You might feel as if you’ve stepped aboard a spaceship instead of into a hotel dining room, and now you’re off on a fantastic journey. Lights are low, but cosmic neon colors shoot out from everywhere. The dining room, with superhigh skylight ceiling, adds to the extraterrestrial effect. It’s hard to deny the eye-popping side of Bar Basque, but just as difficult not to swoon over the amazingly tasty food from Spain’s northwestern region—another kind of fantastic journey. Croquettes of cod and ham are creamy and rich; a plate of simple acorn-fed Iberian ham has an irresistible nutty taste. And those are just the snacks for the table. Once you move onto grilled razor clams, spicy garlic shrimp with garbanzo beans, and main courses like suckling pig, you’ll realize it’s best to visit Bar Basque with a large crew. And someone at the table has to try the cod bacalao (a staple of the Basque region), which Sam Sifton, writing in the New York Times, described as “ethereal.” It sits in a pool of shellfish emulsion whose garlicky notes extract even more rich flavor from the fish. Basque wines complement the scene, and servers are knowledgeable about the many specials (it was wise to trust them one evening about a reasonably priced, very refreshing txakoli). By the time you touch down after coffee, you might find the world you left behind a little tamer.

Cod and Iberian ham croquettes
Acorn-fed Fermin Iberian ham
Sauté of spicy garlic shrimp and garbanzo beans
Chatham cod bacalao
Crispy suckling pig

*Check the website for guest chefs appearing during the visiting chef series (most recently, Fernando Canales of Extanobe in Bilbao): For a week every two months, special dishes from restaurants in the Basque region appear on the menu.
view full menu here

The interior room is quieter, but the tables on the bar-lounge side might be the most fun, especially if you’re with a group. And you won’t have to stare at Twitter if you’re trying to space out. (See “Chew on This.”)

One of the most over-the-top amenities at Bar Basque is the Big Screen, next door, a project of the Collage Art Association. High on a building across a vacant lot, the project shows films from 7:30 AM to 10:30 PM every day. They’re easily visible from any table in the bar-lounge area, and the screenings provide endless table talk. (“No, that was Claude Rains, I’m positive.”) Request a headset from a server if you don’t want to miss the snappy dialogue onscreen.

Sun.–Thurs. 6 PM–11 PM; Fri.–Sat. 6 PM–12 midnight
bar and lounge: Sun.–Wed. 4 PM–12 midnight;
Thurs.–Sat. 4 PM–3 AM

$27 (cod bacalao) to $39 (grilled sea bass)