This started off as a quest to find the Great Bao Truck street vendor with the great reviews on Yelp. It turns out the truck has temporarily disappeared and has instead morphed into a diner style restaurant called Fat Choy in the Eureka Casino.
The Eureka Casino is an unusual location for the vegas Mecca of Pork Belly goodness. It is a tiny smokey third tier casino filled with just slot machines, most of which are penny machines. It will take you decades to blow your retirement at a casino like this with penny slot machines. It seemed that many of the patrons were doing just that.
The second thing you should know is that it is not exactly on the strip. It is on the corner of 6th and Sahara, which at certain times of days is more difficult to convince a cab to pick you up than the middle of Death Valley National Park. Don't come here unless you have a car to get back to your hotel. I spent over 90 minutes and a dozen phone calls trying to convince a cab to come out here.
Once you have dealt with these two hurdles you can look forward to some great food. Fat Choy has Great pork belly and Peking Duck Bao. These are their two signature dishes.
The Pork Belly Bao is a Taiwanese classic, and Fat Choy does a pretty authentic version. Great asian steamed bread, lots of slow cooked pork belly with the crust of cilantro peanuts and sugar. I prefer a little more sugar crust, but these are the best Bao I have had in Vegas.
The Peking Duck Bao was also surprisingly good. Perfectly cooked fally duck, with just the right amount of spring onion and Hoisin sauce.
The Eureka Casino is a very unusual location for a foodie gem like this. I would have expected a Popeyes Chicken or Burger King as the resident restaurant. I guess its synergistic; for the chef the kitchen is more roomy than what you find on a food truck and for dinners, you have tables and a roof. I just didn't see many of the retiree patrons fully appreciating this Taiwanese Pork Belly Mecca as they feverishly work down their 401Ks in the smoke heavy air.
If you are a fan of Taiwanese Pork Belly Bao and can survive the journey to a smoky little casino in the middle of nowhere, you are in for a food treat.