Oyster Bar at Palace Station – Possibly the Best Kept Secret in Vegas

Once in a while when a Yelper, blogger, or even an average Joe comes across a truly hidden culinary gem, they find themselves conflicted.  Do I share this great find with the rest of the undeserving world or keep it to myself in an effort to preserve the secret?

There’s already a long enough line, let’s keep it at a limit after all.  I don’t want to have to wait an hour next time I come to eat at MY place.

But… I guess if I never shared anything with you, I’d have nothing to write about.  Plus it’s not like I had to dance my way across a minefield to find out about this place.  Somebody else told me about this place and brought me here this weekend, so here I am continuing the chain of knowledge.

If the picture below intrigues you, continue on reading.

Does this have your attention?  This is the Palace Pan Roast at the Oyster Bar in Palace Station Casino.  And it is one big heaping bowl of delicious creole broiled goodness – shrimp, crab meat, and sausages mixed together in a flavorful stock of creamy, spicy tomato stew.  All of this is also made live, right in front of the patron, at one of the best kept secrets in Vegas.

Don’t you want to just dive right in?

Hold up, let’s first talk about where this oyster bar is and how I ended up here.

I should start with the pretext that I was very hungover after a night I will lovingly remember as “the night of the blue drink I do not recall chugging.”  At around 3 in the afternoon, this was the first thing of the day that I was putting into my mouth, and I still had no appetite for food.  When someone tells you that you’re going to the Oyster Bar, those are two words you do NOT want to associate with your stomach.

Let’s break it down.

Oysters – slimy little crustaceans that taste of salty ocean water when raw.

Bar – the reason why I’m in this mess in the first place.

No.  Eff that.

Everybody knows you always double down on eleven. It's money, baby!

But, the members of our group had been convinced by Steve Last-Name-Unknown on the trip up that this place was worth every penny and every minute of waiting, so I rolled out of bed and got dressed for our culinary adventure.  Check that – I mean undressed, since I’m sleeping in a gray dress shirt that smells like perfume and tequila.

This oyster bar is found inside the Palace Station Hotel & Casino.  If you’ve never been to Palace Station, it’s probably because there’s literally dozens of better places to stay and over a hundred better things to do than to gamble at a kind of casino where you’re likely to see the boys from Swingers doubling down (see right if this reference escapes you).  Not a whole lot going on here other than quite possibly the best pan roasts on this side of the Louisiana Purchase.

It’s a small trek from the strip, just on the other side of I-15 on Sahara Boulevard.  Once you get there, you’ll find that it’s the equivalent of a hole-in-the-wall (or the opposite, since it actually comes out of the wall).  If not for the glorious smell coming from the bar or the long line that builds, you probably would walk right past it like any other casino-side bar.

My friends, if you do, you will be missing out on something great (I’m assuming, of course, that you actually are my friend and that you’re strolling casually through this off-strip casino for a reason other than eating here).

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/a5/Swingers_Promo_Still.png

When you get to the casino floor, look for the long line and this awning below over the bar.

Find a spot in line and wait.  At 3pm, the line is about half an hour plus.  It’s likely more during lunch and dinner hours.  Trust me, it’s worth an hour even.

While we waited in line, I probably made three trips to the bathroom.  A friend of mine played some slots, and walked away from his machine.  The very next lady went up to the machine and got triple blazing sevens and won herself the $1022 jackpot.  That stings.

So does my tummy.  Hopefully we’ll get to eat soon to make it everything feel better.

After waiting, we grabbed two vacating seats so that the first couple could at least put all the orders in for the group while we waited.  We decided on the pan roast, oysters, clam chowder, and steamed clams.  I’m sure if I were 100%, I would have contributed an extra dish or two, but I was content with just nibbling for now.  There’s only 18 seats, and unfortunately, no to-go orders are honored if you’re not sitting down.

It’s a very simple operation here.  Almost everything is cooked right in front of you by one or two cooks.  All the pots are steam powered too, perfect for boiling pots of yummy roasts and stews in a hurry.

I chose not to partake in the oysters, but I heard they were good enough that my friends wished they had gotten the full dozen.  They looked fresh and delicious enough for me to have next time.

Here is the plate of steamed little neck clams.  I definitely pigged out on these.  They were steamed to perfection and served in a delicious broth of white wine, butter, and herbs.  Thank you very much for the free bread too.  I used it to soak up this juice and the clam chowder.  Hopefully when it enters my stomach, it will do the same to some of that grey goose from last night.

I want one of these in my future kitchen.  One guy was able to handle 6 of these, all cooking a variety of different seafoods and stews.  He made the cleanup look super easy too, just pull on the handle and everything comes right out.

The clam chowder (NE styled above) was creamy and full of delicious clams.  I needed some to coat and soothe my empty belly.  They also offer an $17 Alaskan chowder on the menu.  It contains clams, crabs, and shrimp, prepared either Manhattan or NE style.  It sounds delicious.  Maybe next time.

Here is the Palace Pan Roast again.  You can have a pan roast with oysters, lobster, crab, clams, whatever.  All served with a side of rice, which makes it a very comforting hangover dish.  The menu also offers other creole stew favorites, such as jambalaya, etouffee, and bouillabaise.

This is definitely getting added to my list of re-dos in Vegas.  It should be on yours too.  Don’t say I’ve never done anything for you.

Oyster Bar at Palace Station
Palace Station Hotel & Casino
2411 W Sahara Boulevard
Las Vegas, NV 89102

PS. I’ve discovered a closer equivalent in Southern California.  Maybe I’ll share it with you too, one day.