Za Zaa Oriental Soul Food in Basel

Place to be. If someone wants to eat something special.

I came here because the restaurant I originally wanted to go to was closed. I ordered MEZZE FOR FRIENDS without knowing what it was. It was vegan food. There were various types of hummus, couscous, falafel, etc. When we finished eating the bread, they kept giving us more bread. I was very grateful that the staff explained the food and continued to pay attention to me throughout the meal. It was a very filling and satisfying meal. Thanks to you, I had a happy Christmas.

The food was awesome! Service excellent!

Incredibly delicious, nice staff! I would go again :)

We ordered hummus, which was really bad. The hummus from Coop, on the other hand, tastes really good and authentic. I think the prices are overpriced. The food felt like it didn't taste like anything and wasn't seasoned or had any sauce on the burger, etc. The service was very quick and good. I also liked the ambience. It's a Lebanese restaurant, but it doesn't offer Lebanese food, which I think is a shame. We also browsed through the menu on the homepage and it says that there are menus with meat. Unfortunately, the online menu is not up to date. It's certainly a good restaurant for vegetarians or vegans, but even then it's too overpriced in my opinion.

We had to wait 1 hour to get our dinner served and the restaurant was even not full!! Very disappointed.

Attention when making group reservations: I have a reservation on March 19th. Reserved for 23 people and the number was adjusted to 21 the evening before. Several people were spontaneously unable to take part, but they were the menus of all people are charged. Particularly annoying: neither on the homepage nor on the reservation confirmation does it say that group reservations are billed per person (whether present or not). Communication takes place via standard emails, information can only be received by phone. Was my last visit.

Beautiful and pleasantly reserved furnishings, very fine food. We had the normal main courses, but the mezze plates to share at the next tables also looked and smelled absolutely appealing. When it comes to the service, I am of two minds: it was great that the restaurant contacted us again about our reservation request. What was a bit annoying, however, was that at the end there was a coffee on the bill that we didn't have - as we were a bit pressed for time, we unfortunately only saw this afterwards. Overall, highly recommended.

Super good food Prices are okay

The food is delicious! It is very expensive in my opinion.. everyone is very kind. We asked 3 times water though but it was very busy 😁

Great restaurant, good food and wine and very friendly team😉

Expected more… The glasses were dirty. Even after I ordered new ones, this was still the case. The portions are small and not filling. There is nothing special in terms of taste. We had a mixed starter, half of which consisted of couscous. The Shakshuka is also simply reminiscent of the Turkish Menemen, where the poached egg was cooked through. Lebanese restaurant with Turkish owner. We were definitely a little disappointed. We've always wanted to try the store, but now I know I don't have to come back again.

It was yummy but nothing special, could just have to do with what I ordered though. When I ordered the daal, I thought it was a main, but instead I got something very small (see picture). Who knows maybe I said lentil soup by accident. The naan was bland and tasteless, but the bread was soft and good. The salad was colorful and a nice size for a starter. The decor was beautiful. But just by the fact that the main was so small, and she didn’t even let me know, I cannot give it a better review. However it could be that I just ordered the wrong thing and a different dish I would’ve loved. I will most definitely give it another chance. Everything on the menu is vegetarian and vegan. It was incredibly fast, perhaps only because I came very late (15:15 and the restaurant was very empty) and since my order was very simple.

Quality and flavour of food good, but way to expensive when thinking about the used ingredients

We were quite disappointed. The bowl was completely over salted, the poached egg on the shakshouka was cooked, and the bread served with it was like cardboard. My tea (ginger lemon) was served in a normal glass (too hot to touch) and the piece of ginger was so dried out that it gave off no taste at all. The waitress partially forgot what we ordered and didn't wipe the table after the meal (which was clearly full of dirt). It's a shame - we remembered it much better from before...

Lots of vegan dishes, absolutely delicious. Despite the small portions, I was full. On my last visit the food came surprisingly quickly; I've had different experiences here in the past. I will definitely visit the restaurant again. The only point of criticism: In my opinion, the prices are very high, we paid just under 100 for 2 people.

