and I mean small) salad is lightly drizzled with sesame dressing and is composed of iceberg lettuce, red cabbage, a pale slice of tomato and some shredded carrot as a garnish. This is followed by a good miso soup with the requisite bits of seaweed and green onion (no detectable tofu though), kept warm by a covered bowl while you eat your salad.

There are just under a dozen items to choose from at lunch, from chicken or beef teriyaki or udon, to shrimp tempura and sushi and sashimi selections. Of note is an enjoyable barbecued eel served with rice ($15.95). Sushi and sashimi may vary depending on availability. The tuna, salmon and yellow-tail sashimi far outshines the sushi you get in the "sushi and sashimi" mix ($16.95), as the balance is upset in the sushi rolls, perhaps by the taste of mayo, which tends to overshadow other small ingredients. Ice cream of the thick buttery sort that many Japanese establishments carry is served to cap off the meal - a little too heavy for my liking

If the lunch special doesn't particularly strike your fancy, you can piece together your own meal from the regular nigiri sushi and sashimi list priced between $5.95-$7.95 for two morsels of sushi or three pieces of sashimi. Or you can use your pencil to tick some items from the maki list, which will set you back from just over $4 for the simple avocado to around $9 for the spiders, which incorporate pricier elements like soft-shell crab and smelt roe. Five-piece maki rolls (under $15) incorporate similar ingredients along with others like dried fish, smoked salmon, red snapper or omelette.

The space definitely has "decorator" written all over it. The sheer size of the high-ceilinged room gives an airy feel. Wooden chairs with reclined backs and tables on which straw place mats rest are stained in sombre hues. Water is alluded to by the aforementioned pebbles and a series of wavy stripes suspended from the ceiling. All of this ensures that at least some of the five elements are incorporated into the bold design. Factor in the instruments and the fire used in the preparation of food and you've got all five. Yin is everywhere as darkness covers the floors, the furniture, the vessels and the window treatments, which not only block the view of the neighbouring building, but also most natural light, turning your lunch or dinner companions into mere shadows of themselves. A trio of chefs lit by halogen spots are the most visible as they slide to and fro behind the sushi bar like DJs spinning sushi and maki rolls while busboys quietly mill about in monkish brown dress.

Whether you're a spy, a misanthrope, just having a bad hair day, or you're one of those worker bees who plod along day after day shackled to a monitor under neons that flicker 60 times a second, Zen Ya provides a little temporary refuge.

Zen Ya
ADDRESS: 486 Ste-Catherine W., 2nd floor (near City-Councillors)
PHONE: 904-1363
HOURS: Mon-Fri 11:30AM-2:30PM,
Sat. 5:30-10:30PM, Sun. 6-10PM
BEST FEATURES: Soup bowl covers, good sashimi,
nice tatami rooms, ideal place to keep a low profile.
ALCOHOL: Yes
WHEELCHAIR ACCESS: Yes - except for the bathroom
VEGETARIAN FRIENDLY: Yes
CREDIT CARDS: Yes
NO-SMOKING SECTION: Yes
PRICE: Around $20 per person for a full lunch,
after tax & tip, before drinks
RATING: **1/2 out of ****