The evening programme

Six Nights of Deliciousness

Six nights. Six distinctive restaurants. Six hosted dinner experiences — and every morning begins at the Merci Baku table.

The morning ritual

Mornings at Merci Baku

Breakfast is not served at the hotel. Every morning of the journey begins at Merci Baku, in the Old City, at Kamila's own table.

Six signature breakfasts, each one different, each one built around what arrived that morning: warm bread, sheep's cheese, mountain honey, herbs, slow-cooked eggs and strong tea poured continuously.

Caviar is served on each of the six mornings — a daily ritual rather than an occasion, the way a Caspian city has always eaten it.

This is also where the day is shaped. A member of the Merci Baku team is with you at breakfast: plans are made, reservations moved, questions answered, and the evening ahead is introduced before anyone leaves the room.

Six mornings: Breakfast at Merci Baku, not at the hotel
Caviar daily: Included every morning of the journey
Hosted personally: Kamila at the table each morning

Blini with crème fraîche and Caspian caviar — Caviar, every morning

Bite-sized waffles with crème fraîche, chives and caviar — Waffles

Toasted sourdough with cured salmon, avocado and poached egg — Cured salmon

Crisp potato nests with baked eggs and greens — Eggs, slowly cooked

On the evenings

Merci Baku is the house of the morning. The evenings belong to the city — six restaurants, each one a separate chapter.

IHeritageNight 01 · Shirvanshah Museum Restaurant
IIThe Caspian GardenNight 02 · Chayki
IIIFireNight 03 · Mangal Steak House
IVJazzNight 04 · Shur Jazz Hall
VThe Generous TableNight 05 · Güllü
VIGrand FinaleNight 06 · Boulevard 1909

Night 01

Heritage

Shirvanshah Museum Restaurant

The first full evening is deliberately the oldest. Carpets, copper, hand-carved wood and objects that belong in a collection rather than a dining room — a house that explains Azerbaijan before a single plate arrives.

The kitchen is unapologetically classical: dishes cooked the way families still cook them, served at the pace of conversation.

Kitchen: Classical Azerbaijani cuisine
Atmosphere: A museum-restaurant inside the old walls
Live element: Traditional mugham musicians

Plov with saffron and chestnut
Dolma and slow-braised mountain lamb
Sweets with tea, in the Azerbaijani way

From the table

Tərəvəz dolması at Shirvanshah Museum Restaurant in Baku — stuffed eggplant, tomato and pepper. — Tərəvəz dolması — stuffed eggplant, tomato and pepper

Saffron plov with dried apricot and raisin, served with lamb and chestnut stew at Shirvanshah Museum Restaurant. — Plov with saffron, apricot and raisin — served with lamb and chestnut

Beef braised with onion and dried cherry, served in an earthenware bowl at Shirvanshah Museum Restaurant. — Beef braised with onion and dried cherry, in earthenware

Tomato salad with cherries, red onion and basil at Shirvanshah Museum Restaurant, Baku. — Tomato salad with cherry, red onion and basil

Night 02

The Caspian Garden

Chayki

An evening built around the sea the city is named for. Sea bass, kutum and sturgeon-family fish eaten a few kilometres from the water they came out of.

The room is the opposite of the first night: light, green, contemporary, opening onto the Caspian as the sun goes down.

Kitchen: Caspian fish and seafood
Atmosphere: Glass, water and garden light on the seafront
Live element: Sunset service as the boulevard fills

Saj of lamb, aubergine and sweet pepper
Rack of lamb carved at the table
Qutab, Azerbaijani sweets and tea

From the table

A stone saj of lamb, aubergine, sweet pepper and tomato with lavash at Chayki in Baku — Saj — lamb, aubergine and sweet pepper on hot stone, with lavash

A copper brazier of mixed grilled meats, lülə kebab and herbs at Chayki in Baku — The mixed grill — lülə kebab, ribs and chicken over coals

A roasted rack of lamb with young potatoes and sauce on a wooden board at Chayki in Baku — Rack of lamb with young potatoes

Lamb ribs carved to order onto lavash at Chayki in Baku — Ribs carved to order, onto warm lavash

Qutab — thin folded flatbreads with herb and cheese fillings, sumac and pomegranate, at Chayki in Baku — Qutab — herb and cheese, with sumac and pomegranate

A board of Azerbaijani sweets — pakhlava, shekerbura and walnuts — with a glass of tea at Chayki in Baku — Azerbaijani sweets and tea, in an armudu glass

A berry millefeuille with cream and mint at Chayki in Baku — Millefeuille with summer berries

III

Night 03

Fire

Mangal Steak House

Azerbaijan is a country of fire, and this is the night that takes the idea literally. Everything passes over charcoal: lamb, beef, quail, vegetables, bread.

