As a rule, you are better off fulfilling your buffet desires (unless you demand the cheapest of prices) at one of the newer hotels, and the Palms's entry in the buffet sweepstakes bears this adage out. Not only does it look rather swell, but since the owners of the hotel are from a Middle Eastern background, that translates into some fresher concepts at the stations, most notably an emphasis on Middle Eastern fare such as gyros with warm pita bread, hummus, baba ghanouj, and kebabs of every variety. Plus there's a huge Chinese station complete with dumplings, a Mongolian barbecue section (where they toss all your chosen ingredients in one stir-fry vat), some "Jewish" foods (knishes and kugel), an ambitious carving station with ribs and pastrami, and desserts that, as usual, aren't much of anything. And actually, this comes for close-to-classic-buffet budget prices -- while still supplying food that can be described as better than "merely edible."