Shirvanshah Museum Restaurant — Restaurant in Baku City

This place is really really worth a visit! You might want to make a reservation if you have a chance. It’s a beautiful building decorated very very elaborately - candelabras on tables! Maybe one of the coolest restaurants I have ever experienced. Live musicians in each main dinning area (it’s big). Delicious food! Staff spoke English and were very helpful (our waiter was lovely) except there was one odd encounter before we left. We walked to the restaurant from our hotel and planned to return the same way. Upon leaving the restaurant, one of their staff asked if we needed a taxi and said no. we were staying and said that the ride would only be 10 manats with the restaurant taxi. I know….long story short these situations usually end up weird and before we knew it another guy appeared and opened the taxi door for us and was asking for a tip. He seemed to be with the hotel staff. He didn’t get what he hoped for. The taxi driver took us right to our hotel for that price but who was “that other guy?”

This restaurant is located on one of the oldest streets in Baku (from the info on their menu - if it’s correct). When we were walking there the neighborhood just seemed way too residential for this large of a restaurant….but it’s there! I guess the residential neighborhood grew up around it. I don’t know Baku well or this neighborhood but we never felt unsafe so far walking around so I think a walk to your hotel or place of stay after dinner here is feasible but it’s always best to check with a local. I did today and he seemed to emphasize the safety of Baku. But don’t get robbed or something on the street walking after dinner here and blame me. Be safe!

P.S. The bathrooms are cool here too. Once I found out how to turn on the light for the main area of the ladies bathroom - switch in on the bottom left portion of the wall as you enter (I guess they were saving electricity?) I then was not able to find the light in the stall…thank goodness for the flashlight feature on the iPhone! Thou has saved many of us in weird life situations!

Overall I won’t let the weirdness ruin the overall experience but I wanted to let...

We were visiting Baku and after reading all the online reviews decided to bring in my wife’s birthday at this restaurant.

We tried reserving online. They confirmed our reservation. When we reached our reservation was not on their system. Slight hick up. Since there was place available, the person at the reception accommodated us on a table.

One of the major reason for choosing this restaurant was the museum tour. We were super excited. After placing an order for a Moët Chandon bottle and some starters, we asked for a tour. We were didn’t get a response. So we decided to see the place ourselves. Needless to say most of it didn’t make sense to us. While we were seeing the place, a group was on a tour but the tour was in the local language. We asked the tour guide if he could repeat for us in English. He signaled he didn’t know English. We went to the front desk and were told that we would be given a tour after dinner.

There was supposed to be live music in the restaurant. The band played 2 songs for a total of 10 minutes in the 1.5 hours that we were there (we entered at 9 10 pm and left at 10 40 pm).

The food - we are vegetarians and don’t speak the local language. It was a monumental task to understand what to order especially since they don’t have an English menu. Our food came cold and tasteless. The rice was tasteless and the bread with pumpkin in it was cold. After complaining we were served the same dishes again - the rice with some more oil and the bread heated in a microwave spoiling it completely.

Service - it took the server 10 mins to come take our first order. After being totally disappointed and decided to go elsewhere to eat and bring in my wife’s birthday it took the restaurant 4 reminders and 30 mins to get our cheque.

Bread basket - all tables around us were given a complimentary bread basket - but not us. And this was after ordering a bottle of champagne worth 150 AZN! Our total bill was 183 AZN and I have never felt more cheated in my entire life.

I don’t know if this was an off day, but if you are a vegetarian and don’t speak the local language - do...

Terrible Experience – Avoid This Restaurant

Our experience at this restaurant started out okay, but things went downhill quickly when it came time to pay. The food was average, and the service initially seemed fine. However, the payment process was nothing short of a disaster.

When the bill arrived, one server asked if we’d pay by cash or card. We said card, but then he repeatedly asked how we planned to tip, which was intrusive and uncomfortable. We had intended to leave a cash tip, but he pressured us into adding one via the card machine. We overlooked this at first.

What made it worse was when he made a mistake and overcharged one of my friends, making him pay for three people with an additional 15 menat on top of the original bill. Then, more staff approached us, begging for extra tips, even though there was only one server actually helping us. Despite already tipping 25 menat (10 in cash and 15 card), we reluctantly agreed to add another 12 menat as a card tip. Instead, they charged us 25 menat on the card and ran off.

When we noticed the overcharge and confronted them, they returned with 5 menat, apologizing, but still failed to give us the full amount owed. It was clear they were trying to take advantage of us.

This was by far the worst dining experience I’ve had. I hope the management addresses these issues and reconsiders their staff training. I wouldn’t recommend this...