Caucasus Garden

Don’t go here!!! They have a B rating because their kitchen is so dirty!!! When you walk in to the restaurant, you can see the kitchen is unsanitary. The chef smokes and after you place an order, he doesn’t even wash his hands when making your food. By far, the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced in my life. They are rude, mess up orders all the time and yell at you for it! The food is ridiculously expensive and they overcharge you for burnt bread. I will never go here again.

The food here is quite good – better at some of the other Azeri places in Brooklyn.
We were here to celebrate a birthday with a large group and had the lyulya kebab (ground lamb), the mixed grill, several salads, grilled eggplants, grilled sturgeon etc. Everything was fresh and delicious.
The service is decent, although not always super-​attentive.
There is a roomy backyard patio that is very pleasant.

I tried this place out this week with a friend. Firstly, they really need to market this place, can’t tell from the outside that it is open. The menu online is out of date.
The bread had a weird smoky fish flavor… waiter did offer to replace it…
We ordered a salad which was fine except i hate cilantro and wished their menu would list all the ingredients. They have a salad called natural salad and one called fresh salad?
I will say that both of our entrees were very delicious. I had lulya kabab, best I ever had. Melted in my mouth and well spiced (i do not mean spicy). My friend ordered a grilled fish and she also said it was great.
Dessert. They offer two different versions of napoleon. One for $ 2.50 and another one that is $ 5 more. We decided to try both and compare. The first was decent enough. It wasn’t the best but well worth the cost. It was mostly crème with some soft dough in between layers. No custard crème by the way.
The second used a dry, stale phyllo dough to make little hollow pillows that collapse if pushed down on them. Three of them are stacked, one on top of the other with crème in between with some strawberries and chocolate cause on top and around the dessert. Not worth it in my opinion. No custard crème by the way.
Overall, a decent place to get a meal, as long as you know what to avoid.
Update and detail your menu! (Both in the restaurant and online)

«We have soup. We have salad. We have appetizer. We have bread. What do you want?»
I stared back at him, stonily, not amused by his assumption that I had stumbled in by mistake, and needed to be informed of the dining categories in a restaurant.
«I will have Dovga. Followed by the Kurza. I’ll have the Garden Kebab as the entrée. Some Lavash bread. With Cranberry Juice.»
His jaw dropped as I handed the menu back and started to jot my thoughts on the iPhone.
«Are you Russian? No? Then, are you Kavkazi? You look Kavkazi.»
It was a pretty impressive 180 degrees turn in 15 seconds. From assuming me to be an uninformed idiot, he’d transformed me to being a local!
Caucasus Garden was my second experimentation with Azerbaijani food in the city. While there was an interlude of a few months between my two visits (resulting in loss of the likely FTR status), I’d say their food quality lags that at Café Sim Sim, but the ambiance is more upscale and it takes less time for the food to arrive at your table. Also, there are more dining options (particularly those popular in Russia), one of them is the Dovga (described as the Azerbaijan national meal made with rice, flour, yogurt, eggs, dill, and garlic). The Kurza (Azerbaijani ravioli — stuffed with spiced lamb) are much like the Manti, except that the preparation of the meat stuffing is different — rendering them unique from the ubiquitous version of Manti served in Uzbek restaurants in the city. Most comforting of all, perhaps, was the Mushroom Julian: the traditional Russian dish filled with mushrooms and a sour cream sauce, topped with cheese and then baked.
I am not a fan of the paper-​thin pancakes: Kutab (whether stuffed with meat or with chopped spinach) and found them bland, nor of the many versions of Kebab which may be more influenced by Turkish versions (Garden Kebab featuring the popular Adana Kebab, lamb kebab, lamb ribs, chicken Adana and beef kebabs). The bread is also Turkish inspired, and while not technically Lavash but more like Pide, is another of those dining choices whose origin may be attributable to diverse sources, but whose taste renders such a discussion academic. Even while one of the versions served to me was slightly burned (see picture), the bread itself was tasteful. I couldn’t say the same or share the enthusiasm for the «delicious Pakhlava» that was brought subsequently by the server.
I have really liked their Cranberry juice, and find it interesting that as you move westward there are slight variations on the same theme, with the Kompot being more common across restaurants from Central Asia. Memory is a key building block to learning and discernment, for the first server recognized me today despite the lapse of a few months. «I remember you», he said with a broad smile. «So do I», I responded, as I pondered the progress we both had made in cultural understanding.

I’m a little bit surprised to be the first to review this place… it’s a damned fine place to hang out and eat and drink heavily, especially on a sunny day. And it’s BYOB, so you can drink heavily at bodega prices! How can you beat that?
Caucasus Garden is owned by Azerbaijanis, but much of the clientele seems to be Russian and Ukrainian. The restaurant serves a few Russian standards (borscht, pelmeni), plenty of dishes that would be recognizable throughout Central Asia (hummus, dolma, kabobs, stewed lamb), and some ridiculously good fresh bread.
We wanted to try the dishes that were specifically Azerbaijani, and the friendly waitress repeatedly recommended the chiz-​biz: lamb heart, kidney, liver, and testicles, fried with onions.
But I’m a wuss, and didn’t go there. Sorry.
We did try the dovga, though: a cold, fizzy yogurt soup made with mint, dill, rice, and spinach. It was interesting… and fizzy. I liked it. And then I read a recipe online: «In order to make dovga, beat up sour clotted milk with sour cream and flour, add egg and rice. To prevent the sour clotted milk from decomposing, all the mass should be continuously stirred.»
Ah yes, sour clotted milk. Not decomposed. My favorite!
Seriously though: it was pretty tasty. And if you don’t believe me, order the kurza (Azerbaijani ravoili, stuffed with spiced lamb) or kutabs (Azerbaijani crepes with meat or spinach) instead.
Or if you’re more of a badass than I am, try the chiz-​biz. And then you can point at me, laugh, and call me a wuss next time you see me at an Azerbaijani restaurant.