Kohna Shahar

Somehow the hardboard cut-out of a jolly fat chef by the steps down to the popular Old City (Kohna Shahar) restaurant implies a certain `Little Chef` quality, which couldn`t do the work of multi-award winning chef Shahhussein Kerimov a greater injustice. The two dining rooms are pleasantly kitted out in kilims and pieces of traditional Azeri art and crafts, the light perhaps a little over-bright, but the atmosphere works. It`s when the food comes out, however, that your juices really start to flow. Lavangi are little bite-sized rolls of sturgeon or chicken filled with a paste of walnuts and cherry plums, the plovs (pilaf) are to die for. There really is nothing on the menu that doesn`t sing and, with friendly waiters eager to practice their variable English, you`ll manage to make the best of a difficult to penetrate menu.