One of the nation's more unusual dining experiences, Buzxana serves local standards (dolma, piti – soupy meat stew with chickpeas and saffron, etc) in a deep, brick-lined subterranean space whose somewhat sparse interior looks like a columnless church. In fact it was originally an ice-house where winter snow was kept to be used as a year-round form of refrigeration.
It's refreshingly cool, but when the weather is clement you can eat in the pretty rose garden that surrounds it. Ordering is an adventure as there's no menu and nobody speaks English. If you order piti, remember there's a special way to eat it!
The restaurant is completely hidden off the six-lane avenue that descends from the Heydar Əliyev Sarayi towards the train station. Look for the sign saying 'Milli Yeməklər' (national foods), and walk down the steps and through the garden to the building with the multiple gilt domes.
