Dining car meal

[AmtrakBlue]

Well, since this site is NOTa BLOG, but a FORUM, hopefully no one takes trainaddicts posts seriously.

 

[SarahZ]

Well, since this site is NOTa BLOG, but a FORUM, hopefully no one takes trainaddicts posts seriously.

Oh, no worries there. I never do.

 

[Ryan]

http://www.fda.gov/ICECI/Inspections/IOM/default.htm

Their blog

That's not a blog either, if we're going to be all technical about it.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

And if it caused death, you can sue.

Ummmm, if indeed food poisoning from AmChow was indeed fatal to the OP, wouldn't it be a bit tough for them to sue?????? h34r: :help: :wacko: :blink: :giggle:

Maybe the OP is only mostly dead, and not all dead.

 

[JayPea]

And if it caused death, you can sue.

Ummmm, if indeed food poisoning from AmChow was indeed fatal to the OP, wouldn't it be a bit tough for them to sue?????? h34r: :help: :wacko: :blink: :giggle:

Maybe the OP is only mostly dead, and not all dead.

In that case I guess they could sue proactively. :lol:

 

[montana mike]

I would agree they could work harder on the veggies, I don't think the "mix" has changed much in quite a while.

I always dump a little Salad Dressing on the Mix and that kicks a good deal of life into it. although I have never found it to be really bad from the get-go. I cannot recall having anything so bad on the train I actually left it on the plate.

I left the Bison Meatloaf on the plate--It was waaaay too spicy. Even the cook on the Empire Builder agreed with me! And I love Bison too. Bummer.

 

[norcalemt02]

On a trip on the Cali zephyr from emu to reno. I initially ordered the speciality sandwich which wasn't what described on the menu. Just a hot (soggy) ham and cheese sandwich. Extra salty. My friend ordered the soup and salad. The soup was filled 1/4 of the bowl cold hard potatoes. I had better food at McDonald's. It would be nice if it was cooked to Order. Fresh. Not micowaved.

 

[TinCan782]

From a Coast Starlight menu: "Occasionally, verbal substitutions may be offered instead of printed menu selections." Were you not advised that the Specialty Sandwich differed from the printed menu? As far as "soggy" goes, I would have taken that up with the server at the time but, its too late for that. Perhaps a call to Amtrak Customer Relations would now be in order.

 

[yarrow]

On a trip on the Cali zephyr from emu to reno. I initially ordered the speciality sandwich which wasn't what described on the menu. Just a hot (soggy) ham and cheese sandwich. Extra salty. My friend ordered the soup and salad. The soup was filled 1/4 of the bowl cold hard potatoes. I had better food at McDonald's. It would be nice if it was cooked to Order. Fresh. Not micowaved.

you guys did kind of pick the clinkers on the lunch menu. i think the sandwich was their "cubano" which is a kind of mashed, reheated affair. the soup and salad, imho, isn't too hot either as they don't give you much soup and it is obviously not freshly made. the burger is always good for lunch and often the lunch salad is too. amtrak food is generally pretty good but there is a thing or two to stay away from at each meal, imho.

 

[Ind Ben]

Always been good to me .

 

[Swimmingcat]

I think that the dining car meals are quite good -- The salads almost have to be 'standard' since to make them for each diner would take longer. But you have a choice of dressings (and sometimes crouton packs?). I agree with one poster who mentioned the spinach frittata -- I wasn't crazy about it either. But the burger is good; and I had the catfish both dinners on my latest ride.

 

[tp49]

So I guess it's safe to say we won't be seeing Amfood on the Food Channel's "The Best Thing I Ever Ate." :giggle:

 

[greatcats]

Sorry, but those salads are boring! Come to my house and you will be served a proper salad. Should we start a separate salad thread with poll?

On my trip a few weeks ago, the entire salad at lunch said Romaine. Baloney, it was iceberg! Cheap cheap cheap.

You will notice that on other posts of mine that I do have some positives to say about the food

 

[greatcats]

Entree salad.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

That being said the food is on par with some of the low-end chains like Denny's. Certain runs do it better like certain locations of Denny's do it better.

