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The Boulevard Corporate Center in Owings Mills ain't much of a destination. But in the confines of this sterile strip mall is a surprising find: an Azerbaijani restaurant. The menu at Kavkaz Kebab includes both well-known favorites--like tandoori bread and, um, kebabs--and unfamiliar dishes, like piti soup, a broth with lamb, chickpeas, and hot, melt-in-your-mouth sour plums ($6.99). The cuisine seems to be sort of a cross between Middle Eastern and Eastern European fare. The lulya kebab, a sausage-like clump of mixed lamb and beef, tasted a lot like meatloaf, but in a good way, and the tangy tomato dipping sauce only enhanced the similarity ($9.99 for a lunch portion). The vegetarian kutabi ($4.49)--a thin quesadilla-like pocket filled with bitter greens--was also a hit, but our hands-down favorite was the lobio salad ($5.99). The simple dish consists primarily of red beans, walnuts, and garlic. It tasted fresh, healthy and delicious, especially sprinkled with a little tart sumac powder from the shaker on the table. The service was pleasant, the decor charming, and the strains of bad dance music from the Caucasus almost made us forget we were sitting between a Dunkin' Donuts and an Outback Steakhouse.

E-mail Andrea Appleton