Restaurants in Azerbaijan
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A
Mado
Designer-hip Japanese restaurant where sushi comes with beautiful ceramic soy sauce jugs and luridly over-pink sushigari. Sadly, the limp maguro tastes somewhat bland.
reviewed
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B
Muğam Club
A wonderfully atmospheric two-storey caravanserai offers alcove and courtyard dining options accompanied by impressive cabaret shows demonstrating tasters of various Azeri musical and dance styles. The Azeri food is excellent, but prices can be exorbitant (kebabs AZN12!). Often closed for private functions.
reviewed
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C
Bibi
By far the nicest place in Baku for Persian cuisine, the Bibi offers live but unobtrusive music in its spacious double dining hall with olde-worlde tulip-chandeliers and rush-matting to soften the ceilings. Try the kəşki badımcan (eggplant with Iranian whey; AZN4).
reviewed
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D
Scalini’s
Speedy, waistcoated waiters deliver perfect pastas with bucket-loads of parmesan and a selection of home-cooked breads in Baku’s most congenial Italian restaurant. The décor is upmarket bistro-style with a relaxed buzz, soaring high ceilings and great movie and Martini posters.
reviewed
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E
Çudo Peçka
Many bakeries offer stand-bars at which to eat snacks and cheap if long-stewed cups of tea or cocoa. The Çudo Peçka chain is ubiquitous, and its branch near Hotel Velotrek has seating. However, their system of pre-paying can be awkward if you don't speak Azeri.
reviewed
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F
L’Aparté
Open all-hours with a phenomenally wide-ranging menu and surprisingly plush décor given the incredibly modest price range.
reviewed
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G
Pancho’s
Pancho’s is the most authentic for Mexican food.
reviewed
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H
XVII Әsr
Decorated with old hunting weapons, this cosy mid-market restaurant offers Talysh cuisine that goes well beyond the predictable nut-stuffed ləvəngi dishes. Delicious starters (AZN3 to AZN4 per plate) include XVII əsr qəlyanaltısı (stuffed dried fruit and walnut-coated chicken balls), qoz küküsü (a patchwork of omelette-like morsels) and incə salatı (layered egg-salad with cheese and fruit topping). There’s also an AZN7 bizniz lunch.
reviewed
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I
Fayton Club
This upmarket yet rustic stone-vaulted basement is decorated with handicrafts, şəbəkə (intricately carved, wood-framed, stained-glass windows) and an old cart in an almost-successful attempt to create a feel of 18th-century Azerbaijan. Classic Azeri foods are well made but unless you want the full-blast music show (AZN4 cover), get out before 8pm.
reviewed
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J
Mediterranea
The garden area is superbly located for summer dining in the shadow of the Maiden’s Tower while the sleekly modernised caravanserai-covered courtyard interior is a tempting choice on colder nights. The mostly European main dishes aren’t especially memorable but mezze starters are excellent and drinks arrive with complimentary cheese and olives.
reviewed
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Gənclik Kafesi
Like most decent restaurants in Naxçivan the cavernous Gənclik offers point-and-pick precooked Turkish dishes, though there’s also a salad-bar, of sorts. Staff are friendly and women do venture in (usually chaperoned, of course) but there’s little atmosphere. Mirrored glass misleadingly makes it appear permanently closed. No alcohol.
reviewed
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K
Sphinx
The most bizarre sight in Stepanakert is the giant Sphinx looming over the door of this restaurant. Plastic palm trees ignited with neon complete the scene. Despite the Egyptian theme, the menu is similar to other places in town, with khoravats (barbecued food) and kebabs the prime options.
reviewed
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L
Tonqal
Ivy-draped carts in overgrown patches of woodland create a delightfully rustic garden atmosphere that’s incongruous for the suburban setting. However the only menu is on its website and the many extras can be extremely pricey (plate of fruit AZN20!); plus the only drinking water served is imported.
reviewed
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M
Iskəndər
The spacious Iskəndər, a Turkish restaurant, which serves inexpensive precooked meals in pleasantly semi-grand arch-vaulted premises. Point at what you fancy from the heated display of precooked meals (AZN4 to AZN6 including side dish) or order pricier made-to-order dishes.
reviewed
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Palıidŀ Sahil
Commonly nicknamed Titanic, the main restaurant building is shaped like a concrete boat sailing towards the beach. Meals include a selection of rice dishes, there’s a pleasant garden area, and bungalows (AZN50 to AZN100) are available if you can’t face the 3km trip back into town.
reviewed
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Şahin Kafesi
Within the fortress walls the café interior is entirely uninspiring but the outside dining booths are quaintly draped in living ivy and the food is way better than you might anticipate. The particularly outstanding vine-leaf mini dolma (AZN2) has a minty tang and arrives in a clay pot.
reviewed
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N
Divan
The stylish Divan, a Turkish restaurant, which serves inexpensive precooked meals in pleasantly semi-grand arch-vaulted premises. Point at what you fancy from the heated display of precooked meals (AZN4 to AZN6 including side dish) or order pricier made-to-order dishes.
reviewed
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Şəbəkə Restaurant
If you’re craving Western food, this suave jazz-toned hotel-restaurant offers professionally presented dishes at prices that seem expensive in Şəki but would be cheap as chips in Baku. Our penne in pesto sauce (AZN3.20) was perfectly al dente if lacking in pizzazz.
reviewed
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O
Anadolu 1
Anadolu 1, a Turkish restaurant, which serves inexpensive precooked meals in pleasantly semi-grand arch-vaulted premises. Point at what you fancy from the heated display of precooked meals (AZN4 to AZN6 including side dish) or order pricier made-to-order dishes.
reviewed
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P
Georgian Home
A quantum leap in style, this suave choice makes wonderfully eclectic use of homemade pottery to give the fashionable interior a real sense of personality. Food is excellent but with prices to match. The cheapest bottle of wine costs a thumping AZN35, plus 10% service charge.
reviewed
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Q
Star
Star, a Turkish restaurant, which serves inexpensive precooked meals in pleasantly semi-grand arch-vaulted premises. Point at what you fancy from the heated display of precooked meals (AZN4 to AZN6 including side dish) or order pricier made-to-order dishes.
reviewed
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R
Anadolu 2
Anadolu 2, a Turkish restaurant, serves inexpensive precooked meals in pleasantly semi-grand arch-vaulted premises. Point at what you fancy from the heated display of precooked meals (AZN4 to AZN6 including side dish) or order pricier made-to-order dishes.
reviewed
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S
Pəncərə
The upstairs dining room has a wild-west wooden décor and live piano music. Ground-floor wooden booths emulate the streamside ambience of Azeri rural dining. The menu stretches from local standards to ostrich steaks. Wines from AZN6 a bottle.
reviewed
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T
Qaqaş Restoran
Zaqatala’s most intriguing restaurant has a façade of bottle-ends, an interior of timber rooms and a series of wooden perches out back as dining platforms. Up-beat Ukrainian music adds to the reliable food and cheap beer. Recommended.
reviewed
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Çələbi Xan Restoran
The interior pine décor is eccentric enough to make you feel you’re dining in a cuckoo clock. In summer there’s lots of space amid the trees outside and for just AZN1 you can fill up on a hearty borscht and basket of bread.
reviewed