I can't give you a complete review because my husband and I don't like Spicy food and a lot of it in the Palms new restaurant is spicy. But we asked for non-spicy dishes, which should have been possible since Mandarin as well as Szechwan are in the menu. But our experience was a C Minus, not just because of the food, but because of the some want scattered service. For one thing, no deserts were available, apparently they are still on order. Just why they couldn't come up with some ice cream to serve is beyond me (or bake some almond cookies?).
We ordered scallion pancakes as an appetizer, one of my favorites, and they were excellent. One flaw though, no dipping sauce for the pancakes. After I requested dumpling sauce at least, the waiters seem confused, and took their sweet time and a second request to bring some. By then most of the pancakes were gone. The sauce wasn't very good either, just an overly vinegar mix of vinegar and soy sauce.
Also had wonton soup, which was tasty, but too peppery and salty. Too bad because otherwise it would have been good.
Then came shrimp with lobster sauce. But the plain rice we ordered to go with it didn't arrive. Again we had to make a second request, and it came too late. On the East Coast this dish always has a white sauce, but here, like elsewhere in Vegas, the sauce is red and doesn't have much lobster flavor. It did have a strong hint of chili, despite our request for non spicy food. Fortunately the chicken with mixed vegetables (finally) arrived, and that was excellent and non-spicy.
The prices were moderate, only $12.95 for the chicken with vegetables for example. The menu is quite large, with many dishes and appetizers. Unfortunately it apparently was misprinted, and doesn't list some of the chef's specialties such as shrimp with lemon sauce, which do appear on the lunch menu (so ask for both menus if you go).
They are open from 10 am to 11 pm and serve dim sum 10-4. We will have to go back for that because we love dim sum.
Hopefully some of the problems (like no desert) will be fixed in a few weeks. By the way, the restaurant has been totally refurbished from Little Buddah days, including removing some of the stepped up areas. There is no sushi bar anymore (sigh). Decor is still very nice.
Little Buddah was our favorite restaurant in Vegas, and we would go 3-4 times a month. Unfortunately this new replacement is no replacement for us, but if you enjoy spicy Szechwan food you will probably enjoy it. Whether this restaurant will bring in the Chinese gamblers that the Palms wants remains to be seen. Some better signage to the restaurant would help.
By the way, the Palms other restaurant that used to be Guardunos and then a "women's sports bar" remains closed, with no signs of remodeling at this time.
What they probably should have done was tear out both restaurants to make a new and better buffet and make the buffet into a Chinese restaurant. The buffet continues to be mediocre at best. At least with discounts it is cheap.
