ROYAL PERSIS
If you’ve ever had a hankerin’ for some ghourmeh sabzi, maust’ khiar, kashk-e-bademjan, and fesenjon, and let’s face it who hasn’t, then you owe it to yourself to get over east Flamingo way, and drop in on the Persian purveyors of primo polo (basmati rice) at Royal Persis.
We found the fesenjon (walnut chicken stew) too sweet, due to a surfeit of pomegranate molasses, but the lamb shank it a flat out bargain at eighteen bucks, and the bagali polo (with saffron, dill and lima beans) was so good we could’ve spent our meal just shoveling it into our pie hole.
The toasted pita bread is a plus, as is the dark, deep flavors within the aforementioned gourmeh sabzi (pictured) — a beef stew of vegetables, dried limes, and special seasonings. It looks green in the photo above but was black as coal to our eyes the night we ate it. It has a tart-yet-funky essence that may be an acquired taste to some, but we couldn’t get enough. For $13 it gives you a nice sense of the exotic seasonings that go into this under-appreciated cuisine.
This place is so popular with Iranian-expats and Persian-Americans alike, so you might feel like foreigner when you first walk in. But then you’ll get a warm welcome from their staff, and once you notice the portraits on the walls of those famous Persian-Americans: Frank Sinatra, Marilyn Monroe and Ray Charles(?), you’ll feel right at home.
The reason our tasty snaps are not so tasty is because the soups and stews of Persian food don’t exactly photograph as anything more than piles of mush. That doesn’t mean they’re not mighty tasty, though, and as you can see, we made short work of the lamb shank. Our non-alcoholic dinner for two came to $56 including a twelve dollar tip.
ROYAL PERSIS
2790 East Flamingo Road
Las Vegas, NV 89121-5253
702.413.6017
Restaurant reviews, quips, picks and pans-with some seriously salivating history-from the man who eats his way through Sin City every day.
January 16th, 2010 at 5:10 pm
I find it interesting that no one commented on this place. What it means is that Persian food, I guess, is only for food critics or Tehrangelenos. So get with the program, blog readers. All those Outback comments. Who are you people, anyway?
January 16th, 2010 at 6:46 pm
I eat there all the time.
I love the dictator’s rice and the ayatolah eggplant.
dont miss the death to america lentils
and save room for the zionist entity dessert cart
January 16th, 2010 at 6:52 pm
OK, I’m ignoring whatever the previous comment was about and apologizing to Mr. Max (& Mr. ELV, for that matter) for my dereliction of duty. Yes, I actually DO like Iranian food. And yes, I just added Royal Persis to my Urbanspoon wishlist. The eggplant stew sounds yummy, so I think I’ll want to give it a try when I make it up there.
January 16th, 2010 at 6:56 pm
I’m sure vegasdave doesn’t read Ezra Pound or listen to Richard Wagner either, although vegasmax is giving 100 to 1 he doesn’t know who either of them are. making it a moot point. Say Dave, when Mao was alive did you by chance ever eat an eggroll?
January 17th, 2010 at 8:03 am
Slapsie:
I stopped reading Pound when I discovered he was an anti Semite. Too many better poets who aren’t.
And please, nowadays even fans of the appallingly narcissistic Lady Gaga know a few lines of Rilke
As to Wagner, How very junior high of you to mention him.
Face it Max, both of those shitheels would have thrown you (and me) into the ovens with the flatbreads at Royal Persis. Do you think any of your “Teherangeleno” pals would bother stepping out of their $120k Mercedes Benz to save you?
As to that and any other Persian joint in town, I recommend you take a copy of The Unknown Black Book edited by Rubenstein with you the next time you dine.
Life as a screwball (and not nearly as amusing as ELV) food critic is a nice luxury you have. Try doing that in Iran.
And by the way, I get your point; I do drink the beer at the Hofbrauhaus.
January 18th, 2010 at 7:51 am
goyishe kopf
January 18th, 2010 at 2:54 pm
Mr. Max-
DFTT