Palms A.Y.C.E. Brunch Buffet

The validation at Club Serrano took five minutes. The wait to get into the weekday brunch buffet (served 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., 1 p.m. on Wed. and Thurs.) also took five minutes — plus an hour.

The line wasn’t especially long, but it moved in fits and starts, stalling when people waiting for a table backed up to the cashier. Yes, it was a drudge, especially looking into the room and seeing half the tables empty, but dirty. Eventually, however, you pay (more on that below), get seated, fill your plate and then your face, and all is forgiven and forgotten — unless you have to write a review.

Filling your plate is easy. The good stuff: steamed snow crab (worth the wait alone), six-ounce steak (grilled to perfection), carved bone-in ham, pork loin, and chicken breast, dill salmon, medium peeled shrimp, bagels and lox, cooked-to-order eggs, and two types of Benedicts. You’ll also be tempted by Middle Eastern choices (baba ghanoush, Fattoush salad, falafel/tzatziki), scrambled eggs and Tex-Mex scramble, bacon, sausage, several potato dishes, hot and cold cereal, parfait bar, melons, salads, lobster roll, fajitas, tamales, several pizzas, and chicken and waffles.

For dessert, there’s scooped sorbet, soft-serve, and assorted pastries cakes, and pies.

As you eat, you’re secure in the knowledge that with our MRO coupon, you’re getting the best buffet deal in town, without a doubt, and one of the best deals in town overall. With the 50%-for-one option, you pay $21.50, for two $42.99. (The brunch buffet price was raised $10 on August 12; dinner Sat.-Tues. is $46.99, an increase of $10. Snow crab and prime rib on Fridays is now $52.99, up $10 and the all-you-can-eat lobster dinner on Wed. and Thurs. is $79.99, up from $64.99.) With a $5 toke, a couple is out of there for $50.

As we say, this deal is so strong, it erases the memory of standing around for an hour.