Taste

Dan Coughlin’s 8 East brings bold pan-Asian flavors to Las Vegas’ Circa Resort

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8 East Ramen
Photo: Mark Mediana / Courtesy

Circa opened with a dynamic dining mix of operators based in Las Vegas and concepts created by out-of-town restaurateurs. That’s a different approach for a new casino resort, especially one driven by tourism on the Strip or Downtown.

Alongside the regal Barry’s Downtown Prime and the super-casual, indoor-outdoor Project BBQ, Circa’s third local eatery is the pan-Asian 8 East. It was originally set to open in December with the hotel tower, not in October with the casino and other restaurants. But owner-operator Dan Coughlin got word in early September that his space could be ready for the grand-opening celebration and quickly shifted gears to make it happen. “They were literally finishing the construction inside while we were putting stuff away and training,” he says.

8 East’s Pork belly bao

8 East’s Pork belly bao

Coughlin has expanded his business successfully since debuting his beloved Le Thai Downtown, but 8 East feels like his second restaurant. He ushered in Downtown’s Bocho Sushi and Le Pho but brought in other operators for those projects.

“This is finally my second project where I’m 100% owner and operator. For the last three years, I’ve been writing this menu, tinkering at home and coming up with ideas,” he says. “I put a lot of pressure on myself—like, this is the second album coming out. This is for real.”

The result is a tight offering of small plates and noodle and rice dishes showing a wide range of influences, expanding on the Le Thai philosophy of holding nothing back when it comes to bold, even intense flavors.

Coughlin is a big fan of Chengdu Taste in Chinatown, and you can taste the devotion in the cumin lamb lollipop chops ($12) and the salt and Szechuan pepper chicken wings ($12). Simple starters like cucumber salad ($6) with pickled garlic, a traditional steamed egg ($6) with soy sauce and sesame oil and stir-fried green beans with pork and chili oil ($9) provide a foundation for the next layer of savory snacks, including ginger chicken dumplings ($12), pork belly bao buns ($10) and crispy pork belly ($12) slow-cooked for 10 hours before a quick fry and slathering of tamarind sauce.

“I’m pretty proud of the whole menu, and the feedback has been great,” Coughlin says, explaining that Asian gamblers and Midwest visitors are already returning to the casino spot. “The dumplings are a huge thing for me, and I love dumpling sauces. When I went to China, you would just eat them in a bowl and dump the sauces in there, and a lot of times you want to present things more picture-worthy, but boiled dumplings in a bowl is definitely a thing. You eat it with a spoon, so you get a lot of delicious things in every bite. We’re going to be introducing a lot more sauces with vinegars, sugar, garlic, Szechuan peppercorn, green onions and other stuff.”

A new version of Le Thai’s brisket fried rice ($16), as well as lobster fried rice, osso bucco ramen ($14) and dan dan noodles ($14), round out the regular menu, while daily and weekly specials pop up frequently, too. 8 East recently served up beef short rib dumplings with horseradish cream created by chef Steve Piamchuntar, another creative culinarian local foodies know from his own Nosh & Swig restaurant, along with kitchen stints at the Springs Preserve café and other restaurants and special events. Expect to see more new menu items from Piamchuntar as the restaurant evolves.

8 EAST Circa, 702-726-5508. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m.; Friday & Saturday, 11 a.m.-1 a.m.

Tags: Food, Asian food
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Brock Radke

Brock Radke is an award-winning writer and columnist who currently occupies the role of managing editor at Las Vegas Weekly ...

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