I once read a diner service manual, not once did I find the word 'food'. All conglomerate-marketing words like 'product' and 'units'.I think a lot of Amtrak's food woes would be fixed with real plates and glasses. If you serve it on a disposable plate like a TV dinner people will judge accordingly. If Amtrak would at least put it's "product" in the proper context (i.e. a plate) then most humans are susceptible enough to suggestion to think it tastes better.

 

[RalphCT]

you guys did kind of pick the clinkers on the lunch menu.

Different passengers have varying tastes and preferences. There shouldn't be any "clinkers" on the menu.

A Montanan who enjoys train travel.

 

[Trainmans daughter]

I enjoy the meals on Amtrak. That doesn't mean the food is always wonderful. It just means I love the whole dining car experience. I've only had one meal that I really couldn't eat. That was the Kung Pao Chicken on the CZ. When I think of "stir-fry", I think of slightly crispy veggies. These were soggy beyond recognition. But since I wasn't poisoned and didn't die, I refrained from contacting my Senator, Congressman/woman, Mayor, Judge, or other local representative, or President. Silly me!

 

[pennyk]

I sat with a woman on a recent trip who had the soup and salad. She loved it. I have food allergies and am limited as to what I can eat, but what I do eat, I find acceptable. I think Amtrak does a pretty good job with what they have to work with.

 

[rrdude]

I sat with a woman on a recent trip who had the soup and salad. She loved it. I have food allergies and am limited as to what I can eat, but what I do eat, I find acceptable. I think Amtrak does a pretty good job with what they have to work with.

"Food-Wise" I agree Penny. But they have (or used to at least) FABULOUS KITCHENS in the lower level of the Superliner Diners, the equipment is just sooooooooo under-utilized, it's almost criminal.

 

[yarrow]

you guys did kind of pick the clinkers on the lunch menu.

Different passengers have varying tastes and preferences. There shouldn't be any "clinkers" on the menu.

A Montanan who enjoys train travel.

you guys did kind of pick the clinkers on the lunch menu.

Different passengers have varying tastes and preferences. There shouldn't be any "clinkers" on the menu.

A Montanan who enjoys train travel.

i agree that there shouldn't be "clinkers". i got the impression from the op that this was a first time dining on the train. in a restaurant, i would be less than thrilled with a pre-made, warmed up sandwich which is what one of the party ordered probably expecting something, like the burger, freshly made. i have never had this sandwich(from the description i believe it is the cuban sandwich)but have seen it and, to me, it is none too appetizing in appearance though seems to taste ok. the soup and salad sounds good but my wife has tried it a couple times and doesn't care for it. partially it is the presentation(a little none too hot soup in a big soup plate)and partially, in my wife's experience, not very good soup). i very much enjoy eating in the dining car but for most of the meals i have eaten in the diner were i served that in a restaurant, i probably wouldn't return

 

[EB_OBS]

I would agree they could work harder on the veggies, I don't think the "mix" has changed much in quite a while.

I always dump a little Salad Dressing on the Mix and that kicks a good deal of life into it. although I have never found it to be really bad from the get-go. I cannot recall having anything so bad on the train I actually left it on the plate.

I left the Bison Meatloaf on the plate--It was waaaay too spicy. Even the cook on the Empire Builder agreed with me! And I love Bison too. Bummer.

Yeah I thought the Bison Meatloaf was too spicy for the average person as well. Me, I loved it, but I often have to take the lid off the pepper shaker to get enough pepper out of it for my taste. I love spicy. Jalapenos... YUM!

If it hadn't been so spicy I think it could have been a mainstay on the menu of the Empire Builder.

 

[D.P. Roberts]

From my experience, lunch is an extremely inconsistent meal overall. Food is generally served at a variety of different temperatures and levels of "done-ness". Even for something as basic as the hamburger, I've never been served two meals that were really identical.

