Royal Palm Mediterranean Cuisine — Restaurant in Fairview Heights

Went to early dinner at Royal Palm with my wife and son on 30 August. The TL;DR review is this restaurant is disappointing and not ready for prime time. To caveat this review, I was very excited to see a middle eastern / Mediterranean restaurant open in the STL metro east as I absolutely love this style of food. My favorite restaurant in the STL is Sultan Mediterranean followed by Balkan Treat Box (especially at City games). As those are 20 miles away, as I stated, I was excited to try Royal Palm with high hopes that the food would be amazing. Sadly, it was not. This review will be a bit harsh, but I want this place to succeed, and right now it is failing badly.

To begin, my wife and I arrived around 1650. We waited almost 10 minutes for a host to seat us ... not because there were no tables, but because there was no host. My son arrived around 1705. We waited until around 1720 for a server to appear, and in the interim of being seating and an initial contact with a server, 5 other parties were seated ... and like us, all waited. 1 couple left after about 10 minutes. Around 1720, one server, who was very nice, appeared and took the orders from all 4 tables waiting. Our order was: 2x apps and 3 entrees. It took another 10 minutes to receive our drinks (3x water, 1x soda). We waited for another 25 minutes for the food to arrive. When the food arrived, only 2 entrees were included: no apps and no third entree. As my wife and son ate their meals, I waited patiently for mine. At 1820, the server came out and rectified the order. I received my entree and the two apps in to go packages around 1830. We asked for the check, and while we waited for that, I ate most of my meal. We left around 1840. In all, we were at the restaurant for 1 hr 50 minutes. Now, I grew up in Europe, so I am used to waiting, but this was pure chaos. They got most of the orders wrong. Another table had the same thing happen to them as what happened to us. What is hard to figure out is that we saw 6 workers (young hostess, 4 servers, I busser), but the entire time we were there, only the server who helped us was working most of the big seating area. As we were leaving, the other 3 servers were finally out helping. It was very clear they had no one running the front of house. They desperately need an experienced front of house manager.

Now, the food: it was mid to poor. The food which fid arrive was cold and it was apparent it was cooked the previous day and quickly reheated. The rice was extremely dry as if it was a day or two old. The only food which we received that was freshly made was the falafel app, which was good. The baba ganoush was just ok. The food was seasoned ok, a bit bland at times. We had the chicken tawook and two shawarma plates (one chicken and one mixed). Overall, the food was poorly done and did not meet our expectations which are weighed against the Sultan and Balkan restaurants which both are excellent. Much like the front of house, they desperately need a back of house manager.

In closing, and I am giving them grace here, it was chaos. Our experience is that someone had an idea to open a restaurant, but did not have the requisite acumen or experience required for such a venture. Again, really disappointed that Royal Palm was not excellent. I am going to give them a few months to adjust and figure things out and then I will revisit the restaurant and give...

Mediterranean Dining at its finest in the metro east!

There are meals that satisfy hunger, and then there are sumptuous meals that bring tears to your eyes because they’re so rich in tradition and flavor.

We were warmly greeted upon entering the restaurant and because this is their soft opening weekend, we were given a generous sampler platter for an appetizer. The hummus was luxuriously smooth, kissed with lemon, and elevated by the delicate nuttiness of tahini. Equally compelling was the baba ghanouj, (always a favorite of mine) smokey and complex fire-roasted eggplant. The falafel was warm and crisp on the outside, herbaceous and tender inside. We also sampled the arayes—grilled pita stuffed with spiced meat—which was savory and full of flavor. The grape leaves were as my Turkish friend described ‘the real deal’ delicately rolled, with rice and herbs seasoned so harmoniously they danced between brightness and comfort.

The centerpiece was the Royal Mixed Grill, a platter that felt regal in both presentation and taste. The kufta kebab, lamb and beef imbued with warm spices, was fantastic. The chicken tawook was tender and succulent, with subtle spice infused in every bite. The shish kebab was our favorite, practically melting in your mouth, morsels of beef that were divine.

As if we weren’t already stuffed to the gills we couldn’t leave without dessert. The custard katayfi was nothing short of EXQUISITE: a golden nest base of shredded phyllo dough pastry, layered with silky custard, topped by a thin layer of whipped cream and a touch of sweetness that left us in absolute awe. It was textural poetry—crispy, creamy, and decadent, clearly this dessert is infused with love and pride.

It is apparent that there was no detail not thought about with the menu and the restaurant itself. The bar offers fresh smoothies and they are working on expanding the menu to eventually include a selection of fine coffee and teas.

They have a separate hookah lounge that when you step inside you are enveloped by warmth and fragrance. The hookah lounge instantly evokes the experience of being in a Mediterranean cafe with the brightly colored walls and is equipped with state of the art ventilation.

Overall Royal Palm Mediterranean Cuisine is an absolute gem, more than a dining spot. The attention to detail, authenticity of the cuisine, the delightful staff are a cultural sanctuary—a space where hospitality meets...

As an Arab American family we really wanted to support this place but with that being said I’ve been here 3 times now and will never be going back. The first time was the first week they opened and it was absolutely terrible, we ordered it to go. We ordered 3 meals and all the meat was raw including the chicken on one of our meals and the quality wasn’t very good of the other meals. I told myself maybe they needed to work out some kinks and that they just opened. I did not finish the food because I was very off put by the undercooked meat. I went the 2nd time after my sister in law went with her husband and said they had a good experience eating inside. Me and her went with our kids and ate inside and it was really good. We order multiple meals- chicken platter and royal mix grill. Everything was good, portions were large and we were able to take home food and have more for later. Everything was fresh and had great flavor. 3rd time my husband and I went and it was not good. We got the royal mix grill and the chicken and meat shawarma and ordered the mezze appetizer. The hummus tastes like it’s from a can and all the salads were definitely made the day before and sat in the fridge all night so it was all very mushy. Nothing tasted like the 2nd time I went. There was about half the amount rice on both plates as previously and the chicken shawarma is not traditional shawarma, it’s just cut up chicken breast cooked in a pan with some sliced tomatoes on the plate. The mixed grill this time was very bland and once again the rice was not fresh. I ordered a sweet tea and you can definitely tell it’s not freshly brewed and tasted like a fake liquid mix. My husband and I boxed everything up after just a few bites and left. We will not be returning back to this place ever again. I also want to state we spent at least $100 every single time, not including the tip...