The Boyd Gaming company has had tremendous success in recent updates of its dining programs with new and different Asian restaurant concepts at Las Vegas properties including Ondori at The Orleans and California Noodle House at the California downtown. The latest arrival is Peng Zu, a new Asian restaurant at the Suncoast. The casual destination is perfect for a quick soup-and-noodle fix for those taking a break from the tables, or a memorable group meal with cuisine refined enough to resonate.

Peng Zu was a fabled character who lived during the Shang Dynasty in China. He is regarded as a saint in Taoism and legend says he lived to be more than 800 years old. The Chinese attribute his long life to the natural food he ate, including a special recipe for soup.

It remains to be seen if eating the Peng Zu soup at the Suncoast eatery will give you a longer, healthier life, but there’s no doubting its deliciousness. A clear, savory chicken broth is a beautiful base for tender pork wontons, plump shrimp, thick slabs of char siu pork, fresh bok choy and satisfying egg noodles, all adding up to a soothing and soulful dish.

Just because the food at Peng Zu is healthy and fresh doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate a little here, though. Start with a glass of rosé, a Lotus cocktail of Tito’s vodka, lychee liqueur and cranberry juice, or maybe even a cool sake bomb—and get the party started. Pair your beverage with fun, shareable appetizers like crispy crab Rangoon wontons filled with seafood and curried cream cheese, grilled chicken satay skewers served with tangy Thai peanut sauce and addictive coconut-crusted shrimp with a sweet-and-spicy chili dip. Salt and pepper chicken wings seasoned with garlic, spring onions, Chinese five spice and chili peppers are hard to pass on as well.

Peng Zu

Salt and pepper chicken wings View Gallery

If it’s heartiness you crave, that big bowl of Peng Zu soup is just one option. There’s beef pho from Vietnam laced with basil and chilies; Chinese-American favorites of wonton, hot and sour or classic egg drop soup; and pork belly ramen from Japan in miso broth with a soft-cooked egg and fish cake. The noodle department is diverse, featuring pad Thai; char siu barbecue pork egg noodles; curried Singapore rice noodles with pork, shrimp, chicken, vegetables and egg; or crispy Hong Kong-style egg noodles in a savory seafood-based sauce.

Familiar entrées like tempura honey walnut shrimp and kung pao chicken are available, and then there’s Peng Zu’s house specialties, like a half duck roasted to perfection with crispy skin and a delicate sea bass steamed with ginger and soy. The seafood clay pot in black bean sauce will make everyone at your table happy, especially with sides of garlic-sautéed bok choy and the house combination fried rice loaded with barbecue pork, chicken and shrimp. Cap off those entrées with a dessert of mango cake, a soft vanilla sponge with mango filling.

Here’s to a long life full of many large bowls of soup, noodles and fantastic food like Peng Zu’s Asian favorites.

Suncoast, 4-9 p.m. Sun.-Thurs., 4-10 p.m. Fri.-Sat. 702.636.7111