At Parla, swanky drinks where you least expect them

“I’d worked in New York, and saw a lot of speakeasy-style trends, cocktail bar trends. At Il Villagio, I had young kids helping me at the time. They said, ‘You could do this here.’”

So he converted his traditional restaurant to Parla in 2014. Just one problem: He only had a cordial license, meaning his mixologists got creative with fermentation, shrubs, and wines.

“People liked it. It was cozy and sweet,” he says.

This version is more “polished,” he says, with hanging chandeliers, parquet floors, a curved 16-seat bar (that he designed) with a backlit libations shelf, and a multipage menu that reads like an ancient encyclopedia of spirits and elixirs — until you flip to the food section, which jolts diners back into 2022 with sandwiches called “Thicc Bois,” meat dishes designated as “Sins of the Flesh,” and pasta offerings under the heading “Send Noods.”

“We envision an under-35 crowd,” Moheydeen says gamely.

What to eat Moheydeen is the chef at the moment, and he is a very good one. While Parla has North End origins, the menu here is eclectic-Mediterranean. And I’ll fess up: I wasn’t expecting much from a tiny cocktail bar in the middle of a massive retail complex. I became even more suspicious when our meal arrived almost as soon as we ordered.

I was happy to be proved wrong with Moheydeen’s favorite dish, pudgy squares of lobster ravioli in a sweet, creamy vodka sauce with a generous portion of shrimp. Also excellent: seared Galician octopus with charred cipollini onions. I detected no trace of the promised salsa verde, but a garlicky broth did just fine. Grilled lamb skewers arrived with a chunky cucumber-dill sauce bearing a hint of sumac: bright, summery, lovely. Calamari were delicate and lightly fried; same with crispy Brussel sprouts in lemon aioli. Who knew? The only downer: saffron mussel fritters in a spicy fra diavolo; it was hard to tell where the breading ended and the mussels began.

What to drink Matt Schafer, Parla’s director of operations, has freer rein here thanks to a full liquor license. He admits that Assembly Row, in the shadow of LEGOLAND, is an improbable location for a cocktail lair. “I wanted an alley near Maverick,” he chuckles.

Still, Parla tries its atmospheric best: Adventurous imbibers should opt for the Dungeon Master, wherein a server will present a golden die. Roll it and try an off-menu drink; check all 20 secret cocktails off your list (not all at once, please), and unlock a copper bucket of “booze and fun”— as well as name a cocktail incorporating your favorite aspects of the ones you tried. You’ll also be named Dungeon Master Nobility, which might raise questions on a LinkedIn profile. One of our party did roll the dice and was presented with a Spanish Caravan, a hair-twirling concoction of Jägermeister and star anise.

The more straightforward cocktails are fun, too: As at the original Parla, pair your favorite shrub with a spirit of your choice, or try a classic Bees Knees or espresso martini. They’re well-made and smooth.

The takeaway Good food and swanky cocktails in an incongruous setting.

631 Assembly Row, Somerville, 617-764-3370, www.parlasomerville.com

Kara Baskin can be reached at kara.baskin@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @kcbaskin.