We had pre-ordered business lunches and the menu via email for 9 people. Unfortunately only one starter came and we had to wait 40 minutes for the drinks and in the end everything was calculated incorrectly. The waitress was totally overwhelmed and brisk when we pointed out the missing food. She said you ordered it like that <for friends> Only when she showed the email (pre-order) did she understand and noticed the mistake. In the end there were things on the invoice that we never received. The chaos was explained by overload and high volumes. When we finally paid and left hungry, in a bad mood and disappointed, the food we actually ordered arrived after 2.40. It was very embarrassing for my work colleagues to have chosen this restaurant, which was once one of my favorites.

Called to order a taboule salad to take away.... asked if I could pick it up in 10 minutes. Understandably it didn't work because the store was full.. I asked if it would be in half an hour or in one and got an answer no, you can't offer me anything today because the store is too full...very customer friendly...I visited the store frequently...from now on, no thanks...

The restaurant is cozy and the food served is very fine and fresh. It is particularly worth mentioning that there are a lot of vegetarian and vegan dishes on the menu. Finally a restaurant where you don't have to ask for something vegan, you can just choose something in a relaxed manner. That's why and because of the quality and friendly service there are five stars (and that from a Zurich resident for a restaurant in Basel ;-)

The food was at best so-so - for example, I have rarely eaten bread as bland as this... even the salad dressing was tasteless. The service was friendly, but sometimes overwhelmed and slow. The ambience is ok, but I personally don't like it very much. All in all, I found the price significantly too high for the food. I won't be visiting the restaurant again in the future

Wrong food, sometimes having to wait 50 (!!) minutes for the drinks, then drinks were offered as compensation, although twice as much was guessed as actually consumed anyway. Catastrophe.

Great food, but I don't like to look at 19 pages of a PDF menu on my tiny phone screen, which I have to download first from a QR code. It's just not for me.

We reserved a table by phone. When we arrived, our reservation wasn't saved. When we did get a table, we had to wait 15 minutes until our order was taken. We got the food very quickly, but unfortunately we didn't have any drinks with it. We ordered the Mezze Traditional for 2 people and was charged for 4 people. Conclusion: absolute rip-off, incompetent and unfriendly staff, only one toilet for such a large restaurant and the taste of the food cannot compensate for these deficits.

Very nice staff, food was very good throughout, room for improvement here and there (e.g. falafel too dry) Ambience quite relaxed, unfortunately poor parking but normal in Basel 🫣

A lovely selection of wonderful Lebanese delicacies! Gladly again.

My desire to taste exclusively plant-based food was very well rewarded.

Although it is a Lebanese restaurant, its food is not halal If you want something, you can make it vegetarian or not meat

Very tasty food. Be sure to reserve a spot so that you have a place. It's almost too dark in the basement, you can't really see what delicacies you have on your plate. Always happy to come back

Once upon a time...an insider tip in Basel. Mezze at its finest, great service, attractive ambience... What happened? Cobwebs in the basement, 4 1/2 olives on the Metze platter for two, dirty water bottle and glasses, bad service (wrong tea brought) and then the comment to our criticisms when paying: "You are in a quantity restaurant here!" As if quality and quantity don't go together in a good restaurant. That's it for us here - unfortunately.

Good but requires reviewing prices

Pure rip-off and the worst I've ever eaten at a Lebanese restaurant, not to say creepy and boring. by far the most expensive. over 129.- for a bit of mezze and 2 teas, supposedly with honey, but you couldn't taste it. A look into the extremely small kitchen was enough to make you walk around this shop in a wide arc. simply creepy.

Very good selection of different Lebanese dishes. We enjoyed the food very much.

Huge disappointment, They ruined our evening! Arriving at 8:15 p.m. we were served at 9:30 p.m.! There were 4 of us and all 4 took the same dish so nothing complicated! Then, as an apology, they offered to treat us to desserts but in fact they brought us 3 bites of baklava, I remind you that there were 4 of us! In short, a birthday meal ruined by a lack of skill and know-how.

