Bob & Brenda Geocaching

Our Observations

This place is where we go for dinner more than anywhere else in town. Fantastic food and a quirky staff make this an enjoyable evening-plus, the leftovers taste even better the next day!

First of all a few notes:

1. It's in the Palace Station. Yes, it's an old casino. Yes, it's not in the best part of town. Yes, housekeeping could probably use some work. It's not as bright and clean as the picture on their web site. Get over it!

2. It's not a restaurant, it's a bar. It only seats 18 people and there's only 1 chef. You're going to wait in line--maybe up to 2 hours if you're there during rush hour. If you don't want to wait that long, go somewhere else. Don't stand in line and complain about how long you've been waiting!

3. Don't come with a large party and expect to sit together unless other patrons are willing to play musical chairs to help you out.

4. All the roasts and gumbos are cooked to order, take about 10 to 15 minutes, and each party's order is cooked together. There are only 6 roasters. If your party has 3 people and a party that sat down just ahead of you has 4, you do the math. You're going to be waiting.

5. The staff may seem aloof/cocky/arrogant/surly or whatever to you, but they're not. They know their regulars and have most of our orders memorized. They're quite willing to strike up a conversation.

We probably eat here at least once a month. We just love the combo pan roasts. As noted, there's probably going to be a wait in line, so we'll stop here on the way home from work. That way we're getting there about 4 in the afternoon before most folks are ready to go out. It's a bit early for dinner, but we seldom have to wait in line. We also look to see who's cooking. We prefer JJ as our chef because he's always fun to talk to. Bob is another good chef, but we've learned to tone our heat rating down a notch or two when he's on the line.

We'll occasionally start with a dozen oysters that are shucked right at the bar. They're always fresh and with a squeeze of lemon and a bit of cocktail sauce they slide right down. I'll usually have a bowl of New England clam chowder or an order of littleneck clam steamers. Both are very tasty and lead right into the pan roasts. If you've never had a pan roast, it's seafood sautéed in a steam roaster with a brandy, cream and tomato base served with a scoop of rice. It's closer to a thick soup than anything else. We get the combo roast which has shrimp, crab, and lobster. When you order, you tell them how hot you want it on a scale from 1 to 10. Brenda always gets a 5 and I'm usually a 7 or 8. With a 10 you get fresh chopped habaneros on top. You get to watch the food prepared right in front of you and the smell of the seafood and garlic permeates the area. One thing we've learned is that once you get your pan roast, ask for a bowl of horseradish and add a spoonful into the bowl. It doesn't add much more heat to the mix, but it does enhance the flavor.

Station Casinos has tried to duplicate this Oyster Bar in some of their other properties. Sunset Station and Texas Station both have what they call Oyster Bars and the menu is similar, but these are more like regular restaurants. We don't think the food at these is quite as good as at Palace Station and that may be because they're trying to serve so many customers. There is a Tides Oyster Bar at Green Valley Ranch. There used to be one at Santa Fe Station as well. We tried it and the food was terrible. It didn't last a year and the space where it was is still boarded up.

When we go, we'll only eat half the bowl so we can save some for a day or two later. Once all the spices and flavors sit a couple of days together in the fridge, we think the pan roast tastes even better than the day it was made.