Jasmine Port Baku

A trendy Asian restaurant: a swing and a miss in Port Baku

Address: 153 Neftchilar Ave., Baku

Last week, to celebrate the last day of the Novruz holidays, and a truly stunning first day of sunny spring, we treated ourselves to yet another kid-free lunch out. As it was an impromptu and quite late decision and we were walked out by all the explorations of the past few days (and were very keen to save some precious nanny time for an afternoon swim and sauna), we opted for convenience. Port Baku boasts a plethora of restaurants and cafes which offer a variety of cuisines. As I am more than a little partial to several Asian cuisines (sushi and Pad Thai tie as my favourite foods, quite the curve ball for an Italian, I know!), we chose Jasmine, which had the added benefit of having been recommended to us.

We had barely set foot through the door when we received the first disappointing news: the covered outdoors area, from which we were hoping to soak in some beautiful springtime rays while still being comfortably warm, is allocated to smokers, which we are not. We were ushered indoors, in a striking high-ceilinged room which however was way too far removed from the sun for my taste – alas! Indoors, the decor makes for a trendy and edgy establishment, with black wooden panelling, tables, and chairs matching the sleek crockery, and large mural paintings – a red geisha on one side, which matches the table placemats, and a sakura tree on the other.

In true post-Covid style, the menu is accessed via QR code and it’s massive, and by that I mean properly massive, huge: we scroll for what seems like hours before even making it our of the ‘Starters’ section. They offer a variety of different Asian cuisines: Chinese, Thai, Japanese… a spectacular smorgasbord of my favourite foods, so by this point I am scrolling up and down the menu trying to fathom how to whittle down my options, as I would gladly eat literally every single item on the menu.

Sushi is quickly written off. As it seems to be typical in Baku, basically all options are of the type I like to call the “brunch sushi” (i.e. featuring smoked salmon and abundant cream cheese). Good quality fresh fish seems to be hard to come by around here, so fair enough, but not what I am up for, so “thank you, next!”.

In the end, we select two soups as starters, and mains to share. I go for a hot and sour soup with seafood and the husband picks his all-time favourite: Tom Yum, also with seafood. To follow we go for a prawn and crispy noodle salad and Mongolian beef accompanied by coriander fried rice. We decide to make this a proper treat of a lunch and order an Asahi to share.

The Tom Yum is very aromatic and spicy, although the coconut flavour is a little too strong. The hot and sour soup, I am afraid to say – and I am sorry for what I am about to type! – struck a sour note with me. Now. I love sour food to an unhealthy, at times borderline disgusting degree (I am told by someone who really loves me that the sight of me eating sauerkraut strait from the jar is downright revolting) and I adore spicy food, the spicier the better. This soup was neither, unfortunately. It was very thick, almost gelatinous, and with a really strong taste of stock cube which I suspect was obtained through liberal use of Maggi sauce. The first few spoonfuls felt enjoyable and surprisingly moreish, but I soon grew tired of the salty meaty sticky gelatine-like goop. And thirsty. I got oh so very thirsty!

The prawn and crispy noodle salad was nice enough: light and fruity in a sticky sauce which nicely contrasted with the crunchy noodles. Unfortunately the prawns were very few and far between. The Mongolian beef suffered from the same ailment of the hot and sour soup: it was served in a sauce that was tasty but exceptionally salty. I also wish the chunks of meat had been a little crispier, providing a bit more texture, rather than quite soft and to be honest a little boring. The MVP of the meal was definitely the coriander fried rice which we ordered as a side to the beef: it was the most striking shade of vibrant green, nicely balanced, and incredibly delicious.

The portions were beyond generous: we couldn’t finish either of our mains, nor the excellent rice (truth be told, we after we were done with the rice, there was enough leftover to make up a couple of “normal” restaurant portions).

I have spent the rest of the afternoon feeling exceptionally sluggish and stuffed, with indigestion and an unquenchable parched feeling on my tongue. By contrast, we had eaten way more food the previous day at Serhli Tendir, but Jasmine was harder to digest. And with a final bill of 120AZN this meal was also really expensive, both in general and for what it was, although admittedly the location is so central it must come with an uptick in price.

I am sorry to say, I am still on the lookout for a good Asian restaurant to satisfy my Pad Thai crave here in Baku. Reader, if you have any suggestions feel free to send them using the contact button or leaving a comment!