There are three Caravan Saray restaurants in Baku's Old City. They all are literally just 1-2 minutes walk away from the Maiden Tower. If you stand in front of the Maiden Tower with the Caspian sea behind you then one of CaravanSarays will be on your left along the alley with carpet and antique shops. Two other restaurants are going to be behind Maiden Tower and are located opposite each other. You will need to cross the kind of bridge behind the Maiden Tower and go straight for another 50-60 meters, you won't miss them.
The caravan saray originally was a stopover for the caravans on the Silk road centuries ago. Now you can eat there outside in summer time accompanied by live music. The food served here is among some of the best in the country and is presented to Western standards. A wide variety of cuisine is served here, from local to Mediterranean delights. Wintertime enjoy the warmth of the ground floor and look up for the door of the cave leading all the way to the Maiden Tower :) There are also private rooms that are great when it's cold outside. Every room has its own fire-place and you sit on divans with lots of pillows (mutakkahs). Those rooms were actually used as lodging so many centuries ago... The atmosphere is very relaxing. Of course there is live Azeri music every night and even shows with belly dancer!
Many waiters speak English and very friendly as they do care mostly for foreign tourists. Keep in mind though that these places are very expensive and you can dine same food outside Old City walls 2-3 times cheaper. What you pay here is not for the food but place and service. All three restaurants are a pure, overpriced tourist trap. Be careful when they give you starter without your permission, that will cost you about 10 Euro. They will also add to the bill music perfomance and a service fee (can be up to 30% of your bill). All in all the average bill for one person would be around 50-60 Euro and most likely you will have a sense that they ripped you off. They don't accept credit cards, by the way (don't be fooled by the Visa/Mastercard logos on the frontdoors).
"CARAVAN SARAY RESTAURANT" BAKU, GALA STR., 11, ICHERY SHEKHER, Phone: +994 12 926668
photos below are taken in all three premises.
