The Red Rock Resort created something out of nothing, carving out an underused corner of its Grand Cafe to build the tidy 8 Noodle Bar, a casual Asian eatery with 41 seats and familiar, bright red-and-white decor. Longtime Station Casinos chef Andy Vu took the lead on creating the 8 menu, a concise list of steamed buns, soups, noodles, rice dishes and small bites.

It may sound formulaic, but the flavors are anything but ordinary. After a pre-opening tasting of 10 different dishes, I expect 8 Noodle Bar to quietly become one of the best Asian dining options in the Summerlin area.

Standout starting dishes include creamy, crispy agedashi tofu ($4) coated in panko and served with a spicy mayo sauce, and mochiko chicken ($8), lightly fried morsels of dark meat known as chicken oysters coated in a spicy, sticky, sweet garlic-ginger sauce. This kitchen’s version of bao, steamed bread mini-sandwiches, can hang with any in town. They’re filled with roasted duck, braised pork belly, or a huge slab of ginger- and sake-braised beef short rib ($8) that gets kissed on the grill before being garnished with cucumber and pickled red onion. It’s a huge portion of tender, succulent meat, a must-try dish.

Pork belly is one of the stars of this menu, also showing up in the signature fried rice ($9) along with vegetables and a soft-poached egg, and in thin, delicate strips floating on exemplary ramen. The two styles of ramen available ($12) are super-rich tonkotsu and a unique shoyu made with chicken broth and veal bone stock and decked out with thicker noodles. The shoyu soup shines, an aromatic and addictive broth with slightly sweet and creamy notes.

8 Noodle Bar also makes an ideal wonton soup ($14) with pork and shrimp wontons, chicken, shrimp and choy sum floating in clear, savory broth. Soup-less noodle dishes include pad Thai, spicy shrimp or charred pork over vermicelli or soba noodles with veggies, but my pick is the fried pork sauce ($10) with slippery udon noodles and crisp slivers of snow peas and scallions. Even better are the fried rice dishes, especially the one with kimchi, bacon, fermented black beans and carrots ($8), a sweet, sour and meaty masterpiece.

8 Noodle Bar is officially open for lunch and dinner on December 15, with a dim sum menu available Saturday and Sunday mornings and late-night hours Friday and Saturday.

8 Noodle Bar Red Rock Resort, 702-797-7576. Monday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-midnight; Friday, 11 a.m.-2 a.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-2 a.m.; Sunday, 10 a.m.-midnight.