A restaurant in Baku’s Icherisheher, or Old City, listed eight pieces of dolma at 12 manats (about $7.06), a tomato-and-cucumber salad at 9 manats (about $5.29) and half a liter of lemonade at 5 manats (about $2.94).
According to Vesti Baku, an author for Globalinfo.az saw the prices at one of the historic district’s establishments.
At the listed prices, two portions of dolma, one salad and one lemonade would cost 38 manats, or about $22.35.
Restaurants are entitled to set their own prices. Customers, however, should be able to see the cost of each dish and whether a service charge applies before ordering. After paying, they also need a cash-register receipt that allows them to check the total and use Azerbaijan’s system for reclaiming part of the value-added tax.
Some Old City establishments have faced problems involving receipts. In some cases, customers are not given a receipt; in others, the receipt lacks a QR code needed for the VAT refund, or the code cannot be scanned. The tax authorities can determine whether a purchase was registered in the fiscal system.
The author called for checks on receipt issuance in Icherisheher, along Baku’s Seaside Boulevard and on the central shopping street commonly known as Torgovaya. The author also urged officials to determine whether establishments clearly disclose service charges on their menus.
For many visitors, Icherisheher provides their first introduction to Azerbaijani cuisine. Their memory of the meal may depend in part on how clearly they were told what they were paying for.