 

[ALC Rail Writer]

From my experience, lunch is an extremely inconsistent meal overall. Food is generally served at a variety of different temperatures and levels of "done-ness". Even for something as basic as the hamburger, I've never been served two meals that were really identical.

One thing I've noticed is that sometimes they reheat the pre-cooked patties in batches of a half-dozen and then they will send out four or five and have one or two linger around and dwell past their hold times. Even with hold times the window of peak 'freshness' on these patties is extremely short, so if they're sent out too soon or too late they can come out cold in the middle but piping hot outside, or cold on the outside and warm in the middle. Once they're cooked they become hockey pucks within a half hour, so if you're not tucking in by then woe be unto your stomach.

I'm pretty sure I've never eaten a burger on Amtrak that was raw a few minutes prior. The heating times on these meals are quick but that also means there's a minimal window where this food is fit to serve. Burgers are cooked for 7-9 minutes from their frozen state, less if they've been thawed. The reason is when you used pre-cooked, prepared and frozen foods the chemistry and science that goes into making it durable, quick to reheat, and requiring minimal staff makes it very fragile. As such the "Chef Aramark Specials" and other pre-cooked dishes are extremely easy to ruin by undercooking or overcooking, over seasoning etc. It tastes like a TV dinner because it is a TV dinner in that sense.

Restaurants all over the world (especially low-end chains) operate successfully with this "product" because they can put it into a better context for the diner. They can have big restaurants and bars with loud music and colorful plates and all the branding you need to create a "unique" experience in every city in North America. This goes back to my argument about the plates. People eating Aramark food at other venues judge it according to how it is presented to them. I've been raised on Aramark food all my life (unfortunately). My school lunches were Aramark, my college food options were Aramark, I have Aramark on airplanes and trains and on just about half the restaurants in my hometown. The only reason some people can get away with serving it as "great food" is when they can properly contextualize the food as part of an experience that includes all of the psychological trimmings of a good meal. Amtrak provides a few select people with this context, but for most people if you're in a dingy railcar being served pre-prepared dishes on plastic plates with wine in plastic cups with no touch of personality (not even a flower) on the table their brains are setting their taste buds up for a bad meal.

Slightly OT but does anybody have the value Amtrak's contract with Aramark?

 

[neroden]

But they have (or used to at least) FABULOUS KITCHENS in the lower level of the Superliner Diners, the equipment is just sooooooooo under-utilized, it's almost criminal.

Yeah. :-( Honestly, a bunch of Amtrak's food service cuts over the years have been false savings. Some of them made sense but not many. A functioning electronic point-of-sale system -- which can handle special orders, as the ones in most restaurants can now -- would be worth more than almost every "savings" Amtrak has made over the years by cutting quality.

 

[rrdude]

But they have (or used to at least) FABULOUS KITCHENS in the lower level of the Superliner Diners, the equipment is just sooooooooo under-utilized, it's almost criminal.

Yeah. :-( Honestly, a bunch of Amtrak's food service cuts over the years have been false savings. Some of them made sense but not many. A functioning electronic point-of-sale system -- which can handle special orders, as the ones in most restaurants can now -- would be worth more than almost every "savings" Amtrak has made over the years by cutting quality.

But it's all what "Shows in the Budget" or the balance sheet, or some other accounting tool......... (I hated accounting in school)

It seems, at least for the sake of argument, that Amtrak could properly deploy a well spec'd out POS system, (with TABLE-side ordering, by the staff) AND return to china vs. the ecological disaster of adding MORE plastic to landfills. (Trust me, the dinerware is NOT recycled, at least not to my knowledge......) and with the savings ADD a "body" in the diner, be it assistant cook or a combination. Or at worst, come out "Even" with the savings, to pay for the staff.

But as other posters have pointed out, that would show an INCREASE in LABOR ("labor.....BAD") even though there would be a marked DECREASE in non-food supplies.....

As for the Hockey-Puck burgers? I think it is damn-near impossible to get a rare hamburger on Amtrak, as the last I knew, the FS supplier was selling them "pre-cooked" (with "Grill Lines" even!) patties....