"For a joint birthday party for 3 of us, 13 people celebrated at the Old Baku restaurant in Brooklyn this past Sunday. One of my high school friends is Azeri and he made it easy by setting everything up for us with the staff. The staff was great showing real hospitality that the Azeris are known for. The food was outstanding. Very similar to Turkish salads and shish kebob, but the spices and seasonings were just different enough to notice. Of special note was the eggplant salad which was outstanding, the grilled meats were done perfectly and the spicy sauce that came with it really made the dish, grape leaves stuffed with lamb, tongue, the sturgeon kebobs, and, yes, we tried the 'lambfries ' aka lamb testicles fried with onions. Of course, we didn 't know that at the time, but it sure gives meaning to the Italian curse that I learned as a kid from my friends: 'Your balls are fried with eggs! ' In spite of the post dinner culture shock, that dish was damn tasty! The place is set up with private booths inside, and a large dining area in a garden with a lot of guys hanging out schmoozing and drinking coffee. Very comfortable and like I said, the staff made us feel at home and got off on talking with my Azeri friend. I read some of the negative reviews that trashed the place and have to report that our experience was not even remotely close to those other people. As for the guys hanging out in the garden, my buddy called them 'chobans ' literally 'shepherds ' but with the connotation of 'hillbilly, ' 'country bumpkin, ' or 'chaim yankel. ' And damnit if they didn 't give the place class!"