Great food with friendly stuff, Daal Bowl with couscous is a must try. The only downside was that it took 45 minutes to get our orders in. This is a full vegetarian restaurant!

Excellent vegetarian restaurant, a real delight

The food was rather tasteless, hummus and moissaka tasted of nothing, babaganoush only smoked, falafel quite good. I also had to eat in a hurry because everything was lukewarm, you have to take into account that we are in Basel, however for what they offer, even in terms of quantity, it is too expensive..

Super tasty vegan food and very polite service staff. Were served quickly even though it was pretty busy.

Very nice food, service, approach and for proper price! great balance of everything what matters for having good dinner with friends

Delicious. And it was a great experience to eat there with a large group: we had a long table for ourselves, which was filled with plenty of delicious bowls.

The food is very bad and it has nothing to do with Lebanese food

The place very nice, the food is average level, but I believe the service was not that good, took very long time to take our order and brought the food approximately after 70 minutes!

Been to alot of places in Europe , But this place is fantastic , great healthy food , great ambience , amazing staff... Highly recommended

Super delicious food! If you love Lebanese food, a clear recommendation!

Good location, near the university, metro stop, hospital. Friendly staff speak German and English. There is enough space. There are tables for 2 and 4 people.

Very good Lebanese restaurant which is also well decorated.

Very fine vegetarian food, friendly and efficient conditions.

I just loved the place. It feels great to have a menu full of vegetarian/vegan options where you're struggling to decide the dish🤭 The ambience is great next to the windows, the service was good. I will visit when I am in Basel again.

Nice Lebanese place with good vegetarian/vegan food (there are NO non-vegetarian dishes). Good selection of drinks, nice attentive and courteous staff.

Very tasty and friendly service

Rich veggie and vegan selection. I had the Halloumi burger which was great. Service was super friendly but getting our orders took some time - the place is huge and quite busy, so a bit more staff would maybe speed up everything. Nevertheless highly recommended!

The food doesn't taste authentic at all and is more like fast food. It was served cold. It's not worth the price.

Very mid, the falafel looked very sad at me from the plate. Unfortunately you have to wait 40 minutes for food. Quite good for trying Lebanese cuisine, but nothing more than that 🤷🏼‍♂️

Very good Lebanese cuisine restaurant, service can be a little slow

Very friendly service, very good food, I would recommend going there again anytime👌👌👌

Very tasty, we will definitely come back.

Atmosphere OK, nice service, best fatayer

The food was great, the service lacked professionalism and the ambience was a bit too dark for me. Actually the rating would be better, but for the price you pay in relation to how much food you get... it's sobering. Unfortunately I'm a little disappointed

Excellent Lebanese food and very kind

Excellent Lebanese cuisine, go for it with your eyes closed. The staff was lovely, they found us a place even though we hadn’t booked, thank you ❤️

Dinner was tasty and enjoyable. However, the restaurant is located on the main road so the conversion fails due to the many noisy people. The price is a little high but in line with Swiss prices.

The food was fantastic, the service one star less, we would have liked to drink a little more, the young ladies were very nice but had no plan. You can see that specialist staff is always better. The ambience was OK but the food was simple 👍

As always a great place to be with friends and enjoy the super tasty food. Love this place!

Delicious food and very good atmosphere

Grabbed food to go from here on my first night in Basel and went to dine in the second night. The food is excellent, quickly served and the staff are lovely.

I love it! The restaurant is just great!

I picked up dinner, as we had a little break in the hospital and were in a rush. Even though the place was crowded, they prepared our food at super speed! Thank you 🙏❤️

Very good food, friendly people, good service!

Za zaa Basel is conveniently located near the Botanical Gardens in Basel . Another plus is that it stays open during lunch hour when all other restaurants close down . The food was good and it serves only Vegetarian . The prices were very steep even by Swiss standards .

