The cooking unit has a glass-ceramic panel (1) providing a cooking surface, which is made of transparent colorless glass-ceramic bulk material or a glass panel made of pre-stressed transparent colorless glass material. Radiant heating elements (3) are provided under the glass or glass-ceramic panel, which heat respective cooking zones. The glass or glass-ceramic panel has a full surface decorative coating (7) on its upper side, which makes dirt and usage marks less conspicuous, and an IR permeable coating (6) having a solid or plain color, preferably bisque-like, on its underside. The IR permeable coating having the solid or plain color prevents an observer from viewing the internal components of the cooking unit that are under the cooking panel from above it.