The new bar of the Kasko restaurant in the Old Town of Bilbao

Kasko restaurant in Bilbao’s Old Town strengthens its Bilbao identity with fine cuisine. Chef Unai Zabala updates the bar with local and traditional dishes. Chef Unai Zabala updates the bar with local and traditional dishes.

Kasko restaurant is already one of the classics in one of the busiest areas of Bilbao’s Old Town: Santa María street. It was one of the first ‘modern’ restaurants back in the 90s. And it has maintained that boho bistro style with a very careful cuisine, piano in the dining room and a taste for casual decoration.

It has always been interesting, cosy and with a lot of Bilbao flavour.

Now, they are going a step further. Unai Zabala, with decades of experience and even teaching in the hotel and catering industry, wants to “update the bar and open it up to local customers”. Zabala, a tattooed chef with a txapela, will update it by appealing to the tradition of Bilbao. The Kasko wants its bar to be much more than just a place to wait for a table to be available. It will resort to a miniature cuisine that appeals to “the culinary essence of the taverns of the Botxo”.

What is the recipe for character?
Local products, traditional dishes and the skill of Unai Zabala. “I like cooking and telling about it at the bar”, he says. “People travel and try everything everywhere. That is why it is increasingly important not to lose the characteristic identity and personality of each bar”, he stresses.

Don’t miss the Kasko. And the rest of Calle Santa María. It has the scent of Bilbao.