Great dynamic restaurant. Delicious vegetarian food (even for meat eaters) and family friendly. Definitely going back

Best restaurant with oriental cuisine. We have been to a few oriental restaurants in Switzerland but this was by far the best. We will be back!

A delight! We ate vegan and had a great time. We will come back.

This place has some really interesting and tasty vegetarian and vegan food. The ambience is amazing, they have really cute interiors, as well as a great patio with plenty of seating. It is a bit pricey, but definitely worth it. I recommend the mezze for sharing and their lemonades.

Exciting Lebanese food. Attentive service. Please take your mobile phone with you. The card consists of a QR code. A starter for two is enough for lunch. Order rice and couscous with it. The couscous is incredibly fine.

well we did a reservation which we got confirmed per email, but when we arrived we were offered a table inside while it was 30*C temperature where we would have been the only ones plus there were other people outside eating who hadn’t done a reservation, so we left. we have eaten the food of ZAZA previously and we found it delicious and we visited the restaurant several times but to no get a table after a confirmed reservation is frustrating.

Very tasty food and attentive staff. The atmosphere inside and outside is great!

Truly an excellent meal with very attentive and friendly staff. Will definitely return when in Basel again!

Fantastic flavors, very nice atmosphere, I recommend!

Once you know what to order, always good, but a little pricey

Had to pen this one down….Tiny place with authentic food. We had the falafel and halloumi fries and both dishes were flavoursome and amazing.

we had the traditional mezze and Chateau Musar wine. great...everything.

Wonderfully fine and colorful, just good for me.

Very delicious, fresh food 🙏🏻🤤 Friendly stuff 🥰

The food is really delicious! I can especially recommend the record “Mezze for Friends”. There really is everything your heart desires and gives you a good overview. BUT I can't understand charging 39.50 CHF PER person for this! Personally, I think it's far too expensive. Hence a star deduction. The service is friendly and honest! The advice on the menu is excellent (I stupidly missed the "PER PERSON" and was quite surprised at the high price when I got the bill). Nevertheless, you really feel very comfortable here (apart from the somewhat expensive prices).

Our first visit. The service staff was very friendly and competent. Everything we tried tasted good. In any case, I can recommend it for every now and then. The feta roll should have a little more feta cheese. Addendum: This lunchtime I had a falafel salad plate with baba Ganush. Visually it was beautifully presented, but there was a certain something missing everywhere. (Bland) The falafel were too firm and too oily. Otherwise there was a large portion and the staff was friendly. Ps: I would rather sort out the broken plates.

Cosy restaurant with tasty food

I love it! Everything from food to the atmosphere to the friendly staff and especially the mint/lime lemonade 😍

Great varied food. Baba Ganoush was phenomenal.

Delicious food, busy restaurant. Reservation recommended

Waiters were very friendly and the atmosphere was great. We ordered traditional mezze to share, not sure if it would be enough or we had to order more but it was abundant with a great variety of food. Highly recommended!

I'm thrilled by the variety of dishes! Every bite is a new surprise

Simply perfect! 😍 The quality of the mezze is excellent, every dish being better than the one before. Plus the waiter was very friendly, which added on our experience! Everything is pretty, from the decoration of the restaurant to the bowls and plate. I would highly recommend it 🇱🇧

Tasty and affordable. Friendly service

Great welcome, really friendly and the food was amazing. Really nicely finished off with some Moroccan mint tea. Really relaxing atmosphere and will certainly look to come back.

Very tasty mezze and friendly staff... It is loud in the back area when all the tables are occupied.

Excellent experience We hadn't made a reservation (I highly recommend doing so) and the staff found us a table which, luckily, had a canceled reservation The servers were very patient with us and the meal was excellent

Delicious dish, impeccable service, warm and professional welcome

Really great food and fast service

The quality used to be good, but now the food,the presentation and the service are getting bad

I just think the prices are totally exorbitant, the food is good but not outstanding and the drinks are also totally overpriced, the staff is friendly

Dry taboule with the same bread in the basement without daylight. Starter comes at the same time as the main course.