Flame Kabob Fine Persian Cuisine

Mediterranean/Middle Eastern restaurants have sprung up all over the valley in recent years, becoming so numerous that at one point a reader asked me why I was reviewing so many of them -- the most basic answer to which was, of course, that there are so many.

There are a couple of other reasons for our frequent visits, though, and they are that most of them are mom-and-pops and most pretty reasonably priced, things that we've found are particularly appealing to Review-Journal readers these days.

But, as is the case with Italian and Mexican restaurants and steakhouses, a category with so many members leads to a tendency to many of them getting lost in the crowd, especially if they don't find a way to distinguish themselves.

Flame Kabob has managed to etch out a niche of its own, though. While it's a counter-service restaurant, like many of its compatriots, it doesn't provide hookah service, which means there aren't a lot of fruity smells wafting through the air. And while its menu shares a number of dishes with the rest -- those would include the ever-more-popular hummus, plus baba ghanoush and tabouli -- a Persian flavor seeps in, most notably in the fresh taftoon bread.

Taftoon is the Persian version of that catch-all category "pita." At Flame Kabob, it's less like the average pita and more like the Indian naan. It's large and circular with a very pleasant stretchiness and the blistering that characterizes naan, which makes sense because taftoon is baked in a clay oven similar to a tandoor. And at Flame Kabob the taftoon comes fresh out of the oven.

Well, let me qualify that a little bit. Our appetizer of, yes, hummus ($1.99) -- our traditional bellwether for Mediterranean/Middle Eastern restaurants -- was ready so quickly that we were sure the bread wasn't freshly baked. While it was perfectly acceptable, it was a little more brittle than the bread that accompanied our kabobs, not as stretchy or as faintly smoky. The hummus itself was better than average, sparked with a bit of sumac, which lent dark red color as well as a bit of tartness. We love our hummus with a float of fruity olive oil, and that's how it's served at Flame Kabob.

But while the hummus was fine, the best was yet to come. The lamb kubideh kabob ($7.99) was ground, seasoned meat formed onto a skewer in a sort of beaded shape that resembled stacked chunks of meat, then cooked on a rotisserie and served atop a dinner-plate-sized piece of taftoon. It was so hot, big and juicy (and we could've had double the meat for just $2 more) that it was impossible to pick up, so we used a fork to whittle away at the meat before finally piling on the onion and the mixed greens and rolling it all up, which rewarded us with several textures at the same time. On the side was a wedge of lime and a broiled tomato, plus a big mound of rice that was billed as saffron but didn't have any detectable hint of it and that was a sort of offbeat polychromatic white, yellow and orange, but decent enough nonetheless.

We also had a beef shish kabob platter ($8.99), in which the meat was chunks instead of ground and formed. But it had been thoroughly marinated and lightly cooked, so it was almost as tender and flavorful as its ground counterpart, but with a better texture. The sides were the same as on the kubideh kabob platter.

And this is the point where I tell you that I really wanted to try the baklava, but that with such generous servings (and servings we were reluctant to push aside), it was unthinkable.

Next time, because there will be a next time. Good restaurants in this part of town are not exactly in plentiful supply, and Flame Kabob's moderate prices and generous servings make it a good value.

And they even sell the taftoon separately ($1.99), to satisfy those random cravings.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reviews are done anonymously at Review-Journal expense. Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at 383-0474 or e-mail her at hrinella@ reviewjournal.com.