A playfully chic restaurant in the heart of Business Bay…

If you’re into interior design, we doubt Basko will have escaped your notice. The playfully chic space found a home in The Opus Business Bay at the end of 2021, offering a colourful venue from which to enjoy lunch, dinner and drinks.

The venue boasts a large wraparound terrace too, which looks like something straight from the pages of Identity Magazine. With a glittering spiral staircase (that leads up to a secret bar), a semi-open kitchen bustling with busy chefs, and a partial view of Dubai’s famous skyline, Basko ticks all the visual boxes. But, we wanted to know if the experience lives up to it…

We’re early for our dinner booking, and are told that the kitchen doesn’t reopen until 7pm so we settle into our seat on the terrace with a refreshing cocktail. Before long the place starts to fill up and we’re tucking into our starters.

basko dubai

Crispy tuna tartines (Dhs75) were a great way to begin the meal, serving four pieces of lightly fried crispy rice with fresh raw tuna balancing on top. There’s a little kick from the chilli but the bites are very well balanced. This, we paired with sea bass ceviche (Dhs95). Mixed with avocado, fresh citrus and an interesting basil cream, we were sold from the get-go.

The Basko pizzette (Dhs135) was an interesting choice, it’s the restaurants take on a raw tuna ‘pizza’. The bottom layer, made from very thin puff pasty, is light and crumbly, and carries toppings including raw tuna slices, tomato and Dubai’s current trendy ingredient – bonito flakes.

For mains we opted for the short ribs (Dhs170), which were achingly tender and melt-in-the-mouth, paired with a slightly too-crunchy rice accompaniment. We also ordered a side of glazed Brussel sprouts (Dhs40), although we wished they’d been a little more generous with the butter while cooking.

Upon persuasion we also ordered the (not-pictured) swinging linguine (Dhs140), and lived with zero regrets. Perfectly al dente, served in a glistening mushroom sauce, this simple dish ticked all the boxes, and then-some.

Basko more than exceeded our expectations, so hats off to the chef for that. The restaurant recently launched a brunch too, so we’ll definitely be back soon to try that out.

Basko, The Opus by Zaha Hadid, Business Bay, daily 12pm to 1am. Tel: (0)4 582 4242. baskorestaurant.com @baskodxb