There was a time when Liberty Road was awash in the kind of restaurants you could easily kill half a day in. These days, it's carryout heaven. Amid the drive-throughs, though, there's still something worth getting out of your car for—
Szechuan Best (8625 Liberty Road, Randallstown, [410] 521-0020), home of stellar Chinese food, ranging from Americanized to authentic. Order from the large printed menu, or consult the handwritten list. The servers will be happy to steer you to something besides sweet-and-sour pork (though that wouldn't be a poor choice). Go weekends for the dim sum, that uniquely Chinese brunch of tasty tidbits.
Half a block off the main drag sits Akbar Palace (3541 Brenbrook Road, Randallstown [410] 655-1600), offering the same fine, reasonably priced Indian staples that diners at its Mount Vernon and Columbia cousins have come to know and love. The Randallstown branch's innovation is a commitment to showcasing the lesser-known cuisines of the subcontinent. We applaud this culinary diversity in a region notoriously resistant to change. Personally, we'll be driving over as much for a refill of the old stuff as a sample of the new, because we can only go so long before we dive into a plate of tandoori chicken or rogan josh.