It is the most relaxed evening of the six and, for many guests, the one they talk about afterwards.

Kitchen: Charcoal, smoke and aged meat
Atmosphere: Dark rooms, open flame, a city that eats late
Live element: The grill itself, worked in front of you

Aged beef over open charcoal
Mountain lamb kebab
Smoked aubergine, tomato, herbs

From the table

Sliced aged T-bone steak carved on a wooden board with rosemary and olive oil at Mangal Steak House in Baku — Dry-aged T-bone, carved at the board

A spread of Azerbaijani mezze with grilled peppers, vine leaves, yoghurt and warm bread at Mangal Steak House in Baku — The table before the fire — mezze, vine leaves and warm bread

Cold starters of olives, roasted peppers, herbed yoghurt and hummus on a wooden table at Mangal Steak House in Baku — Cold starters, laid out all at once in the Azerbaijani manner

Glass dry-ageing cabinets lined with cuts of beef on Himalayan salt blocks at Mangal Steak House in Baku — The ageing room — beef resting on salt, dated by hand

Night 04

Jazz

Shur Jazz Hall

A contemporary Baku dining hall with a long onyx fire table, geometric latticework screens and low leather armchairs

Baku has been a jazz city since the 1950s, and it is still the easiest way to understand how the place actually sounds. Dinner runs alongside a live set rather than under it.

The kitchen is the younger generation's: Azerbaijani ingredients, modern technique, plates that stay light enough to keep the evening going.

Kitchen: Contemporary Baku dining
Atmosphere: A hall, low light, a stage
Live element: A live set through dinner

Small contemporary courses
Azerbaijani wine by the glass
A late dessert, after the second set

From the table

Badımcan ləvəngi — baked aubergine filled with walnut and pomegranate, at Shur Jazz Hall in Baku — Badımcan ləvəngi — baked aubergine with walnut and pomegranate

A glazed lamb skewer with sesame over wilted greens, plated at Shur Jazz Hall in Baku — Glazed lamb skewer, sesame and wilted greens

Sauce poured over a sizzling cast-iron dish of chicken with herbed rice at Shur Jazz Hall in Baku — Cast-iron chicken, sauce poured at the table

Kükü — Azerbaijani herb omelette with soured cream, beside sweet pastries at Shur Jazz Hall in Baku — Kükü — herb omelette with soured cream, and sweet pastries

Dovğa — warm yoghurt and herb soup served in porcelain at Shur Jazz Hall in Baku — Dovğa — warm yoghurt and herb soup

A salad of tomato, cucumber, olive and white cheese with purple basil at Shur Jazz Hall in Baku — Tomato, cucumber and white cheese with purple basil

Night 05

The Generous Table

Güllü

A warm dining room in Baku with long shared tables and soft evening light

The least formal and possibly the most Azerbaijani evening of the week: a table covered end to end, dishes arriving faster than they can be finished, nothing plated for effect.

This is how families here actually eat, and it is the night guests understand what hospitality means in this country.

Kitchen: Regional home recipes
Atmosphere: A family dining room, everything shared
Live element: Bread baked in front of the table

A full table of regional starters
Village bread from the oven
Pomegranate, walnut and herb dishes

Night 06

Grand Finale

Boulevard 1909

A long table laid with white linen beneath a crystal chandelier in a private dining room in Baku

The final evening is the most formal of the six. A long dressed table, a menu built from everything the group responded to during the week, and Azerbaijani wine chosen to match it.

It ends the way the week began — at a table, cared for by the Merci Baku team, and nobody in a hurry to leave.

Kitchen: A farewell menu, composed for the group
Atmosphere: White linen, crystal, the city below
Live element: A toast from Kamila, and the last table of the week

A composed farewell menu
Caviar service to open
Azerbaijani wine, chosen for the table

Please note

The order of the six evenings may change with weather, venue availability and what the city offers that week. The number of evenings, the standard of the rooms and the care of the Merci Baku team do not.

Request a Reservation Explore the Journey

How the evenings work

What every evening includes

Hosted in person
Kamila or the Merci Baku team is present at all six evenings.
Transfers
Transport between the hotel and the venue whenever it is needed.
Local wine
Azerbaijani wine, water, soft drinks and local beer are included.
Arranged in advance
Dietary requirements are discussed with each venue before you arrive.
Your table is held
Every reservation is secured in advance. Nothing to book, nothing to chase.
Six different rooms
No evening repeats a setting, a kitchen or a register.

Mornings at Merci Baku

Heritage

The Caspian Garden

Fire

Jazz

The Generous Table

Grand Finale

Hosted in person

Transfers

Local wine

Arranged in advance

Your table is held

Six different rooms