Absheron Palace Brings Eastern European Culture, Cuisine to Plymouth

The Twin Cities is a melting pot of cultures, and in a small strip mall along Highway 55 in Plymouth, people can get a taste of the food associated with a region that’s 6,000 miles away.

“I’m talking about Azerbaijan, Armenian, Georgians, Russians, Ukrainian, Jews, everybody,” said Igor Yakovlev, the owner of Absheron Palace, which is named after the peninsula where he’s from in Azerbaijan.

Absheron Palace opened in February as a banquet hall, but in September, he turned it into a full-blown restaurant.

“We do have a lot of rice,” Yakovlev said. “Most of our product is made of lamb, beef, sometimes if people request we do the pork.”

Kebabs, served with a side of rice pilaf, are the biggest sellers here. But they also serve a number of other dishes that cater to the estimated 350,000 Russian-speaking residents of the Twin Cities.

Lamb tenderloin marinated with spices at Absheron Palace.

“We are preparing the food that people know,” Yakovlev said.

Yet while the food may have a Mediterranean and Eastern European influence, all cultures are welcome here.

“If they want a hamburger, if they want to have something different, we’re willing to work with them,” Yakovlev said.

Opening this space is something that Yakovlev never imagined when he first came to the United States as a refugee in 1994.

“We were studying, we were learning,” Yakovlev said.

After years of preparation, the hope is that Absheron Palace will serve as an entertainment and dining venue in Plymouth for years to come.

“Whoever lives in the Twin Cities area they can come and experience it,” Yakovlev said. “So I am sure they will enjoy it.”

Absheron Palace is open Tuesday through Saturday.

Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday their hours are 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch, and 5 to 9 p.m. for dinner.

Friday they’re open from 11 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. for lunch and 5 p.m. to midnight for dinner.

Saturday the hours are 5 p.m. to midnight.

Salad and pita bread at Absheron Palace. The restaurant and banquet hall is located at 10730 Highway 55 in Plymouth.

Related: Minnesota’s Only Uzbek Restaurant Serves Up Central Asian Cuisine in Plymouth

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