Meet Nigar: A Baku Local Shares Her City's Best-Kept Secrets
Nigar Mammadova, 32, is a graphic designer who was born in Baku and has watched her city transform from a post-Soviet oil town into one of the most architecturally ambitious cities in the Caucasus. For a very different Caucasus experience, compare with Yerevan. She knows every chaykhana (tea house), every backstreet kebab joint, and every sunset viewpoint that the guidebooks miss.
We met at Chinar cafe near the Old City walls over black tea and pakhava.
What do tourists always get wrong about Baku?
They come for the Flame Towers and the Heydar Aliyev Center, take their photos, and leave. And I understand — those buildings are impressive. But Baku isn't Dubai. We're not a city defined by one era of construction.
Walk into the Old City and you're in the 12th century. Drive to Gobustan and you're looking at 40,000-year-old rock art. Have tea in a chaykhana and you're participating in a ritual that predates the Flame Towers by centuries.
The architecture tourists see is the newest layer. It's built on top of something much older and much more interesting.
Where do you go for the best food?
For kebab — and I'm very specific about this — Mangal Steak House on Neftchilar Avenue. The lyulya kebab (minced lamb on a skewer) is perfectly seasoned and costs 8-12 AZN. Don't order the menu — ask for the daily recommendation.
For breakfast, find any neighborhood tandir (tandoor oven bakery) and get fresh tandir bread with white cheese and herbs. It costs 3-4 AZN for a breakfast that will keep you full until dinner.
And for plov — the real Azerbaijani plov, not the hotel version — go to Firuze restaurant in the old town area. Shah plov (rice with saffron and dried fruits wrapped in lavash) is a ceremony, not just a dish. 15-20 AZN per person.
What about tea? Tourists seem confused by Azerbaijani tea culture.
Tea is everything here. We drink black tea from armudu glasses — pear-shaped, so the bottom stays warm while the top cools to drinking temperature. We take sugar cubes on the side (bite a sugar cube and sip through it, or dissolve it — both are acceptable) and often pair with jam, lemon, or cardamom.
When someone offers you tea, accepting is not optional. It's a sign of respect. Refusing tea in Azerbaijan is like refusing a handshake in the West.
My favorite chaykhana is near Fountains Square — it has no English sign, just a doorway between two carpet shops. Look for the old men playing nard (backgammon). A pot of tea with pakhava costs 5-6 AZN.
Best view in Baku that tourists miss?
Highland Park (Dagustanlik Parki). Most tourists take the funicular up for the Flame Tower view, which is fine. But walk to the far end of the park, away from the funicular station, and you get the entire city: the Old City, the Boulevard, the Caspian Sea, and the Flame Towers all in one panorama. At sunset, the Old City walls catch golden light while the Flame Towers start their LED show. It's the best free view in Baku.
Any neighborhoods tourists should explore?
Sovetski (Soviet District) sounds unglamorous, and it is. But the residential blocks from the Soviet era have been painted in bright colors as part of a city beautification project, and the street markets here sell fresh produce, spices, and locally made pickles for a fraction of Old City prices.
Also, walk along the streets behind the Old City walls — the neighborhoods of Icheri Sheher that aren't technically inside the walls but grew up against them. Traditional houses with ornate balconies, small mosques, and practically no tourists.
Is there anything tourists should be careful about?
Photography of government buildings, military sites, and police officers can cause problems — phone confiscation is a real possibility. Stick to tourist sites and you'll be fine.
Also, don't bring up the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict casually. It's a deeply painful topic. If Azerbaijanis want to discuss it, they will. Don't initiate it.
And regarding alcohol: Baku is much more liberal than most Muslim-majority cities. Alcohol is widely available and accepted. Wine, beer, and spirits in restaurants are normal. But being visibly drunk in public is frowned upon. Just don't be that tourist.
Favorite thing to do on a Sunday?
Walk the Boulevard from end to end. The 6km promenade is where Baku goes on weekends. Families, couples, old men with their armudu glasses, kids on scooters. Buy cay from a street vendor, sit on a bench facing the Caspian, and just watch. The sea here doesn't look like an ocean — it's calm, almost lake-like, with oil tankers on the horizon and the Flame Towers behind you.
Then loop through the Old City as the sun goes down. The amber lighting on the stone walls makes everything look like a movie set. Have dinner inside the walls — there's a small place on Kichik Qala street that serves the best dushbara (tiny dumplings in broth) in the city. 6-8 AZN for a bowl.
One thing you want every tourist to know?
Baku isn't trying to be Dubai. I know the comparison gets made because of the modern architecture and the oil money. But Dubai was built from nothing on sand. Baku was built on top of 5,000 years of human history, Zoroastrian fire worship, Persian poetry, Soviet industrialism, and Azerbaijani resilience.
The Flame Towers are dramatic, yes. But the real fire — the one that's been burning for thousands of years — is in the ground beneath your feet and in the tea glass in your hand.
Nigar is a composite character based on conversations with multiple Baku residents. Restaurants, prices, and locations verified as of early 2026.
