# VIA Rail The Canadian Video of Menus and Meals - Vancouver to Toronto May 6 2022



## Marbleski (Jun 7, 2022)

My foodie brother in-law suggested I do a video of some meals onboard the Canadian during my trip last month. I though the food was catered and warmed up like on the Ocean Train I took between Halifax and Montreal in February. I was not expecting the food to be cooked on board and so delicious. 

Interestingly, most passengers were from the United States with a scattering of Canadians and Europeans. 

Here is the link to the video.


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## Dakota 400 (Jun 7, 2022)

Thank you for making the video. The menus certainly had very good variety of selections and the food looked delicious.


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## JWM (Jun 7, 2022)

Amtrak, throw out your dining service and look at the "Canadian".


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## jis (Jun 7, 2022)

JWM said:


> Amtrak, throw out your dining service and look at the "Canadian".


Of course without reducing frequency of service down to weekly or twice a week with a four+ hour stop en route, while at it


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## Marbleski (Jun 7, 2022)

Dakota 400 said:


> Thank you for making the video. The menus certainly had very good variety of selections and the food looked delicious.


Thanks for watching. The meals were truly amazing. My wife just looked at my video and said maybe I can do the train lol.

For those who have cruised with NCL, the food is comparable to the dining experience in their specialty restaurants. 

There are two full service restaurants onboard. I ate in the one with the Prestige passengers. With the fares they pay I assume they assign their best chefs and staff to this dining room. The service was exceptional.


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## jiml (Jun 7, 2022)

Great video. How did you gain evening access to the Park car? I thought it was restricted to Prestige passengers in "prime time".


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## Bob Dylan (Jun 7, 2022)

jiml said:


> Great video. How did you gain evening access to the Park car? I thought it was restricted to Prestige passengers in "prime time".


Good question, it's been 3 years since I rode, and the Policies and Procedures have changed several times so only recent Riders will be able to provide us with the latest rules.

Regular Sleepng Car Passengers ( Sleeper Plus)do share the Diner with Prestige Folks( who get "Free" Adult Beverages and have Receptions in the Park Car limited to just them).

They also have Reserved Seating in the Park Car Dome even in the "Off Season".


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## Marbleski (Jun 7, 2022)

jiml said:


> Great video. How did you gain evening access to the Park car? I thought it was restricted to Prestige passengers in "prime time".


We had an upper and lower berth which is a sleeper class ticket. All non Prestige sleeper class pax have access to the Park Car daily after 4 pm from day 2 onwards. 

So …. it’s a no go for us until shortly after we ate lunch after catching the train in Jasper after our three day stop over. By 4 pm on day two the Rocky Mountains are no more. 

The first three rows of the Dome are restricted for Prestige Pax. 

We had a beer or two each night in the lower part at the end and it was us plus three prestige couples and another lady from Australia who also stayed in a berth. We were the only Canadians. 

It was great and we had some interesting conversations. My 26 year old son loved the nightly social interactions. 

We had to pay for our drinks while they were included in the Prestige Pax class ticket.

The days we had a pre dinner drink in the Park Car Dome we noticed the Prestige pax were called to the late seating 30 minutes early for an extra appetizer.

Very few non-prestige pax visited the Park Car.


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## Dakota 400 (Jun 8, 2022)

Marbleski said:


> For those who have cruised with NCL, the food is comparable to the dining experience in their specialty restaurants.



I have not sailed with NCL for a long time, but, the recent reviews by those who have that I have read usually have much praise for their specialty restaurants.


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