The Last Azeri Meal ...

... considered to be a restaurant serving "refined' Azeri cuisine, Zeytun is a fancy restaurant in the Park Bulevar Mall overlooking the Caspian Sea. I think "refined" is actually a code word for expensive! Prices were significantly higher than what you'd find at Firuza, and the menu didn't seem to be any fancier or more modern, but the food was still damn good. The spicy tomato salad was actually more of a cooked and mashed paste made with garlic, tomato, onion, and red bell pepper - quite nice with an assortment of bread. The main dish unexpectedly came with roasted eggplant, bell pepper, and tomato - it's a good thing I never ordered a side of roasted veggies, as it was already difficult finishing off all of this food. This was the final meal in Azerbaijan, so it was time to go all out and blow the remainder of my Azeri manats - a minced meat kebab, lamb, marinated strips of beef, chicken, all served with what I think was ajika, a spicy dipping sauce. The lamb was full of tendons but still so very tasty, the beef was tender, and the eggplant was reminiscent of the dinner I had in Istanbul, at the World's Fanciest Kebab Shop. The kebab was brilliant, juicy and crispy, and the chicken breast was nicely prepared on the bone. Everything was sprinkled with some delicious fresh herbs - definitely a most memorable final meal in Azerbaijan.